Game-time decisionCoach Billy Joe said he will decide Saturday if quarterback Ben Dougherty is healthy enough to start against Tennessee State. Dougherty injured his shoulder in the second quarter of last week’s game against Florida. He said the his shoulder is “60-65 percent.” If Dougherty can’t go, true freshman Charles McCullum will start.
Quality ControlThe Urban Broadcasting Company, the television company that broadcasts FAMU’s football games, has promised better quality for Saturday’s game. UBC, which signed a five-year deal with FAMU, has gotten complaints about the quality of their first two broadcasts of the season. FAMU’s football team will be on television 11 times this year, eight of which are UBC broadcasts.
Atlanta Classic always a drawIn the five years the Atlanta Classic has been held at the Georgia Dome the average attendance has been 57,442. In 2001, the game’s attendance (61,052) was nearly 6,000 people more than the average crowd for the eight Atlanta Falcons home games that year.
Pre-game paradeThe “Parade of Excellence” will take place on Saturday at 10 a.m. The parade will start on the corner of Baker and Peachtree Streets. It will go down Marietta St. and Centennial Olympic Park Dr. and will end at noon at Baker and Centennial Olympic Park.
Pre-game eventsPrior to the game, there will be a college fair, a job fair and a health fair, sponsored by 100 Black Men of Atlanta, State Farm Insurance and the Georgia Department of Labor. The college fair will take place at the Georgia Dome’s Gate A entrance from 12-2:30. The health fair will be at Centennial Olympic Park from 11-2, and the job fair will be from 9-2 at a place to be determined.