The coronation of Florida A&M as the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) champion and with it a spot at the Cricket Celebration Bowl versus Howard University for the HBCU national championship took roughly 90 minutes longer than expected.
It wasn’t because the game went into overtime, but rather that Mother Nature wasn’t cooperating. The game, played at Florida A&M’s Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, was delayed 30 minutes before kickoff due to lightning; the bolts later held the contest up for an hour in the third quarter. But it only prolonged the inevitable as the 11-1 Rattlers, 8-0 in the SWAC and ranked No. 5 among all FCS Division I schools, took a 21-0 lead at 10:50 of the second quarter on a 1-yard touchdown by redshirt junior running back Jaquez Yant and never surrendered the lead.
“We couldn’t control the lightning, and we couldn’t control how soon we got on the field,” said FAMU head coach Willie Simmons. “We just had to make sure that when we got on the field, we were ready to play.”
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The Panthers cut the margin to 21-14 at 7:53 of the third quarter on a 35-yard jaunt by redshirt senior running back Ahmad Antoine but Florida A&M struck back quickly as quarterback Jeremy Moussa, a graduate transfer from Vanderbilt, connected on a 32-yard pass to fellow grad student, wide receiver Marcus Riley, with 4:35 left in the third to push the score to 28-14.
The Rattlers capped off the scoring with a five-play, 88-yard drive, concluding with a 33-yard TD run by running back Terrell Jennings, a graduate student-athlete, at 13:29 of the fourth quarter. Jennings, who accounted for 113 of FAMU’s 229 yards rushing was named the game’s offensive MVP. Javon Morgan, a graduate defensive back from Tallahassee, was selected as the defensive MVP with a stellar five tackles and two interceptions.
“A great day for Tallahassee, FAMU, and these young men,” extolled Simmons following the victory. “It warms my heart to celebrate a goal we set for ourselves long ago.”
The win holds a special place for the university and Simmons. It was the Rattlers first SWAC title since officially becoming a member of the conference in the summer of 2021. They had previously been in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) dating back to 1986.
For the 43-year-old Tallahassee native Simmons, who played quarterback collegiately first at Clemson from 2000-2002, then at The Citadel in 2003, the significance was heightened as he was once the head coach of Prairie View and in three seasons compiled a 21-11 record including 19-6 in conference games.
While the Panthers ended this season 6-6, the Rattlers will be at Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta for a 12 p.m. nationally televised (ABC) match up with the MEAC champion Bison, which is 6-5 and was 4-1 in conference play.