'There's no excuses': FAMU navigating condensed week in preparation for FBS opponent USF
The 24-hour rule has expired.
The Florida A&M Rattlers are no longer celebrating their 28-10 season-opening win over the Jackson State Tigers in the 2023 Denny's Orange Blossom Classic.
Instead, the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) Coaches Poll No. 21 Rattlers are looking towards their Week 2 contest against NCAA Division-FBS team South Florida (USF) Saturday.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. inside of Tampa's Raymond James Stadium. FAMU (1-0, 1-0 SWAC) versus USF (0-1) will be streamed via ESPN+ and Rattlers+.
It will be the Rattlers' second consecutive week playing on a national telecast and inside of an NFL stadium. FAMU's game last Sunday was at Miami Gardens' Hard Rock Stadium on ESPN.
"We're excited to play in an NFL stadium on TV for the second week in a row against a quality opponent," sixth-year head coach Willie Simmons (55-23 overall, 34-12 at FAMU) said at Tuesday's press conference.
"This team has a chance to really show what it's made of this week. Whether it's a conference game, non-conference game, guarantee game ― it doesn't matter.
"We only get 13 of these opportunities if we're blessed and we want to make the most of every opportunity."
Last week, FAMU's practice schedule was impacted by Hurricane Idalia.
This week, the Rattlers are faced with a short week of preparation as they return to the field six days following last Sunday's OBC.
FAMU returned from Miami Sunday night, had meetings and film sessions Monday, then practiced Tuesday morning.
"You have to do the little things right, There's no excuses for having a lost day," Simmons said.
"You have to hydrate, rest, and commit yourself to studying film. We're back in classes this week after a few days because of the hurricane. So, it's back to being a student-athlete, balancing everything that comes along with it.
"We're going to make up the preparation time and we'll be ready to go come Saturday."
USF, led by first-year coach Alex Golesh, fell 41-24 to Western Kentucky in its season-opener last Saturday.
The Bulls ran 95 plays against WKU, which tasks Simmons and staff to prepare the Dark Cloud Defense for an up-tempo attack.
"[USF] is one of the fastest teams in America," Simmons said about his observations of the Bulls.
"For them to run 95 plays with the new clock rules shows how fast they're playing. If you're not careful, you're going find yourself close to 100 plays. We talked at nauseam to our defense about that. We have to be prepared for the ball to be snapped every 18 seconds.
"It definitely poses a huge challenge, but we'll watch it and try to simulate it as much as we can."
FAMU not riding high after season-opening win, still a work in progress
The Rattlers are 1-0 for the first time since 2018, Simmons first season as head coach.
Furthermore, FAMU is 1-0 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) competition for the first time since joining the league in 2021.
But Simmons says his team isn't on a high horse.
"One of the luxuries of having a leadership group [captains] is that the guys really handle a lot of that," Simmons said. "They talk to the team about the temperament and mindset. They really just echo what we talked about in training camp.
"Great teams are where their feet are. They keep their blinders on and eyes on the prize. The prize isn't even on beating South Florida, winning the SWAC, or being 1-0. The prize is on 'What can I do today to become better?'
"It doesn't matter where we are in the standings or who the opponent is ― because the opponent is always us. We can't be so much results-driven. We have to be process-driven."
Simmons has had two days to process film from FAMU's victory over JSU.
One thing that jumped out to him was the performances by local talent ― especially the ones who've transferred back home.
Wide receiver Marcus Riley (Rickards/Bethune-Cookman) returned the season-opening kickoff for 96-yards. He was named the SWAC's Newcomer and Special Teams Player of the Week. Running back Jaquez Yant (Godby/Nebraska) had 11 carries for 72 rushing yards, and a touchdown. Punter Trey Wilhoit (Chiles/Eastern Illinois) averaged 43 yards per with a long of 54.
"We're excited about the amount of local talent we have," Simmons said. "It's great football in the Big Bend and we want to make sure we keep that talent here.
"Those guys had really good games and they want to represent for their city to make sure that they make the home team proud."
After jumping out to a 28-0 first-half lead over JSU, the Rattlers didn't register a single point in the final two quarters last Sunday.
The Rattlers were flagged four times for 35 yards in the second half, including a holding call that negated a Jah'Marae Sheread receiving touchdown.
"I don't want to put a damper on the second half like we didn't move the ball ― we just didn't capitalize," Simmons said.
"[FAMU starting quarterback Jeremy Moussa] was uncharacteristically off on some deep throws and wide open balls. We starting to have some uncharacteristic penalties.
"The guys are understanding the importance of finishing drives and eliminating penalties. If we can put those things to the side, we can be a very explosive offense."
Additionally, FAMU had two Cameron Gillis field goal attempts blocked by JSU. Gillis went four of four on PAT's.
Simmons is making corrections ahead of Saturday's game at USF.
"We made some personnel changes to get a little more length ― use the tight end and defensive end bodies," Simmons said of the special teams.
"We feel confident that we won't have issues in the kicking game anymore as far as blocks. We have to see if we're going to make them."
Florida A&M at South Florida Game Information
When: Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023 at 7 p.m. ― Eastern Time
Where: Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida
How to watch: ESPN+, Rattlers+
Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.
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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Rattlers preparing for fast gameday turnaround at USF
