By T. Scott Boatright
Grambling State and Texas Southern will square off in a crucial Southwestern Athletic Conference showdown this weekend with much on the line for both.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. today at Shell Energy Stadium in Houston.
The G-Men stand at 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the SWAC West while TSU is 2-4 and 1-2.
But both trail SWAC West Division leader Southern (3-0) and second-place team Alcorn State, making each and every game all important for both.
Grambling coach Mickey Joseph says his G-Men are taking things one game at a time, and that he knows this next one at Texas Southern will be a challenge.
“They’re well-coached, they play hard, they run to the football and have some really good players,” Joseph said. “They’re really a dangerous football team when they’re in Houston. They get off blocks well on the defensive line and have a really athletic quarterback.
“What we see is a well-coached football team and a scrappy football team that’s going to get after it.”
One thing the G-Men are focused on is cutting down the number of penalties they’ve been hit with so far this season. Grambling ranks 10th in the SWAC, giving up 87.6 yards per game.
“We’re working on it,” Joseph said. “We continue to stress what we can do and what we can’t do and that we’ve got to recognize how the game’s being officiated. And if it looks like we’re doing some extra stuff we need to stop it. I’ve spoken with the team and it starts with me and my aggressive style.
“I’m aggressive across the board, so we’re a little too aggressive for some of the officials and I understand that, so I have to get back to the drawing board with them and work on stopping the bone-head penalties, the personal fouls and facemasks and things of that nature — non-moving penalties — that’s what hurts us right now. So I’ve got to do a better job as a head coach to get them to throw their hands up and not retaliate when they get slapped. I’ve got to get them to do what most men can’t do — just walk away when somebody slaps you in the helmet. And I’ll do that. We’ve talked about it this week and have made a pact that we’re going to walk away.”
Joseph played back-up quarterback Ashton Frye some during last week’s 31-21 Homecoming win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff trying to ramp up his team’s offensive performance.
Starter Myles Crawley, the Preseason SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, connected on 15-of-25 passes for 170 yards with one touchdown while Frye completed three-of-five passes for five yards.
Joseph admits he’s still looking for more output at quarterback and during this week’s SWAC online press conference declined to name a starter for the game against TSU.
“I’m still disappointed that they’re not making the reads that they need to read, so we’ll go back and give them equal reps and see who plays on Saturday,” Joseph said. “Who’s going to be more consistent? Who’s going to read it out? Who’s going to put us in the right play? Who’s going to be our quarterback?
“And that’s the problem I’m having right now with both of them right now.”
Crawley has connected on 125-of-213 pass attempts (58.69%) for 1,367 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Frye and Deljay Bailey have seen limited time behind center so far this season with Frye hitting on three-of-six passes while Bailey has completed three-of-six attempts in backup duty against Tuskegee and Texas A&M-Commerce.
Texas Southern ranks sixth in both SWAC offense and defense while GSU ranks eighth offensively and fourth defensively.
Andrew Jones leads Grambling and the SWAC with 11.3 tackles per game.
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