Friday, September 11, 2009

Florida A&M 34, Winston Salem State 10

Rattlers run wild: A&M's Vann scores twice on punt returns of 95 ...

Winston-Salem State had no answer for return specialist LeRoy Vann of Florida A&M last night at Bowman Gray Stadium. Vann, one of the fastest players in the MEAC, scored on two long punt returns as the Rattlers won 34-10 in front of 6,313. On the bright side for the Rams (0-2) was their offense, which came to life a little bit, much to the delight of Coach Kermit Blount.

"I think the tempo was a little better," Blount said of an offense that generated 218 yards. "But those two punt returns really got us. But overall we improved and got better, but the score didn't indicate that." Vann scored on a 95-yard punt return that stunned the Rams in the second quarter. It was bad enough that Vann, 5-9 and 185 pounds, went the 95 yards, but he did so without being touched. He added an 80-yard punt return in the third quarter, which made the score 21-3 and put the Rattlers (2-0) in control.

» PHOTOS: WSSU vs. FAMU - 09-10-09

Vann strikes twice to lead the Rattlers


WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – As for wins and losses, beating Winston-Salem State didn't do anything for the Florida A&M football team in the MEAC standings. But Thursday's 34-10 victory at Gray Stadium gave a national television audience a pretty good peek at what the Rattlers could become this season — not to mention a breathtaking view of one of the nation's most accomplished return specialists.

While the FAMU offense looked out of sorts at times Thursday night, defensive back LeRoy Vann scored twice on punt returns — of 95 and 80 yards — to highlight the night. FAMU can now take the victory over the Rams, a provisional MEAC team, into a week of preparation for Howard University in another Thursday night game that will mean a whole lot more. Vann set a school record for most returns for touchdowns with his second in the third quarter at a time when FAMU needed it. The Rattlers were held to 147 yards in the first half.

Battle would have been ready ... if

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Winston-Salem State University coach Kermit Blount said a lot of things would have been different when his team faced FAMU on Thursday night. He promised that if freshman Brandon Williams had to play at quarterback he'd do better than he did in a season-opening loss to North Carolina A&T State. We saw it — at least through the first three quarters. Up to that point, he threw for 111 yards. That's 20 more yards than the Rams had in total offense in their first game.

Another promise was that the defense would be much tougher and productive against FAMU. Right again. The Rattlers had 194 yards through three quarters — two yards fewer than quarterback Curtis Pulley had rushing alone last weekend. Thanks to kick returner LeRoy Vann the Rattlers went into the fourth with a 16-point lead. Blount had talked about finding ways to stop Vann, too. He didn't find solutions Thursday night as Vann had a record night.

MEAC Football Standings
CONFERENCE OVERALL
Florida A&M 1-0 - 2-0
Hampton 0-0 - 1-0
Norfolk State 0-0 - 1-0
North Carolina A&T 0-0 - 1-0
South Carolina State 0-0 - 1-0
Howard 0-0 - 0-0
Morgan State 0-0 - 0-0
Bethune-Cookman 0-0 - 0-1
Delaware State 0-1 - 0-1

2009 Conference Leaders
PASSING ATT COMP YDS TD
C. Pulley, Florida A&M 40 29 349 3
A. Glaud, Delaware St 32 17 188 1
D. Legree, Hampton 18 10 140 1

RUSHING CAR YDS AVG TD
C. Pulley, Florida A&M 25 230 9.2 1
E. Rocker, Florida A&M 20 94 4.7 0
C. Fears, NC A&T 10 78 7.8 1

RECEIVING REC YDS AVG TD
I. West, Florida A&M 10 163 16.3 1
K. Elliott, Florida A&M 9 95 10.6 1
D. Jackson, Delaware St 7 67 9.6 0

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