For the second week in a row the FAMU football Rattlers were their own worst enemy dropping a 18-16 decision in the final seconds to the visiting Tigers from Jackson State before a crowd of 17,643 in Bragg Memorial Stadium.
The Rattlers were penalized 15 times for 177 yards, but that didn't do them in. Nor did the 3 turnovers to JSU's 1. It was the poor clock management in the games final seconds that sealed the deal.
Trailing by two with no timeouts and under thirty second on the clock, quarterback Ryan Stanley hit receive Chad Hunter down the side to the 3-yard line. While Hunter and the Rattlers thought he stretched the ball over the pylon, he was ruled out of bounds.
With under 20 seconds left on the clock, and no timeouts left, FAMU elected to call a run play, where Stanley handed off to running back Ricky Henrilus, who was stuffed up the middle. The Rattler coaching staff then rushed to get the field goal unit out, but time expired before the snap.
The Rattlers offense racked up 463 yards in total offense to JSU's 379. Coach Willie Simmons, and his Rattlers, will have six days to figure it out before the team takes on the Savannah State Tiger next Saturday in Bragg.