University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff and Florida A&M meet Saturday with the same problem hanging over both sidelines: neither team finished last week. UAPB and FAMU each lost control in the fourth quarter, and now they bring those late-game mistakes into a matchup at Bragg Memorial Stadium in Tallahassee, Fla.
The game kicks off at 2 p.m. Central and 3 p.m. Eastern on HBCU GO, and the timing matters because both teams are searching for a cleaner closing stretch than the one they showed a week ago. UAPB is 3-3 overall and 1-2 in the SWAC, while FAMU is 2-5 and 1-2, so this is not just another conference game. It is a chance to see which side can handle the fourth quarter when the margin gets tight.
Last week, Alabama State outscored UAPB 7-3 in the fourth quarter of a 21-15 win. The difference came after UAPB reached the 7-yard line and still had to settle for a field goal, then threw two interceptions in the final quarter. FAMU’s loss was even harsher down the stretch. Jackson State beat the Rattlers 27-17, winning the fourth quarter 15-0 after FAMU threw two interceptions apiece and then fumbled in its own territory.
That outcome extended a pattern for FAMU. The loss to Jackson State was the fourth straight FAMU game decided in the fourth quarter. On Sept. 19, FAMU was tied with Tennessee State entering the fourth quarter and lost the final period 9-6. A week later, it trailed Alabama A&M 23-21 entering the fourth and was outscored 17-0 over the last 15 minutes. By Oct. 9, it was again trailing, this time 24-14 against Alabama State, before outscoring the Hornets 14-3 down the stretch before last week’s setback. The sequence says as much about the finish as it does about the score.
Quinn Gray has framed the issue in the bluntest terms. He said FAMU needs a championship mindset to finish games and protect the football, and he tied that to execution, attention to detail and the ability to close. He also pointed out that his team did a good job of bottling up Jackson State for the first three quarters before the game slipped late, adding that there has been steady improvement. That is the part that makes this matchup more than a simple rematch of recent losses: FAMU can point to stretches of control, but not to a complete 60 minutes.
UAPB arrives with a different contradiction. Alonzo Hampton has said the offense has been one of the top offenses in the conference, and the numbers support that claim. UAPB ranks third in the SWAC in rushing offense and rushing defense, averaging 206.7 rushing yards per game while allowing 133 rushing yards per game. It also ranks seventh in passing offense. But Hampton also acknowledged that the team made mistakes and does not have much room for error, because the staff can put players in position only so often before a turnover or missed detail changes everything.
The contrast between the two teams gives Saturday’s game its edge. UAPB can lean on its run game and a defense that has been better against the run than FAMU’s, while FAMU’s passing game has been more productive than UAPB’s and UAPB has allowed a league-high 320.8 passing yards per game. Even so, the decisive issue is not who looks better on paper. It is whether either team can protect the football and finish the last quarter without handing away a game it had already earned a chance to win.
That is why this one feels different going in. Both teams know what beat them last week, and both know the next kick will come at Bragg Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The first team to clean up the fourth quarter may leave Tallahassee with more than a conference win; it may leave with the start of a better habit.
