By T. Scott Boatright
To say the Grambling State football season hasn’t gone the way the Tigers hoped would likely be an understatement.
But at 4-2 overall and 1-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s West Division, the Tigers still have half a season left to play.
And even if a shot at earning a berth in the SWAC championship game is highly unlikely at this point, the G-Men relish the chance to play spoiler.
The G-Men will get that chance this weekend as they face off against the No. 1 team in HBCU football as Grambling State battles Jackson State in a game set for a 5 p.m. kickoff on Saturday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Jackson State stands at 5-1 overall and 3-0 in the SWAC East Division with its lone loss of the season coming by the score of 38-20 at Southern Mississippi on Sept. 6.
Grambling defeated Jackson State 41-20 last season, and GSU coach Mickey Joseph knows his G-Men will be facing a team looking for revenge despite having gone on to win the National Black College Championship last season.
And he knows what a strong performance can do for his football team.
“Anytime you can, you can play a team of this magnitude, you know, a really good football team and you can go and throw blows with them, I think you got to be excited for that opportunity that we that we’re getting, but it’s a lot in a game of this magnitude,” Joseph said. “We played Ohio State, the number one team in the country, and now we play the number one HBCU team, the HBCU in the country.”
Joseph also knows the G-Men will almost be facing two opponents in this game — Jackson State and all the extras surrounding playing the game in a professional stadium in Las Vegas.
“Just getting the boys ready, mentally to prepare for the travel, you know, leaving on Thursday, is a challenge,” Joseph said. “Getting them to understand how we’re going to structure that Thursday and structure that there on Friday and some of the things that I’m going to ask them to do differently than if we were playing in this region. We’re skipping two time zones, so we have to make sure that they listen to what we’re telling them, what the medical staff’s telling them. So, it’s gonna be more off the field things and then on the field.”
Joseph said getting his team locked on ball security will also be a key after watching his G-Men give up three fumbles (including by quarterback Tre Bradford and another by No. 1 running back Tre Bradford) in last week’s 20-16 at Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
“It’s something that we work on every day, and you know, and have to understand that when the temperature and the conditions change,” said Joseph. “We had to understand that. Last week, Tre should have just gone down (on his fumble). He’s fighting for extra yards. Teasett knows he’s under pressure and he’s got to put the ball away because people are going to be snatching at it.
“We got to understand that we’ve got to hold on to the ball securely. We have said that over and over again. So, we’re going to continue working at this and try to cut it out this week. And you know, what’s a better week to cut out the bad habits than against the number one team in HBCU football?”
