Florida A&M faces harsh lessons after 77-7 loss to University of Miami

Sports admin September 11, 2026 0 Comments

Florida A&M faces harsh lessons after 77-7 loss to University of Miami

Coming into Thursday night, Florida A&M came to Hard Rock Stadium to upset the University of Miami on the road.

A tall task, as Miami leads the all-time series against Florida A&M (FAMU) with a 12-1 record. However, the 77-7 loss gave FAMU coach Quinn Gray Jr. a better idea of where the program currently stands and what needs to improve moving forward.

Gray tried his best to motivate his team, but after Miami scored three touchdowns in the first quarter, it became evident how difficult that task was going to be.

Four days after South Carolina State beat FAMU 31-13 in the Orange Blossom Classic, Gray said the Rattlers needed to return to the “drawing board,” identify their best 11 and reminded his team that “there’s no cavalry coming.”

The Rattlers showed up and played with effort with an opportunity to show whether any of those lessons had already taken hold.

Miami showed Gray and the Rattlers that there is still plenty of work to be done.

“Tonight told us that we still have work to do as a program. We have to get our guys to understand what our standard is,” Gray said. “While I believe we play with effort and energy, we have to be better at our ability to make plays consistently! It doesn’t matter if we make a play here or there, we have to make plays consistently for 60 minutes.”

The Miami Hurricanes took control early. They scored seven touchdowns in the first half and led at halftime 49-0.

The numbers illustrated the separation.

Miami had 453 yards in the first half compared to FAMU’s 83. Of those yards, 201 came on the ground as the Hurricanes averaged 10.6 yards per carry. FAMU had 26 rushing yards in the half.

Darian Mensah was nearly perfect for Miami, completing 14 of his 15 passes for 252 yards and three touchdowns.

FAMU punted seven times in the first half.

Miami didn’t punt the entire game.

“We learned that we have to stick together. Miami is a top-10 team and a national champion runner-up. We knew tonight was a huge task. But we can’t get down. We can’t let tonight define our season,” FAMU quarterbackk Dustin Fletcher said. “We have to pick ourselves up and get ready for Tennessee State next weekend.”

Things continued to go Miami’s way after halftime. The Hurricanes added four touchdowns in the third quarter to make it 77-0. FAMU scored its lone touchdown, a Caleb McKenzie 72 yard fumble return in the fourth quarter.

Miami ended the night with 856 total yards. FAMU had 107. The Hurricanes had 426 yards through the air and another 430 on the ground.

Miami also had 42 first downs, while FAMU finished with four.

Mensah finished the night 14 of 15 for 252 yards and three touchdowns before Luke Nickel took over. Nickel didn’t miss a pass, going 8 fo -8 for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

Miami also had two running backs go over 100 yards. Javian Mallory led the Hurricanes with 142 yards and two touchdowns, while Mark Fletcher Jr. added 105 yards and two scores.

Malachi Toney caught four passes for 96 yards and a touchdown.

FAMU, meanwhile, couldn’t get much going offensively. The Rattlers had only 107 yards for the game. Dustin Fletcher threw for 33 yards and Armond Parker finished with 37, while FAMU managed only 37 yards on the ground.

Fletcher also led FAMU in rushing with 24 yards. Chase Gillespie and Corey Petty each had 20 receiving yards.

The Hurricanes presented FAMU with a measuring stick against one of the country’s top programs, and the distance was apparent throughout the night.

“We understand where we are from a roster standpoint, and we know what we have from a talent pool and we have to be creative with putting our guys in great situations to be successful” Gray said.

Fletcher pointed specifically to what Miami was able to do up front.

“They controlled the line. That’s the biggest thing when playing against P4 schools — controlling the line. And of course depth,” Fletcher said.

Gray acknowledged the talent difference between the two programs. “Now are we Miami talented, absolutely not, but I think we are talented enough to compete and win some games on our level” said Gray.”

FAMU’s two losses at Hard Rock Stadium came against teams at different levels of college football. South Carolina State showed FAMU where it stood against one of the strongest programs at the FCS and HBCU level. Four days later, Miami showed the Rattlers what the separation looks like against one of the best programs in the country.

Gray said the opponent doesn’t change the importance of fixing FAMU’s mistakes.

“Mistakes and mental errors don’t care who it is you’re playing,” Gray said. “When there’s a missed assignment against Albany state doesn’t make it any less important if it’s vs the University of Miami. If you have a missed assignment it’s just that, and we need to get corrected at the next opportunity we have to correct it.”

FAMU now returns to Tallahassee before playing again.

“[We need to] play Rattlers football and stay motivated. Don’t look at the score. Look at the possession and what we went to achieve,” Fletcher said.