Florida A&M and South Carolina State will meet Sunday, Sept. 6, in the 2026 Orange Blossom Classic at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. The nonconference men’s football game is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. and will be televised and streamed on ESPN and the WatchESPN app. Both teams enter the matchup with 1-0 records.
Florida A&M opened the season with a victory over Albany State that included 10 sacks. South Carolina State also enters at 1-0 after facing Savannah State. The game will be the latest Orange Blossom Classic meeting between the teams.
Florida A&M players to watch
Isaiah Knowles completed 14 of 23 passes for 190 yards and one touchdown in his Florida A&M debut against Albany State. Jamal Hailey rushed for 54 yards on 16 carries and averaged 3.4 yards per carry. Antonio Camon recorded three sacks and added two tackles behind the line for five tackles for loss.
Paul Gatley recorded two sacks for a loss of 11 yards in the season opener. Bobby Engstler averaged 46.40 yards per punt, including one punt of more than 50 yards and three inside the 20-yard line. Those performances give Florida A&M several contributors to monitor against South Carolina State.
Series history and broadcast information
Florida A&M leads the all-time series 34-26-2, and the teams first met in the Orange Blossom Classic in 1973. South Carolina State holds a 7-5 advantage in the series since 2010. Florida A&M has won the last four meetings, including a 22-18 victory in Tallahassee in 2024.
Quinn Gray Sr. is in his inaugural season as Florida A&M’s head football coach and has a 1-0 record with the Rattlers. Gray was a Florida A&M student-athlete from 1997-2001 and graduated in 2001. Tiffany Greene will handle play-by-play, with Jay Walker serving as the analyst for the ESPN and WatchESPN broadcast.
Florida A&M will stay in south Florida after the Orange Blossom Classic. The Rattlers are scheduled to face the Miami Hurricanes on Thursday, Sept. 10, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens. Sunday’s game against South Carolina State will be played at the same venue.
Source: Original report