Pressure can bust pipes, or it will make diamonds. In this case, the burden of needing to be the first Southwestern Athletic Conference program to win the Cricket Celebration Bowl seven years will produce championship rings for Florida A&M after defeating Howard 30-26 on their way to winning their first black college football national championship since 1998.
The Rattlers, led by the game’s Offensive MVP wide receiver Kelvin Dean (3 receptions, 87 yards, two touchdowns), became the fifth team to earn a Celebration Bowl victory.
“Can’t say enough about these guys. Just what they’ve had to overcome and endure this season. We knew coming into the season that we had a chance to be special, but we knew that it wasn’t going to be given to us easy,” said FAMU head coach Willie Simmons of his team’s journey this year.
Here are my takeaways on Florida A&M snapping the SWAC’s five-game losing streak in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
Legendary Status
As stated in my Celebration Bowl preview, Willie Simmons joined HBCU coaching legends Jake Gaither (1959-1962) and Billy Joe (1995-2000) as the only head coaches in program history to have won at least nine games in four straight seasons.
Saturday’s victory over Howard gives Simmons and the Rattlers win #12, tying Rudy Hubbard for the most wins in a single season. That 12th win came on the 45th anniversary of FAMU becoming the only Historically black college to have won the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship.
Don’t Call It A Comeback
A first-quarter fumble by the Rattlers on their own 37 would see the Bison cap off a short six-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run by wide receiver Kasey Hawthorne, extending Howard’s lead to 14-0. Recent history has shown us that when the Bison extended their lead to double-digits at any point of the game this season, they were 4-1.
FAMU would eventually go on a 30-12 run, making it the second time this year Howard would relinquish, and Florida A&M would erase a two-touchdown deficit. Overcoming the 14-point lead would become the largest comeback in Celebration Bowl history.
Casting A Dark Cloud In A Dome
Howard is only the third opponent this season to score more than 24 points on FAMU’s Dark Cloud Defense. But the nation’s second-best total defense would hold the Bison to 187 total yards, their lowest offensive output of the season.
This stingy unit forced quarterback Quinton Williams to throw three interceptions.
“You can’t win many games when you turn the ball over three times. That’s on me,” said the signal-caller who ended the regular season with four interceptions.
Spread Love Via QB Play
Kelvin Dean earned Offensive MVP honors, but quarterback Jeremy Moussa (who received my vote) would have another quality outing despite his two interceptions.
Completing 19 passes to nine receivers in a game for the fifth time this year, Moussa would have an impressive fourth quarter. The senior from Chino Hills, CA, went 7/10 for 164 yards and threw three touchdowns in the final stanza – tying his career high for the sixth time.
Takes One To Beat One
People have speculated on why the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has dominated the Southwestern Athletic Conference since the turn of the century. Two of the more prevalent ones are that the MEAC is more brutish in their playing style, while having two weeks to prepare for the Celebration Bowl has put the SWAC champion at a disadvantage versus its counterpart, who has almost an entire month to prepare and rest for the title game.
When questioned about these theories, Simmons replied, “The MEAC is the physical league. The SWAC is the speed league. Well, we built our team to be both.”
The FAMU head coach added, “We could have played the game yesterday if that meant we could play [in the Celebration Bowl] … which team that prepares the best will be the one that wins.”
Simmons’ preparation has earned him a 15-4 record against MEAC opponents since becoming head coach in Tallahassee, while the Rattlers are now 3-0 in interleague play since joining the SWAC in 2021.
