FAMU Interim Director of Athletics Nelson E. Townsend released
the 2015 Rattler football schedule yesterday afternoon.
Newly hired Head Coach Alex Wood will lead the FAMU gridders
through a challenging gauntlet of games that features three non-conference
matches and eight Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) bouts.
FAMU will open the season with a guarantee game in Tampa
against the University of South Florida Bulls at Raymond James Stadium. The
university has not announced how much it will receive from the matchup. But
FAMU took home $400,000 from its last game against USF in 2011.
The Rattlers will then head to Birmingham, Ala., Sept. 12 to face the Samford University Bulldogs, followed by their Sept. 19 MEAC opener against the South Carolina State Bulldogs in Orangeburg. They will then wind down the month at home, Sept. 26 against the Big Blue Tigers of Tennessee State.
Conference games will dominate the October and November play
dates, beginning Oct. 3 with a road test against the Savannah State Tigers in
Savannah, Ga.
October will be filled with games at the Tallahassee campus
as the Rattlers will host three home games in four weeks: Oct. 10 against the
Eagles of North Carolina Central; Oct. 17 against the Delaware State Hornets,
and following an open date on Oct. 24, against the North Carolina A&T
Aggies, on Oct. 31.
In November, FAMU will close its regular season with three
straight on the road: Nov. 7 against the Hampton Pirates at Hampton, Va.; Nov.
14 against the Bears of Morgan State in Baltimore, Md., and Nov. 21 against
archrival Bethune-Cookman in the Florida Blue Florida Classic in the Orlando
Citrus Bowl Stadium in Orlando, Fla.