Inside the Huddle with QB Albert Chester II

Saturday marked the final home game at Bragg Memorial Stadium for the 2006 football season.

The Hampton University Pirates swept away the Florida A&M Rattlers’ chances to complete their dream of capturing the conference championship and advancing to the Division I-AA playoffs. With a 52-point defeat, FAMU ended their home slate with its worst defeat of the season.

Redshirt junior quarterback Albert Chester II completed 8 of 20 passes for 58 yards. He was second on the team with 23 yards rushing. Chester spoke to The Famuan after sitting out the second half due to an ankle injury.

The Famuan: How do you feel after a defeat like this?

Chester: How would you feel after a loss like that? It was raining and we got our a- kicked. We got drug up and down the field. If we were boxing, we got knocked out five times. I felt bad; never felt so bad before.

The Famuan: What did the Rattlers lack in this game that the Pirates defense might have used to their advantage?

Chester: Remember when Deion Sanders played at Florida State? Well they lined up, pressed and pretty much beat you up all night. That’s what they did to us. They dogged played, man up and forced the receivers to go inside and just robbed the middle and blitzed everybody else. No one played us like that before. And it’s fair to say we played our self. We did everything from jumping offside (to) holding; we just couldn’t get it going.

The Famuan: What was the cause of your injury on field?

Chester: After I threw (the ball), somebody hit me from the blind side. Then, my foot got caught in the turf.

The Famuan: How is your hand feeling?

Chester: It’s all right.

The Famuan: Do you think the players gave up their fight after the first half of the game?

Chester: I’m not going to say anything bad about any of my teammates. I was on the side most of the game trying to nurse my ankle.

The Famuan: Would you consider this game to be one of those situations where “everything that could go wrong, did go wrong?”

Chester: Hell yeah. You were there. It was raining. It was cold. I mean, yeah.

The Famuan: How tough was it for you to sit out the second half and watch your team go down like that?

Chester: You ever watch somebody die before?

The Famuan: No.

Chester: Well I did, and it was similar to that. A lot of stuff was going on. Yet it was all quiet, cold, wet. It was tough.

The Famuan: How can you use this game as motivation for next week?

Chester: Umm, well right now I’m just trying to get better. But I don’t plan on losing like this anymore.

The Famuan: Do you feel like the weather had an effect on the game?

Chester: As far as toward the end, yeah. Well not on mine so much. It wasn’t really raining when I was in.

The Famuan: Can you comment on the team’s overall performance?

Chester: Overall performance. No comment.