Florida A&M vs Alcorn State game
Archived — this story has rotated out of today’s deck. It is kept here in full.
The gist
Florida A&M (2-7, 1-4 SWAC) visits Alcorn State (5-4, 3-2 SWAC) on Nov. 7 in Lorman, Mississippi.
Alcorn's top-ranked FCS passing offense faces the SWAC's worst record as FAMU's coach returns.
Background
Florida A&M and Alcorn State are SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) football programs; the Rattlers of FAMU are 2-7, the worst record in the conference, while the Braves are tied for first in the SWAC West and ranked No. 4 in the USA TODAY HBCU Football Rankings. Alcorn State's offense runs through senior quarterback Jaylon Tolbert, who leads the FCS (the top tier of NCAA Division I football below the Bowl Subdivision) with 2,681 passing yards and 27 passing touchdowns through nine games. FAMU head coach Quinn Fordham Gray Sr. returns to Alcorn State, where he was quarterbacks coach from 2020 to 2022, and has handed defensive play-calling to Christopher Cash for the rest of the season. The game is notable because the Rattlers haven't played in Lorman since 1982 and are on a three-game losing streak.
How it unfolded
- Oct 18, 2025Alcorn State lost 33-28 at Florida A&M in Tallahassee, the teams' previous meeting.
- Oct 31, 2026FAMU lost 42-14 to Southern, its third straight defeat; Alcorn State beat Mississippi Valley State 52-17 with 585 yards of offense and three Jaylon Tolbert touchdown passes.
- Nov 7, 2026FAMU (2-7, 1-4 SWAC) visits Alcorn State (5-4, 3-2 SWAC) at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi, with kickoff listed at 3 p.m. Eastern on SWAC TV and 96.1 JAMZ.
Key terms
- SWAC
- A collegiate athletic conference of historically black colleges and universities in the Southern United States, competing in NCAA Division I.
- FCS
- The second-highest level of NCAA college football in the United States, below the Football Bowl Subdivision.
- HBCU
- US colleges founded before 1964 with the purpose of educating African American students.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Analysts
- Tallahassee Democrat reporter Gerald Thomas III predicts Alcorn State 49, FAMU 31, citing Alcorn's offense against FAMU's struggling defense and the long trip to Lorman.
- Analysts
- USA TODAY NETWORK - Florida's Dan Rorabaugh predicts Alcorn State 52, FAMU 10.
- Bulls
- The Kalshi market gives Alcorn State a 78% chance to beat Florida A&M.
Still unverified
Alcorn State's athletics site lists the Nov. 7 kickoff as 2 p.m. CST, while the Tallahassee Democrat and Yahoo reports list 3 p.m. Eastern.