The FAMU Rattler football team picked up its first win of the season Saturday by beating the defending SIAC Champs Albany State Rams 23-13 in Bragg Stadium. The win extended the Rattlers home winning streak to 11 games.
"Excited to get a win, obviously we didn't play our best ball, but it feels good to get in the win column," said head coach Willie Simmons. "It's good to continue our home winning streak, one of the longest in the nation, so that's been our goal, so we wanted to keep that intact.”
"Defensively, I thought we played really good football. We gave up a couple of plays early and obviously the late touchdown. Overall I thought those guys competed hard and played at a high level. Offensively, we left a lot to be desired. We definitely need to play better across the board. Up front, we need to fix some things as far as communications. At quarterback, we need to be much more consistent in throwing the ball. Wide Receiver , Xavier Smith made a ton of plays, but outside of him, I was disappointed in the playmaker abilities of our wideouts,” Simmons added.
The Rattlers got off to a slow start having to punt on their opening drive and allowing the scrappy Rams, who where fresh off a NCAA Division 2 playoff appearance last season, to score first with 7:24 remaining in the 1st quarter on a 7-yard run by Marcus Fulks.
The Rams held the lead well into the second quarter when the Rattlers scored on a 1 yard
De'Andre Francis run with 7:10 remaining in the 2nd Quarter. The Rattlers scored after Jeremy Moussa connected with Smith on an eight yards pass with 2:06 remaining in the half. kicker Jose' Romo-Martinez knocked in a chip shot from 29 yards out as part of the 17.
In the third, Romo-Martinez added two more field goals from 24 and 31 yards to extend the lead 23-7.
Offensively the Rattlers racked up 395 yards in 69 plays with 230 coming through the air and 165 on the ground. and gave up 299 yards to the Rams on 61 plays.
This was probably one of the Rattlers most disciplined games as they were only penalized 3 times for 10 yards.
"Excited to get a win, obviously we didn't play our best ball, but it feels good to get in the win column," said head coach Willie Simmons. "It's good to continue our home winning streak, one of the longest in the nation, so that's been our goal, so we wanted to keep that intact.”
"Defensively, I thought we played really good football. We gave up a couple of plays early and obviously the late touchdown. Overall I thought those guys competed hard and played at a high level. Offensively, we left a lot to be desired. We definitely need to play better across the board. Up front, we need to fix some things as far as communications. At quarterback, we need to be much more consistent in throwing the ball. Wide Receiver , Xavier Smith made a ton of plays, but outside of him, I was disappointed in the playmaker abilities of our wideouts,” Simmons added.
The Rattlers got off to a slow start having to punt on their opening drive and allowing the scrappy Rams, who where fresh off a NCAA Division 2 playoff appearance last season, to score first with 7:24 remaining in the 1st quarter on a 7-yard run by Marcus Fulks.
De'Andre Francis run with 7:10 remaining in the 2nd Quarter. The Rattlers scored after Jeremy Moussa connected with Smith on an eight yards pass with 2:06 remaining in the half. kicker Jose' Romo-Martinez knocked in a chip shot from 29 yards out as part of the 17.
In the third, Romo-Martinez added two more field goals from 24 and 31 yards to extend the lead 23-7.
Offensively the Rattlers racked up 395 yards in 69 plays with 230 coming through the air and 165 on the ground. and gave up 299 yards to the Rams on 61 plays.