BCU Falls to Alabama A&M by “fawty-fo”!
Bethune-Cookman football lost again this past Saturday, and this time it wasn’t even close. Alabama A&M decided they’d use their homecoming to throw themselves a little offensive party against our Wildcats. The final score? 56-12.
BCU’s defense gave up 701 yards of total offense on the afternoon. You read that right—701 yards. The 56 points were also the most points an Alabama A&M team has ever scored against a BCU squad. These are the kind of numbers that makes you wonder if the players and coaches snuck out a few days early to enjoy AAMU’s homecoming festivities on “The Hill”. Or could there have been other reasons that factored into the good guys not having their best performance on Saturday.
Hurricane Milton
It would be naive to think Hurricane Milton, which ravaged parts of Florida including parts of the Daytona Beach Area, didn’t play a role in Saturday’s performance. The team left Daytona early in the week as a result of the looming storm. And considering that the campus still has not reopened yet as damage assessments are still underway, you basically have a team of nomads at this point. So as much as we all love sports and tend to oversimplify what we see on the field of play, this coaching staff is leading a group of 18-23 year olds who are not just wandering around looking for a win, they are also searching for a sense of normalcy at the moment.
I think you have to consider the human condition when analyzing Saturday’s game but that’s me being rational. However, judging from reactions on social media, many Cookman fans are not willing to consider the effects of the hurricane on this team’s performance over the weekend. They acknowledge the storm may have knocked the team a little off course, but many fans also point to a pattern of troubling signs that are weeks… heck, years in the making now.
Did you know that the Wildcats have managed to win just one conference road game since joining the SWAC. One. Uno. That’s it. And if recent performances are any indication, that number may not change when BCU visits Itta Bena to take on winless Mississippi Valley State this weekend. Valley happens to be the only other winless team in the conference right now and they are the lone team BCU has defeated on the road since joining the league. Lose this week against Valley and Bethune quickly goes from a football program that’s struggling at the moment to a program that’s sinking in the storm.
Back to Saturday’s game; Alabama A&M is not some untouchable powerhouse. They are a decent SWAC program with a great offense for certain. But on the other side of the ball, AAMU had been giving up points like Halloween candy all season, yielding 40 points per game heading into Saturday’s matchup. Despite this, Bethune only managed to score one offensive touchdown and were held to just 181 total yards of offense. One hundred and eighty-one. That’s a stat line that’s hard to accept when facing larger FBS squads, but it’s almost unfathomable when playing against a struggling defense in your league.
Gaining just 181 yards on offense while surrendering 701 yards on defense is a good recipe for getting beat by “fawty”…well 44 actually but you get the point.
As loud as those numbers are, Cookman fans are speaking louder than the final score or stat lines. Fans are tired. They’re frustrated. They’re even becoming apathetic. The once-vibrant BCU football community that rallied around the maroon and gold; and homecoming; and the Florida Classic is starting to make other weekend plans. I mean, when even homecoming and the Classic are met with a shrug, you know that apathy is setting in. There’s a collective “why bother?” spreading through the Wildcat faithful.
So, what can change now? What needs to change to keep this ship from completely capsizing?
At the top of the list of what needs to change is this team needs to find an identity. Right now, they’re a bunch of guys wearing the same uniform, but there’s no cohesion, no fire, no sense of unified purpose. The frustration that I hear expressed over and over and over again from former Wildcat players, from fans, and even from outside observers is that this just does not look or feel like Bethune-Cookman football.
And it is not just about wins and losses; but a culture of overcoming and making something out of nothing that Bethun-Cookman has always prided itself on. That’s missing right now. Call me gullible but I still think Coach Raymond Woodie can instill that identity into this squad. It’s just taking far longer than any of us anticipated.
The offense is broken and currently ranked second to last in the conference in total yards (248.3) and points per game (17.7). The defense has taken a giant step backwards from last year’s squad and they too are hanging out in embarrassment territory. The defense is last in total defense (516.8 ypg) and second to last in scoring defense (43 ppg). These things are huge problems but how do they fix it over the last half of the season? Is it time to go younger and play more freshmen and sophomores and prepare for next year? Or do they stay the course and just do what they have been doing but just try to be a little better in the execution?
Whether it’s a shift in coaching philosophy, or simply playing with some heart, something’s got to give. Because at this rate, the Wildcats aren’t just losing games—they’re losing their community and their identity. And once that’s gone, it’s a much harder rebuild than just fixing the football team.
| Statistic | BCU | AAM |
| First Downs | ||
| Total | 10 | 30 |
| Rushing | 4 | 13 |
| Passing | 6 | 14 |
| Penalty | 0 | 3 |
| Rushing | ||
| Total (Net) | 74 | 331 |
| Attempts | 25 | 50 |
| Avg. Per Rush | 3.0 | 6.6 |
| Rushing TDs | 1 | 7 |
| Yds. Gained | 110 | 344 |
| Yds. Lost | 36 | 13 |
| Passing | ||
| Total (Net) | 107 | 370 |
| Comp.-Att.-Int. | 12-27-0 | 18–29–1 |
| Avg. / Att. | 4.0 | 12.8 |
| Avg. / Comp. | 8.9 | 20.6 |
| TDs | 0 | 1 |
| Total Offense | ||
| Yards | 181 | 701 |
| Plays | 52 | 79 |
| Avg. / Play | 3.5 | 8.9 |
| Fumbles – Lost | 1-1 | 3-0 |
| Penalties – Yds. | 9–69 | 4-27 |
| Punting | ||
| Punts – Yds. | 7–279 | 2-46 |
| Avg. / Punt | 39.9 | 23 |
| Inside 20 | 3 | 0 |
| 50+ Yds. | 0 | 0 |
| Touchbacks | 0 | 0 |
| Fair Catch | 6 | 0 |
| Kickoffs | ||
| Total – Yds. | 3-176 | 9–299 |
| Avg. Yds. / Kickoff | 58.7 | 33.2 |
| Touchbacks | 1 | 0 |
| Returns | ||
| Punt: Total – Yds. – TDs | 0-0-0 | 0-0-0 |
| Punt: Avg. / Return | 0 | 0 |
| Kickoff: Total – Yds. – TDs | 6–46-0 | 2-25-0 |
| Kickoff: Avg. / Return | 7.7 | 12.5 |
| INT: Total – Yds. – TDs | 1–91–1 | 0-0-0 |
| Fumble: Total – Yds. – TDs | 0-0-0 | 1-0-0 |
| Miscellaneous | ||
| Misc. Yards | 0 | 80 |
| Poss. Time | 23:12 | 36:48 |
| 3rd. Down Conv. | 5 of 14 | 8 of 12 |
| 4th. Down Conversions | 0 of 2 | 1 of 1 |
| Red-Zone: Scores – Chances | 1-2 | 6–7 |
| Sacks: Total – Yds. | 2-1 | 3–29 |
| PAT: Total – Made | 0-2 | 8–8 |
| 2PT Conversion: Total – Made | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Field Goals: Total – Made | 0-0 | 0-1 |
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