Photo Credit: Thai Floyd
The Florida A&M Rattlers just couldn’t get the job done Saturday, turning the ball over seven times on offense resulting in a 48-14 loss to South Carolina State University.
The loss drops the Rattlers to 0-4 overall, and 0-1 in the MEAC Conference, while SC State earns their first victory of the season improving to 1-3 overall and 1-0 in the MEAC. The loss makes it a 1-13 record for FAMU in the last fourteen match-ups against the Bulldogs.
The Bulldogs reached the end zone first scoring effortlessly on a pass from sophomore
quarterback Caleb York to wide receiver Ahmaad Harris to make the score 7-0.
The Rattlers came back trailing by a touchdown to tie the game up late in the first quarter. With the help of the crowd, senior quarterback, Kenneth Coleman, completed a 19-yard pass into the end zone to receiver Desmond Noird to make the game 7-7.
While FAMU’s offense was silent, South Carolina took advantage of the game scoring 13 points in the third quarter to extend the score 34-7 over FAMU.
The Bulldogs scored a touchdown off a pass from Caleb York to his sophomore tight end Deangelo Frazier who muscled his way through three defenders into the end zone.
The Rattlers stopped South Carolina twice in the Red zone forcing them to kick field goals but couldn’t get anything going on offense. FAMU’s Kenneth Coleman finished 9-of-17 for 69 passing yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions. He was eventually subbed out late in the third quarter for Ryan Stanley.
Ryan Stanley, a redshirt freshman out of Pembroke, FL owns the Broward County record for passing attempts in a game at 65 throws, and also owns the record for 37 completions in a game, and a 99-yard pass for a touchdown. Despite the accolades, his efforts fell short. He finished the game with 7-of-11 completed passes for 74 yards, two interceptions, and a fumble which resulted in a Bulldog touchdown.
Running back Tevin Spells has still been getting the job done at his position having six carries for 40 yards against SCSU.
FAMU head coach Alex Wood wasn’t pleased as he stated in a press conference, “Obviously we’re not very good if we were we wouldn’t be 0-4.”
The Florida A&M Rattlers will be looking for their first win next week in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference matchup against Savannah State University Saturday, Oct. 1 at Bragg Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is at 6:00 p.m.