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FAMU football stunned by Mississippi Valley State | Takeaways
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- FAMU football stunned by Mississippi Valley State | Takeaways
Florida A&M football's 23-game home-game winning streak came to an end on Saturday afternoon.
Winless Mississippi Valley State is winless no more as it stunned the Rattlers , 24-21, at Bragg Memorial Stadium in a SWAC showdown before a crowd of 12,485.
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Three turnovers, including quarterback Daniel Richardson 's fumbled snap, clinched the Delta Devils ' first victory on the season and first-ever win against the Rattlers.
The Rattlers suffered their first home loss of the season and fell to 5-5, which will be the first time since 2018 with the same record.
A disappointed loss leads to a disappointed locker room and FAMU coach James Colzie is looking to make a change going forward.
MVSU's defense entered the game allowing 41.3 points and 449.5 yards per game. FAMU hadn't lost consecutive conference games since 2018.
"At the end of the day, we leave the stadium ... not good enough. We got to make some hard decisions internally," Colzie said.
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"That's not a 5-5 football team inside that locker room. That's what our record is, but it's love coach, just being a head coach of this football team. The end result today is not good enough."
FAMU outgained Mississippi Valley State 431-341, including a 172-90 advantage on the ground.
FAMU hopes to finish on a high note in the season finale when the Rattlers take on Bethune Cookman in its annual Classic.
Errors on special teams put MSVU in scoring position
Special teams have been a disaster for the Rattlers. It started with a muffed punt by their freshman punter Gunnar Trout, which would set the Delta Devils ' first touchdown to tie the game at seven.
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The Rattlers' placekicker Cameron Gillis missed a 36-yard field, leaving three points on the board, and a 71-yard kickoff return set up a four-yard touchdown pass by MSVU's La'Jarian Williams to Cameron Nelson.
"We showed out today that a lot was lossed in the football game today," Colzie said. "A lot were the same things. Not taking care of the football, penalties, not being as good like what we needed to be."
Daniel Richardson was pressured the entire game
MSVU brought a lot of heat against FAMU's offense. Richardson, who battled a concussion last week, was sacked twice but pressured the entire game.
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Richardson was efficient as he completed seven straight passes in the first quarter. He finished the game by completing 18 of his 24 passes for 259 yards and a touchdown.
His only touchdown pass was in the fourth quarter when he threw a tunnel screen to Jamari Gassett. Despite a solid performance, his fumble on a offensive snap would end up be the lastplay for FAMU.
Turnovers led to missed scoring opportunities
The Rattlers defeated themselves due to three turnovers. Two of the turnovers were fumbled by the offense following a big play that put the Rattlers inside the 20.
Running back Bo Summersett ran a 51-yard drive that put the Rattlers inside the two. On the next play, Sommersett was going to complete the drive with his second rushing touchdown but fumbled near the endzone.
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The Delta Devils took advantage with a 60-yard touchdown, which would be MSVU's third score of the day.
With FAMU dominated in the second half, the Rattlers needed one more score to clinch the game. A high snap that went right through his hands led to FAMU's third turnover, clinching the winning for the Delta Devils.
"When you lose the turnover battle , you lose the big play battle, when you get the chance to ultimately tie or whatever the case may be, we had a couple of ways to losing the football team," Colzie said.
"We found four ways. We need to take care of the football."
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Peter Holland Jr. covers Florida State athletics for Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at PHolland@Gannett.com or on X @_Da_pistol.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Takeaways from FAMU football's defeat to Mississippi Valley State
