Willie Simmons wants team to clean up penalties, 3 takeaways from FAMU's first fall scrimmage

Saturday was the first opportunity for Florida A&M football to evaluate where it stood ahead of the season opener at North Carolina Aug. 27.

After a week of practice,  the Rattlers scrimmaged at Bragg Memorial Stadium.

The dark cloud defense showed that it hadn't missed a beat after a top-10 showing in the FCS in 2021.

The offense held its own, but wanted to polish its  plays to adjust to the fast tempo it plans tto execute this season.

Last season, FAMU was the most penalized team in the FCS.

Coach Willie Simmons was content with his team's performance, but wants it to play smarter in order to excel to its full potential.

"Overall, I'm pretty pleased with how we flew around," he said.

"We had too many pre-snap penalties on offense and some unsportsmanlike penalties -- just little things we have to clean up to be a disciplined football team."

Offense a work in progress

The Rattlers offense experienced a few challenges.

At times it had trouble moving the ball down field. Some of it was from its own doing due to pre-snap penalties.

"It wasn't the best day, but we got better," quarterback Rasean McKay said. "Today we was playing with a quick clock, so the timing was fast.

"We didn't reach our potential, but we got time to get everything together."

Simmons wasn't ready to grade the quarterbacks until he reviewed the film. However, he knows he wants his team to adapt to the speed of the play calling.

And it started with the snap callers.

"We did some good things and some things we got to work on," he said. "We got to push our tempo better. It was too many delay of games, and that's on the quarterback.

"We have to push our tempo to be the dynamic, explosive offense that we're capable of being."

Defense still prominent

Defensive players have emphasized their depth and not wanting to have any drop-off after Markquese Bell's departure.

They swarmed to ball carriers and gave the offense fits at times.

"I liked what I saw," senior linebacker Isaiah Land said.

"We got to focus on the pre-snap penalties, but between the whistle, we played with a good effort and executed. This first scrimmage was to get a lot of the rust knocked off and get back in the playing mode."

Gadsden County Zaire Riley got on the highlight reel again when the freshman cornerback jumped a Cameron Sapp pass near the sideline for a 40-yard interception return. Earlier this week, Riley made ESPN with a one-handed interception during one-on-one drills against senior receiver Xavier Smith.

"Zaire has been doing a lot in this camp and showing that he could start for us," Land said. "He's a true freshman playing like he's been here."

Simmons liked the energy displayed by the defense. He gave props to how it found the ball in every situation and made momentum-shifting plays.

"They brought the intensity today -- a lot of tackles for loss and negative plays to show the big play ability that they have," Simmons said.

"The defensive backs are flying around and have been making plays on the defensive back end. We have a well-rounded group that's versatile in what we're trying to build.

"The dark cloud defense in our opinion will be one of the best in the country.

Only way is up

Simmons expressed great optimism for improvement for his team following the scrimmage.

Florida State transfer tight end Koby Gross showed he could be a key addition to theoffense.

He caught a few passes when he targeted by quarterbacks, highlighted by a 30-yard scoring pass from Sapp.

"Koby jumped out and made a couple of really nice catches," Simmons said. "It was good to see him healthy and come out and make some plays."

Reflecting on the scrimmage, Simmons felt each  side of the ball had high points fand will look to make revisions as the Rattlers enter their second week of fall training camp.

"Across the board, everyone did something good," he said. "The offensive and defensive lines had their moments. Even the kickers. "We only have two opportunities to simulate what we're going to see on Aug. 27.

"All in all, I'm pleased with where we are and we have a great barometer to measure how far we've come."

FAMU SPORTS ROUNDUP

• Football adds former Florida State defensive back James Colzie III (Defensive Pass Game Coordinator/Cornerbacks) and Davon Morgan (Cornerbacks) to staff.

• Defending SWAC volleyball champions set to begin practice on Tuesday, Aug. 9.

• FAMU football scheduled for second scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 13.

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: Discipline emphasized in first fall scrimmage