2023 SWAC Football Championship Preview
2023 SWAC Football Championship preview between the Florida A&M Rattlers and Prairie View Pwith Kyle T. Mosley (HBCU Legends) and Wilton Jackson (Sports Illustrated).
Transcript
00:00 [MUSIC]
00:08 All right, HBCU family, it's finally here.
00:11 The 2023 SWAG Football Championship is gonna go down in Tallahassee
00:19 with the Prairie View Panthers versus the Rattlers of Florida A&M.
00:25 I'm here to discuss this with Mr. Wilton Jackson of Sports Illustrated.
00:30 Wil, how you doing, man?
00:32 >> I am doing good, Kyle.
00:33 It's good to be on.
00:34 It's crazy that I feel like football season just went by super fast.
00:39 We were just talking about Orange Blossom Classic, me, X-Way, challenging.
00:43 Here we are a couple weeks away from getting back to Atlanta for
00:46 the Celebration Bowl.
00:47 >> Yeah, right there, man.
00:49 Look, it has gone by fast.
00:51 It's gone by so fast.
00:53 Now we have a couple guys who are big stars in the SWAG.
00:58 They're entering the transfer portal.
01:00 We could talk a little bit about that.
01:01 But most important thing, let's talk about what's gonna happen on Saturday.
01:06 Because Florida A&M, they are heavy, heavy favorites to be able to win
01:12 the SWAG Championship game against the Prairie View Panthers.
01:17 Of course, the first time those guys met, it was 45 to 7 in the win for
01:22 the Rattlers.
01:23 And now Bubba McDowell, as well as the Prairie View Panthers,
01:27 they go into Tallahassee once again with the rubber match, so to speak,
01:32 to be able to try to win the SWAG title and go to the Celebration Bowl.
01:37 But a lot of people say, hey, this is Willie Simmons' year, and
01:41 those Rattlers are gonna do it.
01:43 What's your thoughts?
01:44 >> Kyle, I think that this game comes down to a couple things.
01:48 And one thing that I definitely wanna point out and
01:51 mention is that the weather will probably be affecting this game too.
01:54 It's supposed to rain in Tallahassee.
01:56 So keeping that in mind, I think the team who wins this game is the team that comes
02:00 out fast, the team that comes out the fastest starting out,
02:04 which team controls the time of possession.
02:06 And which team for sure is limiting,
02:09 which team's defense limits those explosive plays.
02:12 And honestly, currently right now for me, I'm gonna give that edge to FAMU.
02:17 This is a team all season prior to playing preview that they started slow.
02:22 But homecoming, playing against preview, they put it together,
02:25 offense, defense and special teams.
02:27 And so with anything with FAMU, it starts with Jeremy Moussa.
02:30 He's gonna have to come out ready to rock and roll, find his targets on the perimeter.
02:35 But a lot of that is gonna help him do that,
02:37 cuz sometimes we've seen him start slowing games where he looks a little rattled a
02:41 little bit, sometimes with opposing defenses.
02:43 But I think a lot of that, the thing that will help him get adjusted to that is
02:48 the Rattlers running backs and they have, you familiar with FAMU?
02:52 >> Big boys.
02:53 >> Yes, they have big guys, like three different running backs,
02:57 Terrell Jennings, Jacquez, Kent, Kelvin Dean.
02:59 They're locked and loaded and ready to go at any time.
03:02 And so this is a team that getting that running game together for
03:06 him is gonna help Moussa to get the offense going early on.
03:10 And then also in terms of the Rattlers defense,
03:13 that's been essentially the top defense in this way all season.
03:17 Even with the close games they've had,
03:19 not necessarily playing the most complete games, but they have the talent.
03:23 And they've shown that all season and they essentially kept previous quarterback,
03:27 Trezon Conley, who's a great quarterback.
03:29 They limited him to 93 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.
03:33 So another performance similar to that.
03:36 And one thing about Conley,
03:37 you have to worry about his ability to continue plays and
03:40 continue to extend plays down the field.
03:43 If you limit his mobility and force him to stay in the pocket,
03:45 this is a different preview team.
03:47 And I think that it would bode well for FAMU getting the win.
03:50 >> Yeah, I'm gonna say something and a lot of people may disagree with me,
03:56 but this is one of those games that you can see the upset.
04:01 >> Yeah.
04:01 >> Possibly happen.
04:02 And one thing that concerns me is like you said, the weather.
04:07 Okay, let's say whoever gets the best rushing attack going in this game will win.
04:14 >> Yeah.
04:15 >> And you got Caleb Williams and you have Antoine Ahmed out there in the backfield
04:22 for PV and like you say, you got Jensen Jennings on the other side.
04:26 So this affair may come down to who can rush the football the best,
04:31 who can control the tempo, you said that as well.
04:35 And if PV can do what Prairie View used to do, not PRV, but Princeton used to do.
04:43 Remember in those old NCAA tournaments, slow that game down and
04:48 work the way to find a shot and score and eventually do the upset.
04:54 That might be one of the keys for Prairie View in this game.
04:58 They have to be able to limit the big play ability that Shahid and
05:04 Shereen and those guys bring down the field.
05:10 And I just think right now, if PV can do that, it'll be great.
05:15 But like you say, Mike Tyson say, ifs and everybody has a plan before they get here.
05:22 >> Yep.
05:23 >> That's the same thing here, because that dark cloud defense is no joke.
05:28 One of the top in all FCS at this time.
05:32 But I think also, you look at the year that they have had,
05:38 but you look at the career Willie Simmons has had as a head football
05:44 coach from his days at Prairie View to FAMU.
05:48 I think this is one of those setups for his eventually crowning to be the top guy,
05:55 not only in SWAC, but all HBCU football going into the Celebration Bowl.
06:01 So, but this is why we play the games.
06:04 We shall see what's gonna happen.
06:07 I know as far as the people down here in the Houston area, it's all PV.
06:13 Everybody else in the whole nation is the rallies.
06:16 [LAUGH]
06:18 All right, well, tell everybody how they can be able to find you on the worldwide web.
06:23 >> You can find me at @WilsonReports on Twitter.
06:26 You can follow me on SI.com to follow all my work and the things that I'm doing there.
06:31 And that's a little bit about me.
06:32 And like I said, I'm excited to see what this game is gonna bring on Saturday.
06:36 >> Yeah, definitely follow Mr. Jackson.
06:39 He is the man.
06:41 I am Coyote Mosley of HBCU Legends.
06:43 Let's have a great 2023 SWAC Championship in Tallahassee.
06:49 Guys, follow, support, go to HBCU Legends.
06:52 We will have updates throughout the whole game.
06:56 Okay, take care, guys.
06:57 Thank you.
06:58 [MUSIC]