With 10 minutes remaining Saturday the FAMU Rattlers mounted an impressive comeback to beat the Bulldogs of SC State 27-24 before 17,153 fans.
In defeating S.C. State (4-4, 3-2) for the first time since 2001 and in Orangeburg for the first time since 1997, FAMU (5-3, 3-2) amassed 439 total yards of offense. Freshman quarterback Damien Fleming led the Rattlers with 297 yards on 34-40 passing and a touchdown.
S.C. State quarterback Richard Cue, who left the game briefly in the second quarter, managed only 121 passing yards, but rushed for 63 yards and a score.
Where FAMU dominated the action was in time of possession. By holding the football for 43 minutes and 43 seconds, the Rattlers limited the number of plays for the Bulldogs' offense and took advantage of a fatigued defense.
The Rattlers controlled the football for 11½ minutes in the first quarter, but only managed a 23-yard field goal by Trevor Scott.
At one point, the Bulldogs scored 14 unanswered points in the span of 71 seconds and it looked like the Rattlers would go down in yet another ugly defeat as had become all to familiar. However, the Rattlers never gave up.
"It's 60 minutes in a ballgame," FAMU head coach Joe Taylor said. "We learned that two weeks ago when we came out 21-0 (against Howard in a 29-28 loss) and then we decided to turn our uniforms in. We learned from that you've got to play 60 minutes."
"You can't say nothing but good things about (FAMU)," Buddy Pough said, SC State head coach. "They came here and outplayed us a bunch."
