By T. Scott Boatright
Grambling State head coach Mickey Joseph spent four seasons as a quarterback for the University of Nebraska in the late 1980s and early ’90s.
You couldn’t blame him if he’s wishing he still had a little eligibility left today.
Joseph leads his Tigers into Simmons Bank Field to take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff in a game set for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.
And he does so still somewhat unsure who will be his quarterback against the Golden Lions.
The Tigers (3-3 overall and 0-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s West Division) are coming off a 21-20 Homecoming loss to Texas Southern week in a game during which the Tigers had to use three different quarterbacks.
This weekend GSU could play its fourth quarterback of the year after Joseph said earlier this week that he planned to practice with running back Byron Eaton, Jr., who played quarterback at Lincoln High School in Dallas, if needed.
That seemingly nightmarish scenario started before the Texas Southern game, when GSU starting quarterback C’zaian Teasett spent pregame warm-ups and the first half in street clothes and wearing a “boot” on his left foot.
Back-up Ashton Frye started the game, even scoring the Tigers’ first touchdown on a 15-yard run.
When Frye went down in the third quarter with an injury of his own and the Tigers on top 20-14, he was replaced by true freshman A’myne Darensburg, who lasted three series that resulted in a pair of punts and an interception on his final play of the night.
After Frye was injured, Teasett went to the locker room and suited up before turning to the GSU sideline.
And after Darensburg was picked off, Teasett ended up taking the field for GSU’s next possession with 11:52 remaining in the contest.
Joseph said putting Teasett into the game was about trying to pull out a win.
Frye has a right shoulder injury and is expected to be out for at least two games. But Teasett’s status remains unclear.
“Teasett, it’s strange,” Joseph said during his weekly press conference earlier this week. “I had ruled him out. I said you know what, I’m going to hold you. And then when all this happened, the kid he (said), ‘I’m not going to stand back and let this go on. You’re going to have to cut my leg off.’ That’s how much he believes in his teammates and Grambling.
“Remember Byron Leftwich, when then they had to carry him? That’s what you were going to have to do with Teasett. Teasett knew he was going to be in pain if he went out there but he couldn’t let his teammates and Grambling down, so he tried to help the situation. I take my hat off to the kid. And it’s probably a setback but I’m going to push him to day-to-day (this week) because it’s going to be what he can take as far as pain tolerance.”
When asked during the press conference if he still agreed with his decision to play Teasett after his previous decision to sit Teasett out before ending up allowing him to play, Joseph admitted that he probably didn’t.
“When I was at Nebraska, I was ruled out and that I wasn’t supposed to play on a Friday and Saturday. But I got dressed and I played and told Coach (Tom) Osborne I was gonna play. It probably doesn’t make sense.
“But you gotta put yourself in this kid’s shoes. The old-school world philosophy was if you can walk, you can play. But that’s changed. We’re soft on them these days. But it probably wasn’t the smartest thing, but you know me, if the kid says he was able to go, he can go. But I ruled the kid out because I didn’t want him playing banged up. But he decided that he wanted to go, so when he was able to go, he did the best that he could do. But no, it probably wasn’t smart from a coach’s standpoint. But we got through it. We got through it, so now we’ve got to move him to day-to-day.”
So to start the game at quarterback against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, it could be Teasett, it could be Darrensburg, a 6-2, 190-pound true freshman out of New Orleans’ John F. Kennedy High School, or it could be an unlikely darkhorse waiting in the wings.
During the press conference, Joseph also admitted that he planned to give Eaton,who has rushed for 212 yards and three touchdowns on 36 carries so far this season, some work at quarterback during this week’s practices.
“We’re going to work Byron Eaton will work some at quarterback with Darensburg also,” Joseph said.
