Tag: Florida A&M Rattlers

Former LSU offensive linemen Kardell Thomas back in the transfer portal

A former LSU offensive linemen is back in the transfer portal after spending a year at Florida A&M.

A former LSU offensive lineman is in the portal for the second time.

According to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, [autotag]Kardell Thomas[/autotag] is looking for a new home after spending last year at Florida A&M.

Thomas began his career at LSU in 2019 but didn’t see any offensive snaps until 2020. He saw his most action in 2021 when he made two starts and played 118 snaps at right guard.

He stuck around for Brian Kelly’s first year in 2022 but played sparingly. That’s when Thomas hit the portal and ended up at FAMU.

Thomas played 621 snaps with the Rattlers last year, making 10 starts and earning the Rattlers’ second-best pass-blocking grade, per Pro Football Focus.

A former top-100 recruit, Thomas could be looking to make a jump back to the FBS level. He’s one of the few remaining college players who was a member of LSU’s 2019 national title team, but due to a redshirt and the COVID year, he has another year of eligibility.

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Duke eyeing Florida A&M head coach for new coaching staff

Duke head coach Manny Diaz has his eyes on the Rattlers head coach and a former coworker of his for his coaching staff.

New Duke head coach Manny Diaz is building out his staff for his debut season, and a report from 247Sports’ Matt Zenitz on Friday says he has his eyes on Florida A&M head coach Willie Simmons for his running backs coach.

Simmons has been the Rattlers’ head coach for the past five seasons. He led the team to a 45-13 record in that time frame, highlighted by a 12-1 season this year that culminated in a Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game victory over Prairie View A&M and a Celebration Bowl victory over Howard.

After an 0-2 start in 2022, Florida A&M has won 21 of its past 22 games.

Simmons worked with Diaz before while they were both at Middle Tennessee. Diaz was the team’s defensive coordinator from 2006-09, also coaching safeties and linebackers. Simmons coached the running backs from 2007-11, and he was promoted to offensive coordinator for his final season before he left to coach at Alcorn State.

At just 43 years old, Simmons has catapulted up the coaching ranks. He was made a coordinator at 30 years old, and he has nine years of head coaching experience already.

Florida A&M holds on against Howard for a victory in the Cricket Celebration Bowl

The Rattlers scored a late go-ahead touchdown to complete a 14-point comeback featuring 31 combined fourth-quarter points.

Florida A&M won its 12th game of the season on Saturday with a 30-26 comeback victory over Howard.

The Bison, who finished the regular season 6-6, entered Saturday’s game as touchdown underdogs but got off to a blistering start. Senior running back Jarett Hunter found the end zone from eight yards away in the opening minutes for the early lead. After the Rattlers fumbled on their opening possession, Howard’s Kasey Hawthorne scored from three yards out just three minutes later. All of a sudden, 11-1 Florida A&M was down 14-0 in the opening five minutes.

After a stagnant second and third quarter left the Howard lead 16-10, Florida A&M quarterback Jeremy Moussa helped his team surge ahead in the fourth quarter. He connected with running back Kelvin Dean for two long touchdowns in three minutes, first a 21-yarder to take the lead before a 53-yard catch-and-run made the score 24-16 in favor of the Rattlers.

Then, after all the work to overcome the initial deficit, disaster struck. Howard’s Carson Hinton intercepted Moussa and ran it back 27 yards for a touchdown, giving the Bison the lead once more at 26-24.

The Rattlers quarterback bounced back, however, throwing his third touchdown of the day to put Florida A&M back on top with less than six minutes remaining. After a pair of interceptions from Howard quarterback Quinton Williams on the Bisons’ final two drives, the Rattlers’ 12th win of the year was official.

Here are the best images from the Cricket Celebration Bowl.

 

Major takeaways from Florida basketball’s 21-point win over FAMU

Florida bounced back from its loss to Virginia with a 21-point drubbing of Florida A&M. Next up, the Florida State Seminoles come to town.

After falling flat against Virginia to close out the first week of the 2023-24 college basketball season, the Florida men’s basketball team bounced back on Tuesday with a convincing 89-68 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers at the O’Dome.

The Gators shot 48% from the field and 32% from long distance, but free-throw shooting continues to be an issue for the team. Through three games, UF has yet to finish a game above 75% from the stripe.

Still, scoring 90 points is usually a good sign in college basketball, even if it comes against a mediocre opponent. Plus, the program could use a bit of a boost between matchups with ranked opponents from the ACC. Florida State is coming up next Friday.

Here’s what Tuesday’s loss means for the Gators.

Betting Odds: Florida basketball vs. FAMU Rattlers on Tuesday

Here are the odds for tonight’s hoops action between Florida and FAMU.

Florida basketball returns home to continue its 2023-24 schedule with a matchup against the Florida A&M Rattlers inside the O’Connell Center on Tuesday, Nov. 14, for the third game of the season.

The Gators enter the game with both a win and a loss. The former came in the season-opener against the Loyola Maryland Greyhounds in Gainesville while the latter came last Friday night against the Virginia Cavaliers in the Hall of Fame Series held in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Neither team is ranked or receiving votes in the latest USA TODAY Coaches Poll and AP Poll.

Below is a look at the betting odds ahead of the Tuesday night affair between Florida and FAMU.

[gambcom-standard rankid=”3011″ ]

Game preview: Florida prepares for Florida A&M Rattlers visit Tuesday night

The Florida Gators basketball team returns home for an in-state contest with the Florida A&M Rattlers, who are hoping to gain its first win.

The Florida Gators return to the Swamp after a nail-biting 73-70 loss to the Virginia Cavaliers in the Hall of Fame series last Friday.

Florida’s shot at redemption arrives on Tuesday afternoon when the Florida A&M Rattlers visit the O’Dome in search of the program’s first win in 2023. The last time the two schools met on the hardwood last season, the Gators came out victorious, 102-62.

The Gators displayed the ability the hang around with a perennial March Madness competitor that is Virginia, and a victory over the Rattlers will be a positive swing of the pendulum for the Gators before they head into the real meat of the 2023 campaign.

Here’s what to look out for when the two in-state basketball programs tip off.

No offense, no problem: Jac Caglianone, bullpen carry Florida to regional win

A win is a win. Florida’s offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders Friday night, but three runs was enough for Jac Caglianone and the bullpen to secure a win in the first round of the Gainesville Regional.

Florida’s offense no-showed on Friday night, but the Gators still came away with a 3-0 win over the Florida A&M Rattlers in the opening round of the 2023 Gainesville Regional.

The last time UF hosted FAMU, the Gators got things done in seven innings, outscoring the Rattlers, 17-7. Things seemed to be headed down the same path early when Josh Rivera blasted a two-run, no-doubt home run in the bottom of the first off Caleb Granger, but the Andrew College transfer held Florida in check for the rest of the night.

Granger allowed just two more hits through the next five innings, pitching successfully to contact. His one strikeout pales compared to Jac Caglianone’s seven, but the difference between the two was just the one pitch Rivera got ahold of.

Speaking of Caglianone, Kevin O’Sullivan got the good version of his dynamic two-way star tonight. Caglianone has looked really good for about a month or so, but that last start against a blazing-hot Vanderbilt team had some worried that the four-inning starts were back for good.

Have no fear. Caglianone went six scoreless, giving up just four hits and three walks. The plan early was simple: attack Florida A&M with the fastball. In fact, Caglianone threw 10 straight to start the game, and it worked!

The flamethrowing lefty cruised through the order the first time through, rarely mixing in any breaking balls or offspeed stuff. Caglianone began mixing in the slider the second time through, which threw off his fastball command a bit.

He regrouped by turning to the changeup, which has been his best pitch over the last month. He locates it well (low and outside), and it sets up a 97-99 mph heater for a punchout much better than the slider. If Caglianone is going to stay a starter longterm (think MLB), it’s that changeup that’s going to get him there. It’s been a work in progress all season, but the results are finally starting to show.

Unfortunately, Florida’s anemic offense meant that the team had to turn to some of its top bullpen arms on Day 1 of the Regional. Ryan Slater needed just 15 pitches to get through the seventh and eighth perfectly, and Brandon Neely earned his league-leading 11th save of the season.

Neely ran into a little trouble, giving up three hits to the Rattlers, but Richie Schiekofer and Rivera bailed him out each making a play at home. Perhaps there’s something to be said about the decision to send both runners, but FAMU needed to score and hadn’t had many chances all night.

Luke Heyman added a crucial insurance run for the Gators in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single to right field that scored Wyatt Langford.

Florida advances to play Texas Tech in the winner’s bracket on Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT. The Red Raiders will be the home team. Connecticut and Florida A&M will play the first elimination game of the Regional at noon.

Florida will go with either Brandon Sproat or Hurston Waldrep on the mound. Kyle Robinson is the starter for Texas Tech.

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How to Watch: Florida baseball vs FAMU Rattlers in Gainesville Regional

Take a look at everything you need to know about Friday’s Gainesville Regional action.

Florida baseball opens up the NCAA Regionals in Gainesville, Florida, on Friday as the top-seeded team and is set to face off with the Florida A&M Rattlers in the first game of the weekend event. If you are looking to follow this afternoon’s action on the clay diamond, you have come to the right place.

The Orange and Blue earned a share of the Southeastern Conference’s regular-season title but were unable to earn the tournament crown, getting upended by the Vanderbilt Commodores in the semifinals — Vandy’s first win in five tries during the 2023 campaign. Nonetheless, Kevin O’Sullivan’s squad finished the season ranked second in the nation according to most major polls.

Take a look below at everything you need to know to follow Friday afternoon’s matchup between UF and FAMU.

Kardell Thomas announces transfer destination

Thomas has announced his next stop.

A former five-star has found a new home after entering the transfer portal.

[autotag]Kardell Thomas[/autotag], a Louisiana native who has been with LSU since 2019, will join Florida A&M.

Thomas was one of the top offensive linemen in his class but never carved out a full-time role at LSU. Injuries hampered Thomas’ development and with younger guys surpassing him on the depth chart, it was time to look elsewhere.

Thomas is from Baton Rouge and was always a fan favorite with the purple and gold. He played 197 offensive snaps for LSU with 118 of those coming in 2021, where he made two starts against Louisiana-Monroe and Texas A&M.

Thomas was one of several depth pieces on LSU’s offensive line to enter the portal, which has left the unit undermanned throughout the spring. LSU has been looking to bolster its interior offensive line depth with the transfer portal.

With a couple of years of eligibility left, Thomas has a chance for a fresh start at FAMU.

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PHOTOS: Highlights from Florida baseball’s mercy rule win over FAMU Rattlers

Get a gander at photos from Tuesday night’s mercy-rule win over FAMU.

Florida baseball brought out the bats on Tuesday night against the visiting Florida A&M Rattlers inside Condron Ballpark in Gainesville, Florida, slugging its way to a 17-7 mercy rule win in seven innings. The Gators collected 14 hits which included four doubles and three home runs while the pitching struggled a bit at times — but not badly enough to take the loss.

The second inning held most of the fireworks in this one as FAMU launched its two dingers for the game while the Gators’ three all came in the frame. Among those to go yard was Jac Caglianonewho slugged his NCAA-leading 22nd swat of the season. Yoel Tejeda Jr. got the start for the Orange and Blue, lasting four innings allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks, giving up a pair of solo home runs while striking out one.

Take a look below at the top highlights from Tuesday night’s tangle between the Gators and Rattlers in Gainesville.