The first night of the Jon Sumrall era arrives with a familiar test and a fresh sense of urgency. Florida opens against Florida Atlantic on Saturday at 7:45 p.m., and for a Gators team coming off a 4-8 season, this is more than just a season opener. It is the first look at a new staff, a new direction and a chance to start clean in The Swamp.
FAU is not arriving as a soft landing spot, either. The Owls bring one of the country’s most explosive passing attacks, and it starts with veteran quarterback Caden Veltkamp.
The 6-foot-5, 236-pound signal-caller threw for 3,641 yards last season, good for eighth in the FBS, and added 24 touchdowns while completing 67% of his passes. Turnovers were the issue - he threw 17, the most in the nation - but Sumrall knows the kind of challenge he presents.
“[He’s] played a lot of football, really experienced, a big guy with a good arm,” Sumrall said of Veltkamp. “He can make all the throws, and he runs a little bit better than you think.”
Veltkamp wasn’t doing it alone. Easton Messer was a major part of the machine, catching 104 passes for 1,052 yards and six touchdowns.
That production helped FAU finish with the top passing offense in the FBS at 340.5 yards per game. The air game was humming; the ground game was not.
The Owls’ rushing offense sat in the bottom 15 nationally.
That part of the offense got attention after Zach Kittley took over. With top rusher Gemari Sands gone, FAU brought in Fairmont State transfer Leonard Farrow and kept junior Kaden Shields-Dutton, who followed Sands last season with 460 yards and six touchdowns on 84 carries. The run game still has something to prove, but the Owls clearly believe they’ve improved there.
What has always made Kittley’s offense so difficult is the pace and the aggression. FAU went for it on fourth down 62 times last season, the most in the country, and converted 66.1% of those chances. That kind of gamble-heavy style can stress a defense in a hurry, and Sumrall remembers how fast it can spiral.
“Zach Kittley's a really good football coach, and he's got a great staff … These guys, they were the fastest offense in college football last year,” Sumrall said. “Last year, we played them at Tulane at our place, and you blinked, and they're inside the red zone.
You're like, ‘What? What happened?’”
Florida’s defensive front will also be watching FAU’s other major weakness. The Owls ranked in the bottom 10 in the FBS in total defense last season, giving up 436.5 yards per game, and their run defense was the biggest problem. That is a rough setup against a Gators team that has a deep backfield led by top-five rusher Jadan Baugh.
FAU’s pass defense was also vulnerable, which gives quarterback Aaron Philo a chance to settle in during his first game in The Swamp. It also leaves Florida’s offensive line with an opening to establish itself early, even though that unit remains one of the Gators’ most uncertain groups heading into Week 1.
The matchup also gives Kittley another shot at a program he has yet to beat. Florida has won all four previous meetings, and the Owls will try to change that as both teams step into the spotlight with American Conference coaches on opposite sidelines.
For Sumrall, the bigger message is about the standard he wants set immediately.
“Saturday night, it needs to feel like we want to be a top-20, top-10 team, a playoff team,” Sumrall said. “That's our goal and our vision.
It needs to feel like that every time we play in that stadium. So I look forward to hopefully seeing that crowd Saturday night embrace our football team, and our guys are ready to put in a lot of work.”
Now the new era gets its first real measurement.
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