Photo Courtesy of Jeffrey Hood Jr.
After defeating the jaguars of Southern University last week and extending their win streak at Bragg, the Florida A&M Rattlers have another huge win streak to defend as they take on Texas Southern University on Saturday.
The last time FAMU lost a homecoming game was during the 2017-2018 season against North Carolina A&T.
FAMU is currently 4-3 overall and 3-1 in the SWAC coming into this matchup. They sit in the third place in the SWAC East.
Southern is currently 4-4 overall and 3-1 in the SWAC and is first in the Western Division.
FAMU defensive back Kendall Bohler spoke about the significance of defending Ken Riley Field at Bragg Memorial Stadium, especially on homecoming.
“We don’t lose in Bragg, but on top of that, it’s homecoming,” Bohler said. “We definitely can’t lose on homecoming. That’s like us having a party, and they come in destroying the whole party. We are going to have all the fans here. We are going to be dressed in orange; the whole stadium is going to be orange. Definitely electric, so we can’t lose at home. That’s a no-go.”
The Rattlers have a 22-game winning streak at Bragg and hope to defend their home turf for homecoming and not allow history to repeat itself.
With homecoming events happening on campus all this week, Coach Colzie emphasized how important it was for him to keep his players focused.
“Once we are on the field, we are on the field,” Colzie said. “We are going to control the controllables. It’s homecoming, but it’s another opportunity to play a quality football team at home. And we know that for us to be at least still able to obtain our goals, we got to win.”
FAMU quarterback Daniel Richardson has never lost a homecoming game throughout his college career. Richardson says he imagines how electric the FAMU homecoming game will be as this will be his first and last time seeing this environment as a Rattler.
“The fan base going to be out here,” Richardson said. “The band is going to be playing, people coming out the country just to see us play. It means a lot just the support we have. Just to get a win here, we are still protecting the winning streak at the end of the day. And at the end of the day, you don’t want to lose on homecoming.”
Kick-off is Saturday, Nov. 2nd at 4 p.m. Tickets are sold out at the box office, but fans can purchase tickets to watch the game from the AL Lawson Center. The game will also be streamed on ESPN Plus.