TALLAHASSEE, Fla. --  Florida A&M football hosts Southern on Saturday, Oct. 31, at 3 p.m. ET at Bragg Memorial Stadium in a SWAC showdown streamed on HBCU GO.

The Rattlers (2-6, 1-3 SWAC) return home with plenty to build on. A week ago, FAMU outgained UAPB 394-351, did not turn the ball over and pulled within 31-28 on Kieren Jackson's 61-yard touchdown catch with 3:19 to play in front of 20,549 Homecoming fans.

Southern (3-5, 1-3 SWAC) arrives under first-year head coach Marshall Faulk, the Pro Football Hall of Famer, after a 24-21 loss at Texas Southern. FAMU leads the all-time series 33-26-1 and is 7-1 against the Jaguars since 2011.

Item	Details
Kickoff	Saturday, Oct. 31, 3 p.m. ET
Site	Bragg Memorial Stadium, Tallahassee, Fla.
Stream	HBCU GO: James Hadnot (play-by-play), Jon Kelley (color), Lawrencia Morton (sideline)
Radio	Rattler Sports Network: Bryan Fulford (play-by-play), Al Chester (analyst)
Live stats	famuathletics.com

  FAMU played one of its cleanest games of the season against UAPB and came up three points short, 31-28. The Rattlers piled up 18 first downs, committed zero turnovers and led 13-7 in the second quarter and 19-14 early in the third.

Armond Parker was the story. The true freshman completed 23-of-37 passes for a career-high 319 yards and two touchdowns without an interception, the most passing yards by a Rattler this season, and ran for a 37-yard score.

Isiah Davis forced and recovered a fumble at the UAPB 17 to set up Corey Petty's 17-yard touchdown catch. Gabriel Caison made field goals of 23, 36 and 43 yards, and Kieren Jackson's 61-yard catch made it a one-score game late before UAPB ran out the clock. Florida A&M leads the all-time series 33-26-1 and has won six straight meetings, including a 43-35 win in Baton Rouge last season. The Rattlers are 7-1 against Southern since 2011 and 3-0 at home in that span.
 

Date	Site	Result
Oct. 25, 2025	Baton Rouge	FAMU, 43-35
Oct. 26, 2024	Tallahassee	FAMU, 24-6
Oct. 7, 2023	Baton Rouge	FAMU, 26-19
Nov. 5, 2022	Tallahassee	FAMU, 30-16
Nov. 6, 2021	Baton Rouge	FAMU, 29-17
Sept. 21, 2019	Tallahassee	FAMU, 27-21

  QB Armond Parker. The dual-threat freshman has thrown for 1,244 yards and 10 touchdowns in six games (207.3 per game) and has three rushing scores. FAMU ranks fifth in the SWAC in passing offense at 210.0 yards per game.
WR Kieren Jackson. Jackson leads the team with 292 receiving yards and 634 all-purpose yards (79.3 per game), and he averages 21.4 yards on kickoff returns.
WR Corey Petty. Petty leads FAMU with 22 catches after a seven-catch, 85-yard day against UAPB. He also returned two punts for 52 yards, including a season-long 45-yarder.
LB Jaiden Roper. In his first start of the season, Roper made 13 tackles (nine solo) and 2.5 tackles for loss, the most tackles by a Rattler in a game this year.
LB Denzel Johnson. Johnson leads the team with 53 tackles and has reached double figures four times.

The ball hawks. FAMU is tied for second in the SWAC with seven fumble recoveries. Isiah Davis and Andre Powell Jr. have two forced fumbles each, and Justin Bostic has three interceptions, one returned for a touchdown.

Special teams. FAMU leads the SWAC in net punting (39.8). Bobby Engstler averages 41.3 yards per punt with 16 downed inside the 20, and the Rattlers are 8-of-10 on field goals (.800, third in the SWAC). Southern is 3-5 in Faulk's first season, with wins over Kentucky State (34-15), Louisiana Christian (50-31) and at Prairie View A&M (28-14). The Jaguars had an open date before losing 24-21 at Texas Southern on Oct. 24.

The offense runs through running back Trey Holly, who entered last week as the SWAC's leading rusher. Holly has 838 yards and seven touchdowns (104.8 per game), including a 200-yard day against Louisiana Christian and 35 carries at Texas Southern. Quarterback Christian Johnson has completed 89-of-158 passes for 1,059 yards and 10 touchdowns with one interception.

Defensively, Southern ranks third in the SWAC against the pass (169.4 yards per game) but 11th against the run (218.0). Tayton James leads with 59 tackles and four sacks and returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown. Ckelby Givens has 9.5 tackles for loss, and preseason All-SWAC safety Herman Brister III has two interceptions. 1. Slow down Holly. Southern runs the ball 40 times per game. Keeping Holly in check forces the Jaguars into passing downs, where FAMU's third-down defense (36.2%, fifth in the SWAC) has been reliable.
2. Run it against a soft front. Southern allows 218.0 rushing yards per game. That opens the door for Jamal Hailey, who broke an 81-yard touchdown run at Jackson State, and for Parker on the move.
3. Win the hidden yards. FAMU leads the SWAC in net punting and is third in field goal percentage. Southern ranks last in the league in kickoff returns, punt returns and field goal percentage and 11th in net punting.
4. Keep the ball secure. FAMU did not turn it over against UAPB, and Southern's defense has six interceptions, two returned for touchdowns.

Per game	FAMU	Southern
Points scored	20.0	22.9
Points allowed	33.6	33.4
Passing offense	210.0	163.9
Rushing offense	72.1	174.6
Rushing defense	224.3	218.0
Opp. red-zone pct.	79.4%	90.9%
Net punting	39.8	31.7
Field goal pct.	.800	.571

  FAMU (1-3) has four conference games left, starting Saturday. Alabama A&M and Bethune-Cookman (both 3-1) lead the East, and Southern (1-3) is a game and a half behind West leader Prairie View A&M.

After Southern, the Rattlers travel to Alcorn State on Nov. 7, host Mississippi Valley State on Senior Day on Nov. 14 and close the regular season against Bethune-Cookman in Orlando on Nov. 21.