DATE: Thursday, November 13, 1997           TAG: 9711130703

SECTION: SPORTS                  PAGE: C7   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY PAUL WHITE

                                            LENGTH:   55 lines

MEAC ROUNDUP [BRIEFS]

Florida A&M may be the hottest team in the conference now

While Michigan and Florida State were putting together dominant performances in Division I-A Saturday, the most impressive outing in I-AA may have taken place in Tallahassee, Fla., where Florida A&M routed sixth-ranked and previously unbeaten Southern 33-3.

Quarterback Oteman Sampson threw for 370 yards, redshirt freshman receiver Jacquay Nunnally caught three touchdown passes and the Rattlers' defense held the Tigers to minus-26 yards rushing.

With all due respect to league-leading Hampton, no MEAC team appears to be playing as well right now as the Rattlers (7-2, 4-2 MEAC). The victory over Southern was their third in a row, a span during which the Rattlers have outscored opponents 124-16.

Florida A&M's resurgence - the team had lost two in a row prior to its winning streak - coincides with the return of starting wide receivers Marvin Taylor and John Rutledge and starting inside linebacker Maurice Johnson. All sat out losses to Hampton and Howard with injuries. Hampton cracks top 10

Hampton's 27-0 victory over Bethune-Cookman, its eighth in a row, lifted the Pirates to No. 9 in the Sports Network Division poll. It's the first time Hampton's been ranked in the national top 10 since the school entered I-AA three years ago. Southern's loss also helped the Pirates take over the No. 1 spot in the Sheridan Black College Poll, a first for Hampton since it was named black college national champions by the broadcasting network in 1994.

Florida A&M is ranked 10th nationally, marking the first time this season two MEAC teams have been in the top 10. Pirates aim to clinch title

The Pirates (8-1, 5-0) can secure the MEAC's automatic bid to the Division I-AA playoffs Saturday with a victory over Delaware State at Armstrong Field or if South Carolina State (8-1, 4-1) loses at home to Florida A&M.

The South Carolina State-Florida A&M game is pivotal in the race for a berth in the Heritage Bowl, the prize for the MEAC's No. 2 team. The Bulldogs can clinch it with a win; if the Rattlers win, they need to beat Behtune-Cookman in their regular-season finale to secure the berth. Briefly ...

Norfolk State has won either three or seven games every year in the '90s. The Spartans will take a 2-7 record into their season finale Saturday against Bethune-Cookman at Price Stadium. . . . MEAC teams are 2-4 against Southwestern Athletic Conference teams in Heritage Bowls but have gone 5-1 against teams from the historically black conference this season. . . . The talk about Hampton running back Charles Jackson being the frontrunner for MEAC Offensive Player of the Year may have been premature. Florida A&M's Sampson is ranked second in the nation in total offense. The senior has also cut his interceptions from 16 a year ago to just seven in nine games this year.

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