BATON ROUGE, La. | Florida A&M football fell behind early but didn't remain down for long after a second-quarter 13-yard touchdown pass to Kamari Young from Raseasn McKay to take a 20-17 lead in the half. The Rattlers held the Jaguars to zero points in the second half to win 29-17 in Baton Rouge.
"It was a good win, and it's always tough to win on the road," said head coach Willie Simmons. "Mumford Stadium is one of the toughest stadiums to play in the SWAC.
"First half we went toe-to-toe, and at halftime, the defensive staff did a great job of making adjustments to shut them out in the second half. Offensively, we were able to do enough.
"It was a great team win, and we did what we needed to do to win to improve our record to 7-2 overall and 5-1 in the conference."
Defense Dominates Again
The defense continued to show why they're one of the best in the nation after shutting out the Jaguars in the second half and holding the team to under 300 yards for the seventh time this season.
The Jaguars' 12th ranked rushing offense had no success against the Dark Cloud Defense as the Rattlers held the Jaguars to 90 rushing yards on 36 carries (2.5 yards per carry).
Aside from shutting the Jaguars out in the second half, the Rattlers also held them to 61 total yards in the 2nd half (43 in third, 18 in fourth), which was the sixth time the Dark Cloud Defense held their opponent to less than 100 yards in a half.
The nation's leading sacker added two more sacks to his belt to bring his total to 14. Markquese Bell led the Rattlers with 11 tackles, while Derrick Mayweather led the team with two tackles for loss. Also, the Bohler brothers both broke up a pass.
Offense Attacks Early
The Rattlers received the kick and scored on their opening drive for the fourth time this season as Rasean McKay connected with Jah'Marae Sheread for a 48-yard touchdown. The touchdown by Sheread was his seventh receiving touchdown on the season and fourth consecutive game scoring a touchdown.
The Rattlers would go 3 and out on their next possession before closing out the first half with three scoring drives. The first two of the three resulted in field goals after the Rattlers failed to convert touchdowns inside the ten-yard line, and the final resulted in a 13-yard touchdown pass from McKay to Young to give the Rattlers a 20-17 lead into the half.
Special Teams and Southern Penalties Leads to Points
The Rattlers received a little help from Southern's long snapper and punter as the long snapper snapped the ball over the punter's head. The punter went on to try to kick the ball out of bounds from their own 20-yard line, but it resulted in
Kendall Bohler scooping the ball up and the Rattlers starting their next possession on Southern's three.
Following the special teams mishap from Southern, the Rattlers would have seven opportunities from the three-yard line to score after Southern was offsides after making two fourth and one stops. The Rattlers capitalized on their third, fourth and one opportunity with a one-yard touchdown run from
Jaylen McCloud, giving them a 29-17 lead after a failed 2-point conversion attempt. McCloud's touchdown gave him a touchdown in two consecutive games.
Bonnett Eclipsed 100 Yards
Bishop Bonnett eclipsed the century mark after a late 20-yard run gave him 104 yards on the night. That is Bonnett's fourth time rushing for more than 100 yards this season.
The Rattlers hit the road again next week as they play Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, November 13 at 3 p.m. Eastern on ESPN+.
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