Rattled: Southern drops game to conference rival FAMU

They were coming in hot off of an upset win against Alcorn State in their previous outing. The Jags would look to continue their winning ways against conference rival FAMU. The Rattlers were also coming off of a win against Grambling. This would be Southern’s first matchup with the Rattlers since 2019. In their last game, FAMU SouthernFAMU defeated Southern 21-27 in a hotly contested game. Southern would look to avenge that loss and garner their first back-to-back win of the season.
The game started as a shoot-out as both teams traded scores. FAMU was the first to put points on the board,, but the Jag’s wouldn’t stay down for long. Southern’s first touchdown came on a five-yard touchdown pass from Redshirt Junior Glendon McDaniel to Sophmore Tight End Ethan Howard. Southern then continued their scoring to close out the first quarter with a goal-line rush from Redshirt Senior Devon Benn to give Southern the lead 14-7.
However, the second quarter was a different story as the Jags were only able to score just three points against their opponents. Their defense though formidable,, gave up 13 points to the Rattlers in the second quarter. Southern continued to battle as they went into halftime down 20-17. Southern had looked to answer back in the second half but ran into a snag.
The second half was a low-scoring affair for the Jags as they could not put up any second-half points. The Jag’s defense stood out as they gathered multiple stops,, but the offense failed to capitalize due to drops and more than a few misthrows. In the end, the Jags would go down in this game 29-17 in a losing effort.
Interim Coach Jason Rollins took time out to speak to how the team’s offense played in the second half. “We didn’t execute like we wanted to down the stretch.” This was a surprise as the Jags scored 17 points in the first half and just seemed to run out of gas in the second.
Quarterback Glendon McDaniel spoke to the “little things” when describing the Jags offense. “All night it was just little stuff that turned into big stuff.” McDaniel completed just a little over 50% of his passes on the night with just one touchdown. This was just one part of the offenses struggles on the night.
Redshirt Junior Rover Brian Jordan Jr. spoke to the defenses performance in throughout the game. “We had a good week of practice.” During the second half the defense had their highlight of the night with multiple goal line stops. “It just shows our fight, just how we keep fighting.”
The Jags will look to bounce back next week against longtime rival Jackson State. Jackson will enter the game as the number one team in the SWAC West division. The last time these teams played was during the historic spring season when the Jags beat their rivals 34-14. The Jags will look to have similar results next weekend.