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No depth forces Joe to tweak

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times,
published August 31, 2001

What could be stranger than the sight of a Billy Joe-coached quarterback under center, handing off the ball? How about Joe calling the same play again?

Or how about the sight of a Billy Joe offense with a tight end lined up on one side?

A tight end? Florida A&M has a tight end?

No, FAMU coach Billy Joe has not abandoned the high-scoring Gulf Coast Offense just as the spread formation catches on across the nation.

But times and personnel change, and so has Joe in his eighth season at FAMU.

He's a bit slimmer, a bit more committed to the run and more concerned than ever.

FAMU lost a tremendous amount of talent and experience from last season's 9-3 team. Preseason Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference favorite North Carolina A&T is again loaded and brings a rushing attack FAMU has yet to handle. There's a grueling five-game, midseason road trip, and, of course, in-state archrival Bethune-Cookman, a rising threat.

What hasn't changed is Joe's goals: win nine games, defend the MEAC title, beat B-CC and earn a Division I-AA playoff berth.

"It's going to be difficult," Joe said. "I just hope we're up to the task.

"If all goes well, meaning that we don't become injury-riddled, we'll be extremely competitive in the MEAC and with our nonconference opponents. Our problem will be depth. If we get riddled with injuries we could have serious problems."

Gone are 12 starters from a team that made five consecutive postseason appearances. All-everything wide receiver Jacquay Nunnally, whose 318 career receptions moved him ahead of Jerry Rice on the all-time Division I list, will be missed most of all. Three veteran offensive linemen also must be replaced.

Also gone is Joe's confidence in his receivers. Isaac Brown, DeMar Bowe and Tampa Catholic product T.J. Hines must somehow replace Nunnally.

But getting the ball downfield never has been a problem. Quarterback Quinn Gray, the MEAC's leading passer last season with 2,896 yards, returns for his fifth season. When Gray's on, he can rewrite FAMU's passing records. When he's off, his careless interceptions and fumbles can doom the Rattlers, as they did against North Carolina A&T and Grambling last season.

So for once under Joe the passing attack has question marks the running game doesn't. Joe's backfield is so loaded -- returning 1,000-yard rusher O.J. Marchbanks, Kelsie Lordeus and Travles Williams -- that it merited a slight change in offensive philosophy.

Thus Joe wants to employ more traditional, multiple-back sets to get all three on the field together.

"I don't know if we can be as effective throwing the ball," Joe said. "In the past four or five years we had excellent receivers who could just catch the bladder out of the ball. Now our receiving corps isn't as good as it's been in the last five years, and also this year we have at least three outstanding running backs."

The defense must do without pass rusher Jauron Dailey and six other starters. But the rebuilding will be easier with the return of cornerback Troy Hart, a ball-hawking Jefferson product who had five interceptions and returned two for touchdowns last season.

Depth, however, is lacking everywhere. Injuries last season sapped FAMU's national championship hopes. Joe hopes that won't happen again.

"If we go through the season unscathed," Joe said, "we'll be right in the hunt at the end of the year."

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