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NORFOLK, Va. — Trevor Scott kicked a 26-yard field goal with 4.4 seconds left to lift Florida A&M to a 31-28 win over Norfolk State on Saturday afternoon at Dick Price Stadium.
NSU (2-6, 1-4 MEAC) tied the game at 28-all when Dennis Brown (Miami, Fla.) hit Dario Walker (Ettrick, Va.) on a 37-yard touchdown pass on 4th-and-7 with 35 seconds left.
But as he had all game, quarterback Curtis Pulley drove the Rattlers (6-2, 2-2) down the field in quick fashion, hitting Adrian Smith for 24 yards before scrambling for 29 yards down to the NSU 23. After two short running plays and two timeouts, Scott's field goal split the uprights, and NSU didn't have a chance to run another play from scrimmage.
The loss was the fifth straight for the Spartans and came in front of a rain-soaked homecoming crowd of 13,889.
NSU started fast, outscoring the Rattlers 14-0 in the first quarter. Brown directed NSU on a six-play, 66-yard drive, which he capped with a 1-yard sneak for a 7-0 lead with 3:20 left in the first.
On FAMU's next offensive possession, NSU safety Terrell Whitehead (Virginia Beach, Va.) broke up a pass by Eddie Battle, and defensive lineman Deon Norris (Ewing, N.J.) snared the deflection for an interception at the Rattler 9. Four plays later, DeAngelo Branche (Norfolk, Va.) scored from 1 yard out on a fourth down play for a 14-0 edge with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.
Pulley, who splits quarterback duty with Battle, rallied FAMU in the second quarter, tossing a pair of touchdowns to Kevin Elliott covering 16 and 25 yards, sending the game into halftime tied at 14-all.
Philip Sylvester gave the Rattlers a 21-14 lead with a 44-yard run up the middle with 7:34 left in the third quarter, but the Spartans answered with an 11-play, 72-yard drive to tie the game again. Takeem Hedgeman (Charlottesville, Va.) scored on a 1-yard run with 2:17 left in the quarter to tie it.
The Rattlers had all the momentum when Pulley hit Isaac West for a 60-yard TD pass on a screen play with 9:17 left in the game. But Brown directed a 13-play, 83-yard drive, completing 7-of-12 passes for 79 yards to rally his team. Brown found Walker streaking behind the defense up the left sideline on fourth down, and Ryan Estep (Chesapeake, Va.) tied the game with the clutch extra point.
Brown had his finest game of the season, completing 22-of-37 passes for 192 yards and one score. He also ran for a career-high 131 yards on 14 carries. Brown completed six passes apiece to Walker and Jamar Johnson (Norfolk, Va.). Walker had a season-high 92 yards receiving.
Pulley accounted for 353 yards of offense, 252 through the air and 101 on the ground. Sylvester also topped 100 yards rushing, finishing with 105 yards on 16 carries. Elliott had seven receptions for 111 yards and two TDs.
Whitehead led the NSU defense with a career-high 15 total tackles, 1.5 for loss, one interception and two pass breakups. The Spartans forced five FAMU turnovers, but scored just seven points off the miscues. NSU recovered three fumbles and picked off two passes.
NSU looks to break its losing streak at Howard next Saturday. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. at Greene Stadium.
