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FAMU's Nunnally closes in on receiving record

By JAMAL THALJI

© St. Petersburg Times, published September 19, 2000

The Gulf Coast Offense has one mission: win games for Florida A&M.

Its sole purpose is not to deliver the ball into the talented hands of Rattlers wide receiver Jacquay Nunnally.

It just seems that way.

So if -- or more likely, when -- Nunnally catches and passes Jerry Rice's 16-year-old Division I record of 301 receptions set at Mississippi Valley State, it won't be by design.

"I think it's a real good honor for Jacquay," coach Billy Joe said, "and it would nice to have a player on our team and in our program to get the record, but it's not our priority, and it isn't our mission, and it is not Jacquay's priority."

Then again, winning games forFAMU often means getting the ball into Nunnally's hands. Saturday's 64-9 rout of South Carolina State in front of 12,200 at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee was no exception.

The I-AA All-American caught seven passes for 128 yards, including a 70-yard touchdown. Nunnally has 247 receptions -- moving the senior from 16th to 13th on the career list -- and 54 shy of Rice's record. He has 25 receptions in three games in 2000.

So with nine regular-season games left in his career, Nunnally needs to average six catches to tie the record..

NOW, A CONTROVERSY: Two weeks ago, Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek replaced quarterback Vic Penn for a short time with redshirt freshman Ryan Schneider. Kruczek then put the senior back in and named him the starter for Saturday's game at Akron.

But after losing to the Zips 35-24, Kruczek said he considered going to Schneider during the game and will give the backup more playing time in Saturday's game against Division I-AA William and Mary.

Against Akron, Penn was 25-for-41 for 306 yards, a touchdown and four interceptions.

"I think I'm going to give a lot of time to Ryan in the ballgame," Kruczek told the Orlando Sentinel.

"A lot of time may be a quarter, I don't know ... "

MI'VICK?: What is the difference between Pa'tell Troutman and Michael Vick?

To hear Bethune-Cookman coach Alvin Wyatt tell it, only the color of the quarterbacks' uniforms.

Both wear maroon. But Troutman also wears the gold of B-CC; Vick wears the orange of fifth-ranked Virginia Tech.

"If you put Pa'tell on even ground, meaning that he had the personnel around him that Michael Vick has, he'd probably be doing the same things," Wyatt told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.

"He's an exceptional athlete who can play anywhere."

Troutman had his best game of the season in Saturday's 21-6 victory over Division II Johnson C. Smith, scoring on runs of 40, 21 and 30 yards. Troutman finished with 136 rushing yards. He completed 11 of 20 passes for 175 yards.

SUMMER JOB: Jay Gruden, fresh off coaching the Orlando Predators to the Arena Football League championship, debuted Saturday as a color commentator on Sunshine Network's broadcast of UCF's game.

"I've never done anything like this before, so I don't know if I'll be any good or not, but I doubt it," Gruden told the Orlando Sentinel. "But it should be interesting.

"I enjoy watching football and talking about football, so hopefully I'll be able to relax and not say anything stupid."

- Information from other news organizations was used in this report.

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