ECU Closes Out Regular Season With A 42-3 Win At FAU

Saturday, November 29

Boca Raton, Fla.

12 Noon

East Carolina University

8-4 , 6-2

Florida Atlantic

4-8 , 3-5

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

East Carolina

Fla. Atlantic

November 29, 2025 | Football

Box Score Game Book Postgame Notes

BOCA RATON, Fla. – With a dominant performance from the start, East Carolina accomplished a couple of major goals while capping the regular season in style, defeating Florida Atlantic 42-3 on a breezy Saturday afternoon.

The Pirates, in rebounding from last week's disheartening 58-24 loss to UTSA in a loud Alamodome, thrived in the near-empty Flagler Credit Union Stadium to avoid back-to-back losses for the first time this season. ECU also reached the eight-win mark for the first time since 2014 and collected its sixth American Conference win, the most since joining the league in 2014.

"We had something to prove, and it didn't matter who we were playing today," head coach Blake Harrell said. "We just had to prove what the Pirates are about and bounce back from that and what we're capable of."

The Pirates (8-4, 6-2) emphatically did that. A week after stumbling at the start and going into halftime down 34-3, ECU scored touchdowns on six of seven first-half possessions to build an insurmountable 42-3 lead. The Pirates matched the 21 first-quarter points they put up against Army and Charlotte and duplicated that in the second period for their highest scoring half of the year. Meanwhile, the defense harassed and smothered a high-powered Owls offense all day, forcing five turnovers, recording four sacks and holding FAU without a touchdown for the first time this year.

"It's just how we respond," Harrell said. "We've done a great job of that all year. We needed to do that again, and we certainly did today. It was about our energy. We knew this was going to be an atmosphere where we had to bring our own juice, and we certainly did that, and get off to a good really start."

Katin Houser directed an opening 13-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by Marlon Gunn Jr. Houser would go on to run for a pair of touchdowns while throwing two more, completing 20 of 29 passes for 258 yards before being replaced by Mike Wright Jr. in the fourth quarter.

In his second year of directing ECU's offense, Houser also rushed 67 yards on 11 carries. The Pirates gained 266 yards on the ground and finished with 524 total yards, the sixth time under Harrell ECU has eclipsed 500 total yards.

The bulk of that yardage came in the big first half – 432 for the most since 443 in the first half of a 70-41 win over North Carolina in 2014.

Houser stressed the importance of a quick start Saturday. After the opening touchdown, ECU found the end zone again just 37 seconds later for a 14-0 lead. Jordy Lowery forced a fumble on FAU's first offensive snap, and Jasiyah Robinson recovered. One play later, Houser tossed a tight end screen to tight end Desirrio Riles, who cut and weaved for 27 yards to the end zone.

ECU is now 8-0 this year when it scores first.

"We want the ball first and go down and set the tempo," said Houser, who has 14 career 250-yard passing games at ECU. "Being able to score that first drive is really important and then getting the turnover and scoring again quick. We just kind of got rolling at the start. That's what we want to do every game, get out fast and get the ball rolling."

Plenty of teammates pitched in to help Houser and the offense. Riles finished with career-high seven catches for 87 yards, including the 27-yarder for his second touchdown of the year and fourth of his career. Brock Spalding added 57 yards on six catches, highlighted by his second touchdown catch of the year. Gunn more than doubled his career high with first 100-yard game, racking up 130 yards on 14 carries.

"We lean on each other and go out and respond," Houser said. "That's the biggest thing. I feel like we did a really good job this year responding when our backs were against the wall and we have faced adversity. Especially after last week getting our butts kicked and coming out and putting up 42 points in the first half, I feel like that's just a testament to how mentally tough these guys are, to come out and play hard."

The ECU defense displayed its toughness against an offense that churned out 687 yards against UConn last week and rolled in boasting the nation's top passing attack statistically at 343.9 yards per game. But turnovers and sacks have derailed FAU (4-8, 3-5), and they both reared their heads again Saturday.

The Owls managed just three points out of four trips to the red zone, settling for a field goal after Easton Messer's 60-yard punt return to the 10 and coughing up three turnovers. Senior Teagan Wilk intercepted one pass on the goal line in the first quarter, sophomore defensive back Ja'Marley Riddle scooped up a fumble at the 1 in the third quarter, and freshman Angelo Ross intercepted a pass in the back of the end zone in the fourth quarter

Riddle's also nabbed his third interception of the season and sixth of his career.

Quarterback Caden Veltkamp, who passed for 869 in his last two games against Tulane and UConn, found little success against an ECU defense that lived in the backfield and registered nine tackles for loss, raising its season total to 94. He completed 19 of 31 passes for a season-low 183 yards before being replaced by Zach Gibson late in the third quarter.

FAU managed just 10 yards in the first quarter and 156 by halftime. The Owls finished with 338 total yards but converted just 3 of 15 on third down.

"I thought our defense did a really, really nice job of keeping the ball in front of them, making them earn it," Harrell said. "I thought we tackled better today, and the three points they got was actually on our punt team. We kept them out of the end zone and played really good red zone defense for the most part today. I'm proud of the defense and the turnovers they created today. They've been punching at the ball all season and breaking on some footballs, and finally some those fell our way today."