Sports: Nunnally catches on with Rice

Nunnally catches on with Rice

By JAMAL THALJI

Jacquay Nunnally knows who Jerry Rice is.

But Rice did not know who Nunnally is.

Until Saturday.

Both were in Louisiana as history was made. Nunnally, a Florida A&M wide receiver, broke Rice's 16-year-old Division I record of 301 career receptions.

Nunnally caught 16 passes for 155 yards against Southern. Rattlers coach Billy Joe had promised Nunnally's historic chase would take a back seat to winning.

How fortunate for both that Nunnally broke the record in a game where every catch was needed in a 50-49 victory.

Nunnally broke the record on a 27-yard pass from Quinn Gray with 11:15 left in the game. Then Nunnally made two crucial receptions on the winning drive, capped off by Juan Vasquez's 29-yard field goal with 21 seconds left.

The next day, Rice's San Francisco 49ers lost 31-15 to the New Orleans Saints, and afterward the future NFL Hall of Famer congratulated Nunnally on the record.

"I don't even remember the record I had in college, but I don't mind passing that torch," Rice told the Tallahassee Democrat. "Records are meant to be broken, no matter what the milestone is. (Nunnally) should be congratulated, and I wish him the best."

Nunnally, who grew up idolizing Rice, plans to send him the ball of catch No. 302 so Rice can autograph it. Nunnally took great pride that, he and Rice are sitting Nos. 1 and 2 in the NCAA record books.

"Since it was another black-college player that broke the record, he and I can look at that and say that the black-college receivers are the best that's out there," he told the Democrat. "I'm sure we both realize that it really doesn't matter where you come from. Black-college players have been some of the best football players in both college and the pros."

Nunnally's next goal is to put the record out of reach. He took a big lead on Louisville's Arnold Jackson, the only other active player pursuing the record. Nunnally has 306 receptions; Jackson has 290. Jackson has two games left in the season; Nunnally has one, the Nov. 18 Florida Classic against Bethune-Cookman.

BOWLING?: Central Florida coach Mike Kruczek doesn't want to talk about it, but beating Louisiana Tech 20-16 Saturday did not make the question disappear:

Will UCF qualify for a bowl game this season?

Because the Knights are not affiliated with a conference, they must wait for teams from conferences locked into bowl games to not qualify. That could be the Dec. 28 Micron PC Bowl, which normally pits the No. 4 Atlantic Coast Conference team against the No. 6 Big Ten team.

Another possibility are bowls that accept at-large teams. That means the Dec. 27 galleryfurniture.com Bowl or the Dec. 21 Las Vegas Bowl.

But if UCF does not upset No. 8 Virginia Tech at the Citrus Bowl on Saturday, the bowl talk is moot. The Knights (7-3) have four victories against I-A opponents, three against I-AA. But only one of the I-AA victories counts toward the requirement of six wins for bowl eligibility. LET'S GET IT ON: The annual Florida Classic between B-CC and FAMU could decide the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship.

But B-CC must first defeat Howard on Saturday. The Wildcats (8-1) won their third consecutive game against Hampton on Saturday, 34-31. Backup quarterback Allen Suber, a former Tampa Catholic standout, passed for 124 yards and rushed for 139 and three touchdowns.

North Carolina A&T did its part, losing 46-45 to Delaware State. That allowed FAMU, No. 16 in the Sports Network Division I-AA poll, and No. 25 B-CC to slip back into the race.

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