By T. Scott Boatright
Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph only needs to see one thing when his Tigers play host to Arkansas-Pine Bluff as GSU celebrates Homecoming with a Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division showdown against the Golden Lions.
And that’s seeing his Tigers finish strong and with a win at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
Grambling has lost two straight games by a combined four points, falling 36-34 in five overtimes to Prairie View A&M at the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl on Sept. 28 before watching Alcorn State kick a 27-yard field goal with seven seconds remaining to down the Tigers 17-15.
So all that Joseph primarily wants is to see his team finish strong against UAPB.
“We came up short again with another two-point loss,” Joseph said. “The kids played hard. They played until the end. I’ve just got to do a better job of getting to finish in games like that, because every game is going to be like that.
“Like I told (the team) before, we can’t leave it in the other team’s hands. We’ve got to take ownership. We have to start the game and we have to finish it. And I have to do a better job as a head coach to get that done.”
GSU quarterback Myle Crawley connected on 16 of his 28 attempted passes for 149 yards with one interception last weekend, while often scrambling under a heavy pass rush from the Braves.
Joseph said he’d like to see Crawley shift tactics against the Golden Lions this weekend.
“I’d like to see Myles be more consistent on his reads and step up in the pocket and know what he’s getting on the back end,” Joseph said. “He understands that. We had a meeting (on Monday) about what he needs to improve on to make us a better team.”
Joseph also wants to see his team reach the end zone instead of settling for three field goals as they did against Alcorn State.
“You’re not going to win any conference in America kicking field goals,” Joseph said. “If you get in the red zone, you’ve got to score touchdowns and we didn’t do that. So we’ve got to do a better job this week of taking care of business when we get in the red zone and score touchdowns.”
Joseph said he knows Grambling’s defense will be tested by UAPB.
“Defensively, we’ve got to play Grambling State football,” Joseph said. “This quarterback (Mehki Higgins) is mobile and has a strong arm and is good at sensing pressure. We’ve got to stay in our rushing lanes and have good eye discipline with this kid, because this kid can really spin it and has some big-time receivers.
“We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Joseph said part of knowing how to finish strong involves attitude and that he won’t be afraid to make changes if he feels that becomes necessary.
“We’re going to tighten things up and mix things up around here,” Joseph said. “We represent Grambling. Some of the new guys didn’t understand that when they got here, but now they do.”
Grambling stands at 3-3 overall and 0-2 in the SWAC West while the Golden Lions are 2-4 and 1-1.
“They’re very explosive on offense and play good defense,” Joseph said of the Golden Lions. “I told the team after (last week’s) game that all of these games are going to be tight and go down to the wire. When you start something you’ve got to finish. Along the way you’re going to face some struggles.
“But you face those struggles you’ve got to deal with them. Are you going to let a play beat you twice by making the same mistake? This is a big-time game and that’s just this conference. Every game is going to be competitive. We have to score when we have our opportunities and we have to play hard from start to finish. We’ve got to finish strong.”
