Last-minute TD from Edwards lifts UConn past Florida Atlantic for ninth win

UConn QB Joe Fagnano threw 3 TD passes in UConn’s win over Florida Atlantic on Saturday. (Photo courtesy UConn Athletics)

Cam Edwards scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 26 seconds left in regulation as the UConn football team rallied to beat Florida Atlantic University in Boca Rotan on Saturday to win their fourth straight game and their ninth game of the season.

UConn (9-3) led by 21 points in the first half only to see Florida Atlantic rally to take the lead in third quarter. FAU (4-7) took a four-point lead, 45-41, with 2:11 left in the game when QB Caden Veltkamp scored on an 11-yard run with 2:11 remaining.

For the third time this season, UConn took the lead with less than two minutes to play as Edwards capped off a 15-play, 75-yard drive to give the Huskies a 49-45 lead with 26 seconds remaining. UConn also took the lead in the final two minutes against Buffalo and Duke.

Wide receiver Skyler Bell collected eight receptions for 125 yards and set the new UConn school record for catches in a season at 101.

Quarterback Joe Fagnano led the offensive effort, completing 33 of 46 passes for a career-high 446 yards and three touchdowns. Running back Cam Edwards added a strong performance on the ground with 101 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries.

On defense, Malachi McLean recorded an interception and contributed six tackles.

FAU took control early in the third quarter with Kaden Shields-Dutton’s 11-yard touchdown run at 12:01, narrowing UConn’s lead to 27–24. Fagnano was sacked for a 9-yard loss, halting the Huskies’ drive, and leading to a punt that pinned the Owls at their 1-yard line. However, Veltkamp connected with Dom Henry for a 90-yard touchdown pass at 6:48 on a fourth down from their own 10-yard line, swinging the lead to 31–27 in favor of FAU.

The Huskies responded and Edwards’ 1-yard rushing touchdown with 2:09 remaining in the third quarter, reclaiming a 34–31 advantage.

The fourth quarter began with FAU turnover, as UConn’s Trent Jones recovered a fumble by Shields-Dutton at the UConn 29-yard line. UConn’s Mel Brown broke free for a 44-yard touchdown run, extending the  lead to 41–31 with 10:11 left in the game.

The Huskies will have their final bye of the season next weekend and will await the announcement of their bowl game destination on Dec. 7.

• The nine wins is the fifth time in school history a UConn team has posted nine or more wins. With a bowl game coming up, the Huskies will have a chance to match the program record of 10 wins set in 1998.
• The Huskies came into Saturday’s game as one of just four teams in the country to not lose in regulation this season, joining Ohio State, Indiana and Texas A&M. The win today leaves the Huskies with just the three overtime losses on their ledger.
• With today’s start, QB Joe Fagnano is the first UConn quarterback to start every game of a season since the 2018 campaign (David Pindell).
• For the first time in program history, the Huskies finish a regular season with a 3,000 yard passer in Joe Fagnano, a 1,000 yard rusher in Cam Edward sand a 1,000 yard receiver in Skyler Bell.
• WR Skyler Bell became the second player in school history to reach 100 catches in a season (Noel Thomas – 100, 2016). He recorded his seventh 100-yard receiving game of the season tying Noel Thomas (2016) for the most 100-yard receiving games in a season in the FBS era.
• Saturday’s game marked the third-straight week the Husky defense matched-up with an offense ranked in the top-five offensively and came away with a victory. The Huskies faced Duke with No. 4 ranked passing offense, took on the No. 2 rushing offense in Air Force (269 yards per game) and today the No. 1 passing offense in FAU (329 YPG).
• Edwards had his fifth 100 yard rushing game of the season and scored his 13th and 14th TDs this season.
• WR Shamar Porter caught his first touchdown pass of the season. Porter is the ninth different Husky to catch a touchdown this year.
• TE Lou Hansen caught a career high seven passes for a career high 86 yards.

UConn 48, Florida Atlantic 45
At Boca Raton, Fla.
UConn (9-3)                         24  3    7  14  — 48
Florida Atlantic (4-7)         3  14  14  14  — 45
First quarter
C: Chris Freeman 39 FG, 12:08
F: Garrison Smith 49 FG, 8:47
C: John Neider 24 pass from Joe Fagnano (Freeman kick), 6:21
C: Shamar Porter 24 pass from Fagnano (Freeman kick), 3:38
C: Alex Honig 32 pass from Fagnano (Freeman kick), 1:21
Second quarter
F: Easton Messer 39 run (Smith kick), 14:18
F: Caden Veltkamp 17 run (Smith kick), 5:22
C: Freeman 25 FG, 1:09
Third quarter
F: Kaden Shields-Dutton 11 run (Smith kick), 12:01
F: Dom Henry 60 pass from Veltkamp (Smith kick), 6:48
C: Cam Edwards 1 run (Freeman kick), 2:09
Fourth quarter
C: Mel Brown 44 run (Freeman kick), 10:11
F: Messer 33 pass from Veltkamp (Smith kick), 7:13
F: Veltkamp 11 run (Smith kick), 2:11
C: Edwards 1 run (Freeman kick), 0:26
Individual statistics
RUSHING: FA – Shields-Dutton 14-77, Gemari Sands 11-44, Messer 2-41, Veltkamp 4-23, Dom Henry 1-8; UConn – Cam Edwards 16-101, Mel Brown 10-70, Joe Fagnano 5-minus 21, Victor Rosa 1-5
PASSING: FA: Caden Veltkamp 42-55-1, 494, 2 TDs; UConn – Joe Fagnano 33-46-0, 446, 3 TDs
RECEIVING: FA – Dom Henry 7-157, Messer 11-119, Asaad Waseem 12-109, Jayshon Platt 5-74, Shields-Dutton 3-21. Gemari Sands 4-14; UConn – Skyler Bell 8-125, Louis Hansen 7-86, Shamar Porter 2-58, Cam Edwards 5-45, Alex Honig 2-44, John Neider 2-39, Reymello Murphy 4-30, Terrence Smith 1-13, Mel Brown 2-6