The FAMU Rattler football team spring game is set for today with an Orange-Green scrimmage that is meant to bring some balance featuring projected starters on both sides. These kinds of spring game setups are always interesting when it comes to position battles, especially when they involve two quarterbacks who end up going head-to-head for the starting job.
The Rattlers didn’t play ball in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rattlers went 9-3 in McKay’s first season as a starter and earned their first FCS playoff bid in two decades.
McKay -- one of six quarterbacks on the roster - is also being pushed for the starter's role.
Junior Muratovic, a sophomore, had 173 passing yards last season, while Cameron Sapp, a redshirt junior, appeared in seven games last. And then there's Vanderbilt transfer Jeremy Moussa, a graduate student. He joined the Commodores ahead of the 2020 season after leading San Bernardino Valley College to a 9-2 record and a 2019 Inland Empire Athletic Conference title. Moussa appeared in two games at Vanderbilt before he entered the transfer portal and selected FAMU.
Eliminating penalties
This spring the Rattler Head Coach Willie Simmons, and his assistants, are laser focused on improving on last year’s team and replace some key defensive starters who graduated.
“One of the biggest things we want to improve on coming out of spring and going into the season is our level of discipline,” Simmons said.
“We have to clean up the penalties. I think we will be a much more efficient and much more explosive team.”
“We have to clean up the penalties. I think we will be a much more efficient and much more explosive team.”
Simmons attributed many penalties last season to lapses in focus and discipline. The mistakes, at times, also took the Rattlers out of advantageous positions.
Simmons believes false starts, offsides and needless personal fouls can be corrected.
“Great football teams don’t have those kind of mental mistakes,” Simmons said.
“That has been a huge emphasis this spring. We want to make sure we clean up the mental aspect of the game. I want us to continue to play hard, continue to play fast but also play a lot smarter as well.”
If you go today
The Orange and Green game is set for 2 p.m. today at Bragg Memorial Stadium, fans will be able to purchase a ticket for $10 on Ticketmaster.com or at the Florida A&M University box office located at the Al Lawson Center.