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Florida A&M to face I-AA champ in playoffs
LUT WILLIAMS 
Head coach Billy Joe's Rattlers will be making their sixth straight appearance in the 16-team playoff field as they travel to Statesboro, Ga., Saturday to meet this year's Southern Conference co-champs, ranked second in this year's field, in a 12 noon start. The game will be carried live on the MEAC Television Network (Comcast). The game is expected to match the vaunted option rushing attack of Georgia Southern, which leads I-AA with 323.6 yards per game, against the famed air assault from FAMU. In their last meeting in the 1997 playoffs, that was exactly the case. GSU jumped out to a 35-7 first quarter lead before FAMU got its passing game in gear. The result was a 52-37 decision for the Eagles, who ran for 416 yards and six rushing touchdowns. FAMU QB Oteman Sampson (63-37-3) threw for 469 yards and four touchdowns, and brought the Rattlers to within 45-37 late in the game. The Rattlers were done in by five turnovers. GSU leads the series, which dates back to 1984, 7-2. Senior quarterback Quinn Gray leads this year's version of the FAMU Gulf Coast offense. Gray has thrown for 2,498 yards and 18 touchdowns with 14 interceptions. He's been aided by the running of O. J. Marchbanks (493 yards) and Kelsie Lordeus (638 yards), who've combined for 1,131 yards and 14 TDs. The Rattlers have been most effective this season when they have run the ball successfully. The run of six straight playoff berths for FAMU is the longest streak currently in I-AA football. The Rattlers lost 27-0 last year to Western Kentucky in the first round. In 1999, the Rattlers were seconds away from reaching the I-AA final game before a last-second defeat at Youngstown State. They defeated Appalachian State and Troy State on the road to reach the semifinals. In GSU, Florida A&M is facing the most storied program in I-AA history. The Eagles will be going for an unprecedented third straight national title, and an unprecedented seventh in their history. GSU has won back-to-back championships three times ('85 and '86, '89 and '90, '99 and 2000). The Eagles feature senior all-American running back Adrian Peterson who will end his career as the most prolific rusher in I-AA history and one of the NCAA's all-time best. Peterson, who the school is touting as a Heisman Trophy candidate, has topped the 1,000-yard rushing mark in each of his four years at GSU and has 6,559 yards in his regular season career, a new record. Overall, including the playoffs, Peterson has rushed for 8,828 yards and 111 touchdowns, 84 in regular season play and another 27 in 12 playoff games. With 524 regular season points scored, Peterson is the first player in NCAA Div. I history to top the 500-point mark. He also leads all NCAA rushers with 40 100-yard games. This season Peterson, a 5-10 senior from Alchua, Fl., rushed for 1,459 yards and 18 touchdowns en route to earning the Southern Conference offensive player of the year award. Quarterback J. R. Revere (80-34-2) has complemented Peterson in the Eagles' option attack, running for 802 yards and 14 TDs and throwing for 830 yards in ten games. Revere finished behind Peterson in player of the year voting. The Eagles defense is led by tackle Freddy Pesquiera, who won the Southern Conference defensive player of the year award. Pesquiera, a junior from Acworth, Ga., finished second in team statistics with 97 total tackles behind linebacker Joe Scott's 105. © 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
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