JACKSONVILLE, AL. — The Rattlers took to the air and overcame a -2 turnover deficit to triumph 24-21 over the Gamecocks. Florida A&M came into the game ranked #16 and looking to play spoiler to the favorite to win the Atlantic Sun Conference this year. Special team set the tone early as A&M ran back the opening kickoff for a touchdown to quiet down the raucous crowd inside JSU Stadium.

The Gamecocks fabled option offense went to work immediately, driving down the field in methodical fashion and scoring on a 5 yard power right sweep with 2:12 left in the first quarter. Jacksonville State’s defense also came to play as they intercepted the Rattler quarterback early in the ensuing possession. A&M stepped up and made a stop and after forcing JSU to punt. The Rattler offense came alive on the very next play, throwing a 78 yard bomb into the endzone to go up 14-7 early in the 2nd quarter.

A defensive stop for A&M made it seem like they would take early command of this game but the JSU defense spotted a weakness and returned the ball all the way to the end zone to tie the game at 14 apiece with 4 minutes left in the half.

Two defensive stands in a row left JSU with the ball and 2 minutes left. The Gamecocks looked to chew the clock and take the lead before the half but a miscommunication inside the redzone led to a fumble recovery by the Rattlers with less than a minute to play. Florida A&M brought out the hurry up offense and marched down the field to the JSU 8 yard line before kicking a field goal as time expired. 17-14 was the halftime score. Florida A&M’s coach Slowlow explained his decision to go for 3.

“Because there was 9 seconds on the clock I was debating trying for the TD one more time before kicking it but once I decided to take the points instead of risking a turnover there wasn’t any second guessing after that.”

The teams traded touchdowns in the second half, with JSU holding the ball for most of the third and scoring to put themselves up by four. But the Rattlers came roaring back and scored a rushing touchdown to start the last quarter. Coach Slowlow was asked about the Time of Possession difference in the game, as Jacksonville State ended up doubling their opponents ToP 18:39 to 9:05.

“I would like to win ToP at the end of the game cause that means I’m not letting them score when it matters most but I think the scoring matters more than the ToP if I’m scoring fast while they take 5 minutes and end up not scoring I’m happy. So it is a backseat goal if I can win ToP great but I will take a TD over getting more time off the clock.”

Jacksonville State was stopped on their next possession but forced a fumble and had the ball with 3 minutes left and plenty of time to score. They drove to the A&M 34 where their offense stalled and they sent out the field goal unit with a minute to play. The wind had not been a factor all game but as the Gamecock kicker put his leg into it a sudden gust arose and blew the ball wide of the far post.

Coach Slowlow was relieved in the post game press conference and spoke highly of his players’ performance in such a close game.

“Getting to 3-0 especially with that 3rd win coming against a top 5 team and conference opponent means a lot. It gives us the confidence we need to for future matchups, proving to ourselves that we can beat anyone. It also gave us some experience on really tight games in the 4th.”

Florida A&M will hope to rise in the coaches poll as they prepare for a winless Kennesaw State squad in Week Four. Jacksonville State will lick their wounds and gear up to face 0-3 Chattanooga in the next game.