TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The fourth-ranked UWF football team went toe-to-toe with Florida A&M for the majority of the contest Saturday night before falling to the 24th-ranked Football Championship Subdivision program, 31-10, at Bragg Memorial Stadium.
The teams were meeting for the first time on the gridiron and UWF (2-1) was playing its third FCS program in its seven-year history, having previously defeated North Alabama and McNeese State.
The Argonauts finished with 213 yards of total offense. Peewee Jarrett had 134 yards through the air on 16-of-37 with a touchdown and an interception. CJ Wilson led the ground attack with 57 yards on 12 rushes for 4.8 yards per carry.
The teams went back-and-forth in the first half, playing field position ball with the opening five possessions resulting in punts. The Rattlers got on the board first driving 68 yards to the 11 before the Argos held and FAMU made a 28-yard field goal early in the second quarter.
Wilson took the ensuing kickoff 45 yards to midfield to set up a scoring chance for UWF. Jarrett led the team to the FAMU 14 before Griffin Cerra connected on his first field goal attempt of the season from 31 yards, tying the game at 3-3.
That was how the score stood through halftime.
The Rattlers got the ball to start the second half and marched down the field, capping a 4-minute drive with a 27-yard scoring pass down the middle of the field from Jeremy Moussa to Kamari Young.
FAMU got good field position after a UWF punt and needed just two plays to extend the lead to 17-3 thanks to a 24-yard Moussa to Marcus Riley scoring pass.
Moussa tossed his third touchdown a possession later with a 59-yard completion to Nichols Dixon to make it a 24-3 game.
UWF got its first touchdown of the contest when Jarret found Caden Leggett who then weaved through the middle of the field for a 23-yard touchdown on the fourth play of the final quarter.
FAMU added a rushing TD to account for the final tally. The Rattlers had 475 yards of total offense and 306 passing.
The Argonauts totaled 17 first downs and were 4-of-14 on third down. The squad struggled with penalties, committing 13 infractions for 99 yards.
Tallahassee native Donovan Barnes led the UWF defense with seven tackles.
After two road games the past two weeks, UWF will return home to Pen Air Field next Saturday when it opens Gulf South Conference play against West Georgia (2-1, 1-0). Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
