JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Every week in college football is a week for teams to beat the odds and beat the favorites, and this week is no different.
Two teams that News4JAX predicted to lose this week ended up defying expectations and coming away with the win.
Recommended Videos
Here is your Week 5 Florida HBCU football recap:
Florida Memorial 56, Ave Maria 13
Coming into this game, Florida Memorial (2-2, 1-0) could not get the best of its Sun Conference rival. In fact, in their last three meetings, the Lions gave up at least 38 points to the Gyrenes (2-2, 0-1 SUN). The Lions had a massive chip on their shoulder and were able to brush it off with ease.
The Lions routed the Gyrenes to finally get the best of their conference rival. The Lions had nearly 600 yards of total offense, led by quarterback Cedquan Smith who had 242 yards in the air. He threw two touchdowns and had one interception. The Lions defense gave up 402 yards of total offense to the Gyrenes, but were able to use force five turnovers on downs to keep the Gyrenes from gaining any momentum. After the Gyrenes blew out of Fort Lauderdale last week, it seemed that they would do some of the same this week. But the Lions proved that they came to contend for a conference title this season.
Florida A&M 31, Mississippi Valley State 7
The Rattlers’ quest to a Southwestern Athletic Conference East title is almost wrapped up. After wins against Jackson State and Alabama State, the Rattlers (4-0, 3-0) looked prime to win the division. They got one step closer to a spot in the SWAC championship game after a blowout of Mississippi Valley State.
The Delta Devils (0-4, 0-1) came into this game allowing 104 points this season and could not stop FAMU from scoring. After leading 10-7 at halftime, the Rattlers scored 21 unanswered points to secure the big win. The Rattlers are on cruise control on their way to winning their first SWAC East title since joining the conference in 2021.
Edward Waters 26, Savannah State 25
Edward Waters (2-3, 2-2) started the season 0-3 looking for a spark that would turn their season around. Against Morehouse College last week, they found that spark to tune of a 44-13 win at home. This week however, they were on the road against conference rival Savannah State (2-3, 1-2). The Tigers from Duval County were looking to get their first win against the Tigers from Chatham County since 2008.
This game was always going to be very competitive and there was no winner until the last minute of the game. Jyron Russell passed for 338 yards and three touchdowns. Johnny Jones had 11 catches for 119 yards and a pair of scores. Savannah State missed a 37-yard field goal with 9 seconds to play for Edward Waters to seal the win.