The Rattlers football team is preparing for its first home game this Saturday against Hampton University. Hampton is also looking for its first win of the season. The Rattlers haven’t started out 0-2 since the 2007 season.
FAMU is coming off a loss to the University of Oklahoma. This has been a rough season for the team so far. This is also their first conference game of the season.
Both FAMU and Hampton are coming into this matchup with identical 0-2 records, looking to earn their first victory and conference win of the season. Hampton suffered a 45-7 loss to Old Dominion University last week.
In spite of the loss last week, the Rattlers felt like they had a good showing. The team was able to force several Oklahoma punts, as well as a couple turnovers. It allowed the team to see its progress.
Junior linebacker Brandon Denmark, a University of Illinois transfer, wasn’t really impressed with the Sooners. He said that they were sound, but they didn’t really impress him.
Attendance will be a factor on Saturday. This will be the first home game the Rattlers will play without the Marching “100.” Nevertheless, people in Tallahassee have still been geared up for the game.
FAMU administrators went to the game against Oklahoma to get a feel for the atmosphere. They want to recreate that type of football atmosphere here at FAMU.
To make up for the lack of the band’s presence, the athletic department has recording artist Future performing at halftime, as well as an old school vs. new school DJ battle.
Senior punter Brandon Holdren is excited about the game. Saturday will be one of his last games in Bragg Stadium.
“We noticed what they’re (Hampton) doing wrong and we’re going to take advantage of it,” said Holdren.
Head football coach Joe Taylor spoke highly of the team in Tuesday’s press conference. He said he liked how the team stayed focus in the Oklahoma game and didn’t get caught up in the atmosphere. He was also happy that the team came out of the game with no injuries.
“We used those first two games to work the kinks out,” said Taylor. “We want to get better every week.”
The Rattlers will also have their suspended players back. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. on Saturday and it should be interesting.