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Florida A&M battled wet, soggy conditions to pull out the win.
For Florida A&M, the third time was the charm.
After being nearly perfect through their first two campaigns in the Southwestern Athletic Conference – losing just one league game each season – the Rattlers ran the table this year. They capped their impressive run with a 35-14 victory Saturday against Prairie View A&M to clinch their first SWAC championship.
“A great day for Tallahassee, FAMU, and these young men,” FAMU head coach Willie Simmons told reporters after winning his first conference title. “It warms my heart to celebrate a goal we set for ourselves long ago.”
They had to wait a little longer than expected. Lightning delayed the kickoff for a half-hour and caused an hour-long delay in the third quarter, with FAMU leading 21-7. But the wet and soggy conditions didn’t deter the Rattlers, ranked fifth in the FCS Coaches Poll, who defeated SWAC foes by an average of 17.7 points this season, with only Southern coming within single digits.
Prairie View made the game closer than the contest on Oct. 28, a 45-7 rout as the homecoming guest. But the Panthers had no answers for FAMU’s balanced offensive attack and its top-ranked “Dark Cloud” defense. The Rattlers scored touchdowns on three of their first four possessions to take a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter. They finished with 448 yards of offense compared to Prairie View’s 274.
“We couldn’t control the lightning, and we couldn’t control how soon we got on the field,” Simmons said. “We just had to make sure that when we got on the field, we were ready to play.”
Quarterback Jeremy Moussa, still nursing a nagging shoulder injury, threw for one touchdown and ran for another. Simmons leaned on FAMU’s defense and ground game, the latter led by Terrell Jennings, whose 33-yard scoring run created the final score early in the fourth quarter. Jennings rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns.
“He’s been playing really good football the last few weeks of the season,” Simmons said. “He was MVP of the Florida Classic, and now he’s MVP of the SWAC Championship game. He’s a senior who bid his time and overcame a lot of adversity. He started the season as the third back and just really taken the lead in that running back room.”
Prairie View (6-6) scored on Caleb Johnson’s 8-yard run and Ahmad Antoine’s 35-yard burst that made the score 21-14. But the Panthers’ hopes were dimmed in the second quarter when starting quarterback Trazon Connley was injured on a sack by Gentle Hunt and didn’t return after halftime. Connley finished with just 91 yards passing. Backup quarterback Chris Herron led Prairie View with 70 rushing yards but was 0-for-3 passing with an interception. The Rattlers picked off three passes, including one on Kenneth Patterson’s lone attempt.
The Rattlers recorded their 20th consecutive victory at Bragg Memorial Stadium, giving them the nation’s longest home winning streak after Montana State’s loss Saturday in the FCS playoffs. The seniors won’t play another game on Ken Riley Field, but FAMU (11-1) will play for the Black national championship when they face Howard in the Celebration Bowl on Dec. 16 in Atlanta.
“That’s the last box to check,” Simmons said. “We’ve checked every single box that we set out for ourselves this season, from winning the Orange Blossom Classic to beating all of our natural rivals, keeping our home winning streak intact, SWAC East, SWAC Championship … and now finally the last one is the Celebration Bowl. We talked 10 weeks ago about that next carrot. The Celebration Bowl is that next carrot for us.“
Simmons said he didn’t watch any tape of Howard (6-5) during preparations for Prairie View because he didn’t want to lose focus on Prairie View. But he knows that Mideastern Athletic Conference champions have beaten SWAC champions in the last five Celebration Bowls. Grambling State (2016) has the conference’s only victory in six attempts since the game’s inception.
“I know Howard’s a MEAC team,” Simmons said. “We spent 40 years in the MEAC, and we know the physicality. That’s kind of been the thing – SWAC versus MEAC, physicality versus speed. But we made a conscious decision to build our team from the inside out.
“People look at us and say we’re a Florida team; we’re fast,” he said. “But people will be surprised at how strong we are as well. Look at our front four and our offensive line. We really pride ourselves on the trenches. “We want to be a physical football team that also has speed on the perimeter.
“I think we match up well against anybody in the country.”
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