Offense shows composure and shines, 3 takeaways from FAMU football's second fall scrimmage

Florida A&M football left Bragg Memorial Stadium on Saturday with a good sense of what's to come this season.

The Rattlers completed their second scrimmage as they enter the homestretch of fall training camp.

It was a day where the offense hit its stride and the Dark Cloud Defense showed that it was still mortal after having a few lapses in a still solid performance.

"The guys competed," FAMU coach Willie Simmons said.

"The defense started really fast with a lot of high intensity plays. Offensively, we started slow, but once it got going, we showed some big play capabilities of the group.

"Now it's about consistency and doing it for four whole quarters."

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Offensive attack shows signs of life

A week ago, the Rattlers offense put no points on the board in the first scrimmage.

On Saturday, it put together four touchdown drives with Jeremy Moussa (2), Cameron Sapp (1), and Junior Muratovic (1) at quarterback. Last season's starter Rasean McKay was rested for the day and didn't dress out.

Without starting center TJ Lee, the first play was a snap miscue as Moussa led the first offense. The drive didn't lead to any points, but the Rattler offense got the ball moving to about midfield before punting.

Moussa passed for two touchdowns, connect with receiver Xavier Smith for a 20-yard score and the other one being a shovel pass to running back Terrell Jennings.

"Those two drives were really good and was a lot of improvement from last week. I can't do my job without the other ten guys on the field. I'm just the trigger man. They make my job easy," Moussa said.

"We were more detail oriented. It's a lot of room for improvement, but we did some good things as well. We have to focus on not beating ourselves.

"If we could do that, we're going to be a pretty damn good offense this year."

Simmons liked the display that his offense put on as it showed its wherewithal to put points on the board once they crossed the 50-yard line.

"Once we got settled in and got the ball closer to endzone, we were able to put some touchdowns together. A lot of them were big plays and we also had a couple of big runs," he said.

"Jeremy's a cerebral player, studies the ball, and understands what we're doing. The more he gets comfortable and plays, I definitely think he has a chance to be a quarterback that could lead this program to higher heights.

"It was good to see the big playmaking ability that we have come out today and as we got going, I thought the quarterback settled down and begin to make some throws."

The defense is human, too

The Dark Cloud Defense was the talk of the first scrimmage. While it allowed four touchdowns this time, the output was steadfast.

The defensive front put pressure on the Rattler offense to cause negative yardage and rushed throws.

"We had a lot of tackles for loss, so that means the defensive line played well. They're making strides and every one is getting better," Simmons said.

"It's never a finished product, so we have to focus on the details. All in all, the talent is there."

The star of the secondary was redshirt senior cornerback Eric Smith.

Early in the scrimmage, the Miami homer caught an interception from Trey Fisher and returned it for a 40-yard touchdown. Smith also was subject to a slew of pass breakups to interrupt to aerial attack.

"Eric's one of the most talented and arguable the fastest guy on the team. We saw that today as he ran down the sideline," Simmons said.

"If his off the field habits catches up to his what he's capable of doing on the field, you have a guy that has All-American and possibly next level potential."

Leader of the cornerbacks B.J. Bohler has went through the transformation along with Smith as they switch from nickelbacks to corners. Both of them have been instrumental to each other's development.

"Eric is a dog," Bohler said.

"He pushes me to be a better competitor so we try to tone up each other's technique. It's exciting seeing him make plays out there."

Staying clean

A cause for concern that has followed the Rattlers is staying penalty and mistake free.

Last season, they led the FCS in penalties against.

After the first scrimmage, they were subject to many pre-snap penalties and mental lapses. This time around, the Rattlers were much more fluent and virtuous in their performance.

"I didn't see as many pre-snap penalties, so we definitely cleaned that part up. The snaps for the first time was a little bit of an issue. Our starting center TJ Lee didn't scrimmage today, so that contributed to a little bit of it," Simmons said.

"We've cut down on the penalties, so we made progress in some areas. I definitely want to see us clean up that area and work hard over the next two weeks."

Gerald Thomas III covers FAMU athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Football: Team puts together all-around performance in second scrimmage