After Florida Classic blowout of B-CU, FAMU will open FCS playoffs at SE Louisiana
Florida A&M is in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.
After finishing the regular season with eight straight victories, including Saturday’s 46-21 rout of rival Bethune-Cookman in the Florida Classic, the Rattlers did just enough to get into the FCS postseason party.
The Rattlers, the runners-up to 10-1 Jackson State in the SWAC, will open the FCS playoffs Saturday at Southeast Louisiana (8-3) at 7 p.m. The winner of that game will move on to face the tournament’s No. 3 seed, 10-1 James Madison (Dec. 4, 2 p.m.)
SE Louisiana finished second in the Southland Conference behind Incarnate Word (9-2).
FAMU (9-2) football coach Willie Simmons has not been making any assumptions as the Rattlers continued to inched closer to the playoffs.
The Rattlers started out 1-2, but with the emergence of quarterback Rasean McKay and the No. 1-ranked defense in the country they piled up victories.
Each win started to give Simmons a realization: If the Rattlers could win all of their remaining games with style, the playoffs were a realistic goal. The players bought in.
After Saturday’s thumping of B-CU, Simmons figured his team had done enough.
He was right.
“We tried not to talk about it, but we felt we needed to win in convincing fashion,” Simmons said after the Florida Classic. “We knew that we had to get some style points for this hopeful playoff selection.”
