FAMU Football makes major schedule decision this week

For Florida A&M, Atlanta isn’t just a recruiting pipeline, it's a second home. The Rattlers will play a football game for the third consecutive season in Georgia's capital.

Over the weekend at the FAMU National Alumni Association Convention in Frisco, Texas, FAMU’s Vice President and Director of Athletics Angela Suggs announced that the Rattlers will face the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4. The contest was originally scheduled in Itta Bena, Mississippi.

What looks like a venue upgrade is actually a stage for revenge. Last year, the Delta Devils marched into Tallahassee and did the unthinkable, snapping FAMU’s 23-game home win streak. It was their only win last season. For the Rattlers, it was a scar that still stings going into the 2025 season.

Now, the rematch will happen in front of FAMU’s largest alumni base outside Florida, in a building where they won their first Celebration Bowl in 2023 and reestablished HBCU supremacy. In short, the Benz is FAMU’s house.

Two former FSU defensive backs—James Colzie III for FAMU, Terrell Buckley for MVS—now roam the sidelines as head coaches, which adds another layer of tension to the matchup.

FAMU football will play a 12-game regular season schedule in 2025, opening versus the Howard Bison in the Orange Blossom Classic at Miami Gardens’ Hard Rock Stadium on Saturday, Aug. 30.