ORLANDO — In a cold, but joyful night for the Florida A&M Rattlers and first-year head football coach Joe Taylor, the coach and his players could dream about a future built from the sweat of the team that defeated Bethune-Cookman 58-35 on Saturday in the 26th Florida Classic.

The word "dynasty" was spoken more than once in this Florida Citrus Bowl, and, perhaps, years from now, it may carry some weight.

But for this moment, for this year, Taylor and his crew are shooting for something a little less grand — an at-large playoff berth in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

"It's the beginning of a dynasty," FAMU kickoff specialist LeRoy Vann said in the locker room after the game. "This is to let people know that FAMU is back."

Later today an NCAA committee will let the Rattlers know whether or not they'll be back for another football game this season.

But a 9-3 overall record and a 5-3 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference record, good to put them in a four-way tie for second place in the MEAC, are two things the committee will need to consider in its deliberations. Not since 2000 has FAMU played in the postseason. That year was also the last time FAMU won nine games in a season.

"It'll be a travesty if we're not still playing," Taylor said. "In multiple years, they have taken at least two representatives from the MEAC. They're always looking at the way you're playing down the stretch."

The stretch ended here in Central Florida with the Rattlers jumping on top of the Wildcats (8-3, 5-3) early and with a defense that forced B-CU to turn the ball over seven times. The 93 total points scored was the second most in the classic since 2004.

"We had a lot of turnovers," Wildcats quarterback McKinson Souverain said. "You can't beat a time with six turnovers. . . .We didn't want to end it here."

BC-U's end began when FAMU ran a fast-break on the B-CU defense opening the game up with a 31-0 lead by 6:51 in the second quarter. Scores came on a 37-yard field goal by kicker Trevor Scott, and two touch-down runs each for running back Philip Sylvester and Pulley.

"Our offense has been clicking in the last three games," Pulley said. "I just think it's a tribute to everyone wanting to come out and win and put them away early."

A team that at mid-season had opted to flip-flop its 60-40 run-to-pass ratio to a more air friendly game, the Rattlers used a brutal running game to overrun a Wildcats defense with a season-best 330 yards rushing. More than half (233) of those yards were gained in the first half.

"We were just playing assignment football," FAMU offensive lineman Anthony Collins said. "It was just old-fashioned football. The running game looked good, so coach kept calling our number. I think it was a whole effort from the offensive line."

A thrusting offensive line contributed heavily to an overall physical game, which swung heavily in the Rattlers' favor.

"(The physical game) wasn't that hard for us," Collins said. "It looked hard for them. I just think we have a great strength and conditioning coach."

The Wildcats' triple-option-run game found nothing early on as the Rattler defense held the B-CU offense to 11 yards of total offense through one quarter. The blanking allowed the offense to cut loose, something the Rattlers have struggled to do.

FAMU scored 17 points off the Wildcats' six turnovers, 10 points after two missed field goals by B-CU kicker Matt McCutcheon, and 14 points after forcing B-CU to punt.

"(The early lead) was huge for us," said Pulley, the FAMU MVP of the game. "We knew they wanted to manage the clock, so if we could get on top first, we could force them to pass the ball early. ...We knew they could score, but we knew they weren't a team that comes from behind."

The Wildcats were having none of that, though.

After Pulley put the Rattlers up 31-0 on a 51-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, the Wildcats found its running game.

Back-up quarterback Matthew Johnson had runs of 21 and 20 yards that put B-CU on the FAMU 2-yard line. Souverain, the Wildcats quarterback and classic MVP, ran it in for the first Wildcat score.

That was followed by B-CU forcing a Sylvester fumble, which put the Wildcats at the FAMU five, and Souverain took the ball on the second play in for the score. The extra point was missed, but the score was suddenly 31-13 and the Wildcats offense appeared to have a heartbeat.

Enter FAMU return man LeRoy Vann. To that point, the Wildcats had avoided sending the ball Vann's way. Just when they were breathing life into their game, the Wildcats got exactly what it had been trying to prevent.

After the game Vann was asked, "When did you know you had a shot on the kick return?"

"When he kicked it to me," Vann said. "He finally kicked it to me, and my blockers did the job. I love my blockers. When I saw the hole, I hit it going full speed."

Vann ran it 83 yards for a touchdown. His score gave him a total of six combined kickoff and punt returns for touchdowns, which ties an FCS and FBC record. He finishes the regular season with a combined 1,583 yards on punt and kickoff returns, which gives him the FCS record.

The Wildcats, however, were unimpressed. They came back with another score on the next possession with a 78-yard drive, including a two-point conversion. That closed out the scoring in the first half, which ended FAMU leading 38-21.

Now the question was if the Rattlers defense would respond with the Wildcats receiving the ball to start the second half.

It probably left a hollow feeling in the pit of the stomachs of FAMU fans to see the Wildcats use 32 seconds and three plays to score, but that's what happened after Souverain finished off the drive with a 27-yard touchdown run.

"Everyone stayed calm, and nobody really panicked," Pulley said.