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By JOHN C. COTEY and JAMAL THALJI
© St. Petersburg Times, published November 19, 2000
ORLANDO -- NFL scouts were in attendance at Saturday's Florida Classic, including representatives from the Atlanta Falcons, Indianapolis Colts, Minnesota Vikings and Buccaneers.
Bucs scout Leman Boyd said he was keeping a close eye on Florida A&M wideout Jacquay Nunnally and right defensive end Jauron Dailey, and B-CC wideout/kick returner Antonio "Mookie" Stanley and defensive tackle Damion Cook.
Nunnally, the Division I career receptions leader, has dreamed of joining the man whose record he broke this season, Jerry Rice, in the NFL.
But can a 5-foot-11, 210-pound wide receiver without breakaway speed make it in the NFL?
"It just depends," Boyd said. "He has great hands and he knows how to get open in space. He'll probably get a shot at a camp somewhere, but it depends on what kind of system he's in."
Other than Nunnally, who was the FAMU MVP for the game, two of the watched players made good impressions: Dailey had four sacks, and Daniels had two touchdowns and 117 yards receiving in earning B-CC MVP honors.
AND OF COURSE ... : Nunnally, who last week broke Rice's receiving record, continues to add to his collection and proved so adept he set two records on one catch.
On a reception late in the third quarter, Nunnally broke his season receiving record and the Florida Classic record he shared with B-CC's Morris Nobles. The catch was his 94th this season, bettering last year's 93. It was also his 10th of the game, one more than he had in last year's Classic.
Nunnally finished with 12 catches for 131 yards.
BROKEN RECORDS: Nunnally wasn't the only Classic record-setter. Quinn Gray's 30 completions broke by two Patrick Bonner's 1998 record (his 56 attempts tied Bonner's record set that year), and the FAMU quarterback's 388 passing yards were one more than the record set by B-CC's Todd Walker in 1997.
The attendance of 70,719 was a record, eclipsing last year's 70,125.
ACTUALLY ... : Though Rashean Mathis' return of a missed field goal for a touchdown was officially listed at 100 yards, he caught the kick at least 5 yards deep in the end zone.
YARD MARK: Lost in the hoopla of FAMU's passing attack was the running of O.J. Marchbanks, who ran for 130 yards and went over 1,000 for the season. Marchbanks is the Rattlers' first 1,000-yard rusher since Kwame Vidal set the school record with 1,284 in 1995.
A LEAD? Bethune-Cookman, which had given up 50 or more points in each of the past three games in the series, held a halftime lead (14-13) for the first time since 1994. That was the last time B-CC won in the series, 27-24 at Tampa Stadium.