MIAMI, FL-- When trying to come up with motivational tricks for the week, Miami coach Randy Shannon needed only to dig up a score from 2007: Appalachian State 34, No. 5 Michigan 32.
That was the first time a team from the Football Championship Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-AA, knocked off a Top 25 team from college football's highest tier.
It's serving as a lesson this week to No. 11 Miami (3-1), which hosts FCS member Florida A&M (4-0) Saturday night. For the Hurricanes, it's their first game against an opponent outside the AP Top 25 this season.
The Rattlers are ranked No. 24 in I-AA, but are hardly comparable to what the Hurricanes have faced. FAMU features quarterback Chris Pulley and return specialist LeRoy Vann.
Second-year coach Joe Taylor has the Rattlers off to their best start in 12 years.
"I tell the guys, we're not working and training to work in a cocoon," Taylor said. "Guys are excited.
"Experience has been a real big key this year, the young men have been tremendous, they've been getting up since last January to work at 5:45 on the track."
UM coach Randy Shannon made it apparent that the opposing players will have a chip on their shoulders. Most played with or competed against Hurricane players in high school, but were bypassed by the larger state schools.
"I told the players that a lot of their players feel they should be at Miami," Shannon said. "They'll come out with a purpose [to show] they should be at Miami, not Florida A&M."
The AP &
Sun Sentinel contributed to this report
