By T. Scott Boatright
NEW ORLEANS — It was a microcosm of Grambling State’s season Saturday afternoon as Southern topped the Tigers 24-14 at the Bayou Classic inside Caesars Superdome.
A struggling offense and persistent penalties that have plagued the Tigers throughout the season were too much to overcome, as Grambling ended its first season with first year head coach Mickey Joseph at the helm at 5-7.
The problems were easily evident on the final stat sheet — Grambling totaled 148 yards on 55 yards (an average of 2.7 yards per snap with 47 or those yards coming on a 47-yard pass from quarterback Deljay Bailey to Tylon Williams) while being penalized for almost as much yardage, being flagged 15 times for 130 yards.
Joseph admitted the problem was not new but still painful to watch.
“We haven’t been in a rhythm for about nine weeks, so now we have to go back and figure out what we have to do with the offense,” Joseph said.
When asked if he thought the problems moving the football were personnel related or caused by decision making, Joseph again had a quick but short answer.
“It’s everything,” he said.
Despite their struggles, the G-Men stayed within striking distance for most of the game.
Southern struck first on a one-yard scoring scamper by former G-Man C.J. Russell that put the Jaguars up 7-0 at the 5:03 mark of the opening stanza.
After the Jaguars stretched their lead to 10-0 on a 26-yard field goal with 9:07 remaining in the second quarter, Williams turned in his first big play of the contest as he raced the ensuing kickoff back 94 yards for a touchdown to cut the Southern to 10-7, the score in the contest as the teams went to the locker rooms for halftime.
While Grambling struggled offensively, GSU’s defense did not make things easy for the Southern offense until finally getting worn down by having to spend what ended up being five minutes more on the field than the Jaguar defenders.
Southern finished with 397 total yards of offense on 62 plays and held around a seven-minute lead in time of possession.
“(The Jaguars) played a consistent offense and stuck with what they do well,” Joseph said. “They ran the ball well. You have to take your hat off to (Southern coach Terrence Graves) and those plates and coaches. They did a great job today on that side of the ball.”
When Southern connected on a 41-yard scoring strike from quarterback Jalen Woods to Chandler Whitfield to push its advantage to 17-7 with 2:04 left in the third quarter,
Grambling again countered to pull back within striking distance when Bailey’s 47–yard pass to Williams set up a four-yard rushing touchdown by Keilon Elder with 3:44 remaining in the contest.
The play that sealed the win from Southern came with 3:24 left on the clock when Kendric Rhymes broke loose on a 45-yard touchdown run for the game’s final score.
Southern forced the Tigers to punt on the ensuing series by recording a first down (GSU totaled only nine of those in the game) before running out the clock and beginning its postgame celebration.
GSU quarterback Myles Crawley, who started but struggled, completed only six of 16 passes for 34 yards while Bailey finished with five completions on eight attempts for 65 yards.
Elder led GSU ballcarriers with 47 yards on 10 carries while Javon Robinson was the lone Tigers with multiple receptions, hauling in two for six yards.
Defensively the Tigers were led by Andrew Jones, who totaled 10 tackles, while GSU’s Bayou Classic MVP, defensive end Bryce Cage, added nine takedowns.
Despite his postgame frustrations, Joseph did manage to find some positives from the contest.
“This was the first Bayou Classic for 41 of our players, ” Joseph said. “It was their first HBCU season for those 41 kids. So now they understand that they play good football in HBCUs.”
Joseph did not feel nerves were a problem for those players new to the intensity of competing in a Bayou Classic.
“I wouldn’t say nerves, ” Joseph said. “I’ve got to do a better job with them and our coaches in getting their emotions in check, we had too many penalties again, so we have to go back to the drawing board on that.”
Next up for the Jaguars (8-4 overall and 7-1 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s West Division) will be next week’s conference championship game at Jackson State.
