Grambling’s offense wandered out in into the 2008 season, unsure of who its quarterback would be, young up front and missing record-breaking playmaker Clyde Edwards in its receiving corps.
The results, perhaps, were predictable: GSU averaged just 18 points a game early on, three times scoring two touchdowns or less.
The season was saved, however, by its defenders. They helped keep Grambling on a winning path over that first month, scoring many of those points while holding three opponents to a total of 7.
GSU emerged at 3-2.
A season later, as Grambling players begin reporting for fall practice sessions today, the roles are reversed.
GSU’s defense has lost a number of its most productive players. The offense will have to do the heavy lifting this September.
“We can’t wait four or five games to get doing, relying on the defense,” said third-year coach Rod Broadway. “We’ve lost both of our inside defensive tackles, and they held it together for us.”
The now-departed Melvin Matthews and Otis Young provided 32 tackles for a loss last season. GSU will also be without its two most reliable stoppers, outside linebacker Keefe Hall (a team-leading 102 tackles) and safety/linebacker Jeffery Jack (second on the team with 82).
That puts the onus squarely on the offense in general — and, in particular, quarterback Greg Dillon, who eventually secured the No. 1 spot.
“We can’t be slow starters,” Broadway told me. “We have to play fast, and with great effort. We have to be productive.”
From the Prairie View contest on Oct. 8, when Dillon took over the starting role, GSU averaged two more touchdowns per night and the Tigers ran downhill to a Southwestern Athletic Conference title — winning 10 straight to close out the campaign.
Much of that offensive spark, however, came courtesy of the shifty Dillon’s outsized skills as a runner. He ended up as the team’s No. 2 overall rusher in 2006, averaging just 3 yards a game less than top running back Cornelius Walker.
In his second season of starting, Grambling coaches have tried to develop the rest of Dillon’s game — starting with a series of spring sessions in which he was barred from scrambling.
Yes, the eventual offensive MVP of both the Bayou Classic and the SWAC title match must get better still. GSU might have to score in bunches while its defense rounds into shape.
“He’s taken some positive steps to learn how to manage the game,” Broadway told me. “We’ve seen a lot of growth in Greg. Being the athlete that he is, if we can protect him, he can begin to make plays with his arm. He’s becoming more of a complete quarterback.”
Grambling will have to rely on Dillon’s continued maturation, rather than its vaunted defensive attack, to survive — much less thrive — during a rugged first month of football.
In its initial four games, Grambling faces black college power South Carolina State (Sept. 6), Southland Conference foe Northwestern State (Sept. 12), SWAC East champ Jackson State (Sept. 19) and then former BCS Top 10 Oklahoma State (Sept. 26)
“Our defense carried things last year for a number of weeks,” Broadway said. “The offense will have to be productive until we grow up on that side of the ball this season.”
No comments yet.