By T. Scott Boatright
Following Grambling State’s first preseason football practice of the year, coach Mickey Joseph said the one mission he had for his team before the regular season kicks off is to continue getting better day by day.
And following Saturday’s intrasquad scrimmage at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium, Joseph had to feel it was a mission accomplished to this point.
“I thought we were better on all three phases of the game, but we’ve got to go back and look at the film,” Joseph said. “We’ve got to look at individuals and missed assignments and all of that. The coaches will grade it and I’ll get the grades and I’ll know more.”
GSU’s first scrimmage of the preseason included referees, something Joseph believes his team needs right now.
“We led the country in penalties last year,” Joseph said. “So we want to make sure that we had refs at our scrimmage so that we can try to cut down on that. That’s part of the instruction we’re doing with our team.
“That’s why we had the refs out here and we told them to call it tight. We told them if they think they see it, call it, and then the coach can see it on film and explain it to the players. So it’s a very important thing.”
The G-Men flashed on both sides of the ball, with the offense doing a solid job of moving the ball and finding paydirt.
“The offense often looks good in the first scrimmage,” Joseph said. “Because after a while, they’ve seen the same coverages and same fronts for about six or seven days, so they’re comfortable with what they see.
“So next week will probably be a turning point because the defense will probably put more in and turn it up. But I was impressed with the offense. I knew what (Offensive Coordinator Eric) Dooley was going to be able to do with this offense. And I know what (Defensive Coordinator) Rollins is going to be able to do with the defense.”
Former Ruston High School running back K’Travion Hargrove, a transfer from Memphis via Mississippi State, seems like he’s found a home back in Lincoln Parish and handled much of the rushing work early on in the scrimmage before giving way to the rest of the Tigers’ running back corps.
“I like what Bull can do,” Joseph said. “I know what Bull can do. So right now I really want to see those other backs and what they can do. Bull’s a kid that’s going to run it 20-25 times a game. He’s a great kid. He’s a great human being and we’re glad we’ve got him back home. He’s going to be big for us on offense.”
Joseph said it’s his rushing defense that will be focused on as practices continue.
“We’ve got to get better in A-gap in the run game,” Joseph said. “We’ve got to get more push. And those kids understand that. They know that they have to know personnel and when certain backs come in they’re going to face the run. So we’ve got to have gap integrity.
“And that’s what we didn’t have today — gap integrity. But we’re going to get better. They run through it every day, so I have the utmost confidence that they’ll get that fixed.”
Joseph said he was pleased at the opportunistic play of his defense, which produced multiple turnovers.
“We talk about turnovers,” Joseph said. “We talk about punching the ball out and making interceptions and things of that sort, so I was happy to see that today.”
