TALLAHASSEE, Fla. –– In an electric home atmosphere at Bragg Memorial Stadium, Florida A&M earned a commanding 24-6 victory over Southern University. From special teams' heroics to defensive stops, the Rattlers made their mark early and never looked back.
Southern struck first, with kicker Joshua Griffin hitting a 50-yard field goal to give the Jaguars an early 3-0 lead. Florida A&M responded quickly, as Jamari Gassett returned a punt 43 yards to put the Rattlers up 7-3 by the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter saw both defenses tighten, resulting in a scoreless 15 minutes as each side struggled to gain offensive traction. Florida A&M quarterback Daniel Richardson came alive in the second half, connecting with Gassett for a huge 53-yard touchdown pass just minutes into the third quarter. Griffin added another field goal to keep Southern in contention, but the Rattlers' defense held strong.
Florida A&M put the game out of reach in the fourth quarter when Richardson completed a 16-yard touchdown to Kelvin Dean, extending the lead to 21-6. Cameron Gillis capped off the scoring with a 34-yard field goal with under two minutes remaining. Richardson finished with an impressive 278 passing yards and two touchdowns, while Gassett led all receivers with 118 yards.
The Rattlers' defense stifled Southern's offense, holding them to just 205 total yards and forcing a key interception. The Rattlers improve to 4-3, 2-1 this season and return to Bragg this Saturday, November 2, at 4 p.m. hosting Texas Southern for homecoming.
Big Plays
Post Game Press Conference
Game Notes
» Florida A&M outgained Southern 404-205, including a 278-83 advantage through the air.
» Florida A&M had their highest scoring quarter in the fourth period, when they put up 10 points.
» Florida A&M converted 7 of 13 third downs while Southern was successful on 2 of 16.
» The Rattlers had two players with more than eight tackles in the ballgame led by Ash, who had nine.
» Florida A&M won the time of possession battle 33:14 to 26:46.
» Richardson completed 78.1% of his passes on the day, going 25-for-32 while averaging 8.6 yards per attempt.
» Noah Bodden led the Jaguars passing attack, completing eight of his 18 attempts for 45 yards with one interception.
» Kobe Dillion led the Southern rushing attack with 60 yards.
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