By T Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING — First-year head coach Hue Jackson will be looking for his Grambling State Tigers to pick up their straight Southwestern Athletic Conference win as they play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff at 2 p.m. today at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
It will be a day of honor and celebration as the Tigers will celebrate Military Appreciation Day, Senior Day and Homecoming as they try to build on last week’s dominating 35-6 win over Alcorn State.
“We were happy to come away with a win,” Jackson said following last weekend’s win. “I think our players deserved it and our coaches deserved it. They worked extremely hard. I thought our defense played extremely well and I thought our offense made some plays in crucial moments that we needed, especially early that got us the lead.”
The Tigers (2-6 overall, 1-4 SWAC) took advantage of two Alcorn State turnovers and a blocked punt to get that early advantage, as GSU led 28-0 at halftime. Grambling’s defensive domination showed with four sacks, 11 tackles for loss, three quarterback hurries and two interceptions.
Grambling will be facing a UAPB (2-6, 0-5) squad playing its second game under interim head coach Don Treadwell, who took over the Golden Lions after Doc Gamble was let go from the position on Oct. 20, four days following a 34-31 home loss to Alabama A&M.
Treadwell, who served as head coach at Miami of Ohio from 2011-13, where he chalked up a record of 8-21, has more than 30 years of college coaching experience and has helped coach teams to four playoff appearances at the FCS level, 10 FBS bowl games, and a FCS National Championship serving as offensive coordinator at Youngstown State.
After missing three games with a shoulder injury, quarterback Skyler Perry returned to the field for UAPB in a 27-6 loss to Florida A&M on Oct. 29, connecting on 21-of-38 passes for 173 yards with an interception.
True freshman quarterback Julian Calvez will be making his fourth start for the Tigers this weekend after connecting on seven-of-14 attempted passes for 58 yards while adding 10 rushing yards in last weekend’s win over Alcorn State.
On the season, Calvez has completed 36-of-95 passes for 366 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions while rushing for 233 yards and two scores on 43 carries.
“I trust him because I got to know him recruiting him,” Jackson said of his young gun. “He’ll tell you he knows there’s some things he can do better. But I trust him.
“He works hard at it and there’s a lot of late night texts and early morning phone calls before class about little things. I’m just proud of him — the young man he’s becoming, the quarterback he’s becoming and the trust factor we have with each other. That’s something special.”
Defensively, Lewis Matthews leads the Tigers with 75 total tackles, including 41 solo stops while Joshua Quiett and Joshua Reed have added 57 takedowns each.
Sundiata Anderson leads the Tigers in sacks with 5.5 for 39 yards and tackles for loss with nine for 46 yards.
Anderson picked up 2.5 of those sacks during last weekend’s win over Alcorn State while totaling seven tackles.
“He promised me he was going to dominate the game, and he did,” Jackson said of Anderson’s performance in the win over the Braves. “He told me that during Tuesday’s (Oct. 25) practice and he lived up to that.”
Grambling leads the all-time series against UAPB 31-13-2, but the Golden Lions won last fall’s matchup, defeating the Tigers 33-26.
The Tigers will recognize 22 football seniors prior to Saturday’s game. Those players are Lawrence Asiedu, Noah Bean, Marquis Britten, Rey Estes, Wesley Green, Jimmy Iles, Phillip Lee, Bryan Powell, Lyndon Rash, Joshua Reed, Cameron Richardson, Jalon Sheffield, Myron Stewart, Blake Thomas, Demarcus Tinsley, Garrett Urban, Brendan Vaughn, Maurice Washington, Greg White and Bertrell Williams.
Today’s game will be streamed live ESPN+ with Santoria Black and Ken Moore making the call.
The Grambling State Sports Radio Network will broadcast and stream the game that will air c in Ruston and Dubach on the flagship station, The Peach (KPCH-99.3 FM) along with KNNW 103.1 FM in Columbia and Monroe and KEDG 106.9 FM in Alexandria and Pineville with the Tigers’ radio broadcast crew of Ossie Clark and Chyelle Flowers calling the action.
