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FAMU football's 2024 season a waste? Let's pump the brakes on that conversation. | G. Thomas
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- FAMU football's 2024 season a waste? Let's pump the brakes on that conversation. | G. Thomas
Florida A&M football's postseason hopes have vanished.
However, that doesn't mean that the 2024 season is a throwaway after the Rattlers faltered on the road at Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent Prairie View A&M 31-12.
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Context matters in the Rattlers ' (5-4, 3-2 in SWAC) blowout loss at Prairie View A&M, which was the final knockout blow to extend their season.
Injuries plagued FAMU as its SWAC Offensive Player of the Year candidate, Daniel Richardson, was sidelined with a concussion in the first quarter. Rattlers' veteran running back Kelvin Dean Jr. also got injured early in the game.
FAMU undoubtedly beats Prairie View A&M with those guys on the field.
Florida A&M wide receiver Quan Lee (21) rushes the football in the Rattlers' Week 11 Southwestern Athletic Conference game at the Prairie View A&M Panthers in Prairie View, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.
So, Saturday wasn't a matter of FAMU's lack of skill.
It was an abundance of haplessness.
"People can say what they want, but we lost the best damn quarterback in the conference in the first quarter of the football game. If people won't talk about that, it's nothing else to talk about," said FAMU head coach James Colzie III .
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"We played a good football team without our best player. Now, people will understand why he was named our starting quarterback as opposed to all the other stuff that might have been said a little earlier throughout the season."
It's safe to say FAMU football and first-year coach Colzie won't be bringing the SWAC and Celebration Bowl trophies back to Galimore-Powell Fieldhouse this year.
The Rattlers likely won't get an at-large bid to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, with two SWAC losses to Jackson State and Prairie View A&M.
Twelve regular season games and hang up the cleats for Colzie's first batch of Rattlers, which includes nine returning starters who'd hope to repeat as Black College Football National Champions.
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"It's a situation we haven't been accustomed to in my three years here," Colzie said. "We have a bunch of great seniors on this football team who will want to finish properly."
James Colzie III leading FAMU football to another championship won't come overnight
Colzie took the keys of FAMU football from former Rattlers head coach and current Duke running backs coach Willie Simmons . The former FAMU coach left the program on a high note, capturing the Rattlers' first SWAC title and 16th Black College championship alongside five winning seasons in the same amount of attempts.
FAMU football, under Simmons, also claimed the Black College National title in 2019.
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By nature, Colzie, elevated from the interim and assistant head coach, entered the role of leading FAMU football with Simmons' accomplishments projected onto him by onlookers.
Florida A&M running back Thad Franklin Jr. (23) rushes the football in the Rattlers' Week 11 Southwestern Athletic Conference game at the Prairie View A&M Panthers in Prairie View, Texas, Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024.
However, it wasn't just a plug-and-play situation despite Colzie being one of the most qualified candidates for the FAMU job after Simmons' departure.
Colzie had to endure flipping a roster that underwent vital players from last year's Celebration Bowl-winning team graduating and entering the NCAA Transfer Portal .
The likelihood of immediately fulfilling last year's championship trajectory is slim. It takes time.
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For example, when Simmons was tasked to rebuild FAMU football , the Rattlers finished his first season 6-5 after squandering the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference lead that would have sent them to the Celebration Bowl.
After that, Simmons had three straight nine-win seasons, an FCS playoff appearance in 2021, and completed his tenure with a 12-win season on the way to winning the Celebration Bowl to claim the Black College Football National Championship last year.
Be patient.
"We're going to have to continue to make our due diligence as we kind of get going over the next season or two," Colzie said. "You know you're not going to be perfect. But we'd love to like we've been over the last couple of years."
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FAMU football's final three games vital to what it can become under James Colzie III
FAMU has three games remaining, hosting the winless Mississippi Valley next week, Bethune-Cookman for the Florida Classic on Nov. 23, and Alabama A&M on Nov. 29.
Finishing with an 8-4 record, including winning what many believe is FAMU's most important game, the Florida Classic, would be a fair start for Colzie's era of Rattlers football.
"I mean, 8-4 is better than many people thought we would go," Colzie said. "I think some people had us at 6-6 and finishing second or third in the conference or whatever the case may be."
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Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee .
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU football's 2024 shouldn't be treated as a lost season | G. Thomas
