HOUSTON — Caden Veltkamp threw three touchdown passes and Florida Atlantic closed it out with a clock-draining final drive to beat Rice 27–21 on Saturday night at Rice Stadium in an American Conference matchup.   

Veltkamp finished 23 of 33 for 290 yards with scoring throws of 30 and 2 yards to tight end Michael Kirch and 38 yards to Asaad Waseem, guiding Florida Atlantic (2–3, 1–1 American) to a 17–7 halftime lead and answering a Rice push in the third quarter.       

Rice (3–3, 1–2) struck first on Quinton Jackson’s 68-yard burst just 1:26 into the game, but Florida Atlantic answered with Veltkamp’s 30-yard strike to Kirch and a 38-yard touchdown to Waseem on fourth down to go up 14–7. Garrison Smith’s 36-yard field goal late in the second quarter made it 17–7 at the break.   

The Owls from Houston climbed back within three when Chase Jenkins found Drayden Dickmann behind the secondary for a 46-yard touchdown midway through the third, capping an 11-play, 90-yard march. Veltkamp answered with a 2-yard play-action TD to Kirch to restore a two-score cushion at 24–14. Smith added a 26-yard field goal early in the fourth for a 27–14 lead, and while Jenkins’ 2-yard keeper cut it to six with 3:19 remaining, FAU never gave the ball back, bleeding the final 3:17 to secure the win.       

Veltkamp’s favorite target was Easton Messer, who caught 11 passes for 110 yards, including gains of 55 and 44 that flipped field position. Waseem added 89 yards and the long touchdown, while Kirch finished with 82 yards and two scores. On the ground, Xavier Terrell carried 20 times for 69 yards, helping Florida Atlantic close out the fourth quarter.   

Rice leaned on its run game, piling up 213 rushing yards. Jackson led the way with 128 yards on 19 carries and the long score; Jenkins added 20 rushing yards and the late 2-yard TD, and went 12 of 17 for 137 yards with the touchdown to Dickmann. Aaron Turner had five catches for 50 yards, while Dickmann posted 4 for 61 and the 46-yard TD.     

Florida Atlantic finished with 393 total yards (290 passing, 103 rushing) to Rice’s 350 (213 rushing, 137 passing), converted 8 of 14on third down, and went 3 for 3 in the red zone. Rice controlled time of possession (31:14) and was 10 of 16 on third down but couldn’t cash in late. The Owls of Boca Raton overcame a first-quarter interception — Peyton Stevenson had the pick for Rice — and also survived a late-half miscue when a Rice 47-yard field-goal try sailed wide.