SIX POINTS: TDR’s take on Grambling’s win over Alabama A&M

Six points from TheDerisoReport.com on Grambling’s sixth week of 2009 football, including a victory at home against Alabama A&M and preparations for a trip to Alabama State:

ONE
Alabama A&M is, more often than not, good medicine for Grambling.

Not that A&M hasn’t gotten in some memorable body blows. The Bulldogs whipped Grambling in Brandon Landers’ first start in 2004, sacking him one million times (and counting). A&M coach Anthony Jones’ crew also took the second of two consecutive overtime games from GSU to open 2006, starting a skid that led to Melvin Spears’ ouster.

But those are the only ones. Anthony Jones is now 2-8 all-time against Grambling.

The Bulldogs’ record in Robinson Stadium? Oh-fer. They also lost a game to Grambling in Shreveport’s Independence Stadium in 2003, leaving them oh-fer in Louisiana since joining the SWAC in 1999, too.

The Bulldogs’ record against Grambling is no better in the big game, either.

These two teams have faced off in a trio of Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Games. A&M’s mark? Oh-fer. Across two coaches for A&M, and two for Grambling, the Bulldogs lost in title matches from 2000, to 2002 to 2005 (see photo of Bruce Eugene, above, celebrating that most recent championship over A&M).

Grambling came in boasting a very rare overall losing record under Rod Broadway. History told us, and history was right, that A&M would help turn that around.

TWO
Grambling has been using a wild-cat variant in its offensive scheme for sometime, but the addition of Rodale Pippen into the mix was inspired.

Pippen, a South Boston, Va., product signed as part of Grambling’s 2008 class, got his shot after Greg Dillon suffered an ankle injury in the Oklahoma State loss that has limited his side-to-side mobility.

He was ready. Pippen played prep quarterback, but also split time at wideout at South Halifax High — putting up crazy numbers: 2,000 passing yards and 25 scores to go 500 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns.

From TheDerisoReport.com’s 2008 scouting profile: Pippen looks like the kind of eye-popping phenom who can tear his way through lower-classification football.

We saw some of that Saturday. Pippen scored twice out of the “wild-tiger” formation, shooting to No. 2 on the team for rushing touchdowns in one afternoon of work.

THREE
Grambling started ramping up to this win in the third quarter against Prairie View. GSU’s offense simply came alive too late in Dallas to overcome the surging Panthers.

That wasn’t the case at The Rob, where Grambling scored first and only trailed once.

GSU had 380 yards of total offense in the Cotton Bowl — up 75 from its average coming in. More than 200 of those total offensive yards came after the bands at the half. Back then, Prairie View was up 21-10. Grambling proceeded to put up 22 points before falling 35-32. In a remarkable scoring outburst, the Tigers managed three touchdowns over just 3:15 in that third period.

Fast forward one week, and we find GSU finishing with 406 yards in total offense — including 223 rushing yards against an A&M defense that arrived in Grambling having surrendered 287 yards total in 2009.

FOUR
Broadway has been talking about parity in the Southwestern Athletic Conference with the media for some time.

Now, he’s even talking about it with opposing coaches, too — most recently with Alabama A&M’s Jones.

“As far as the East is concerned, Coach Broadway and I were talking about this before the game,” Jones said today. “It’s going to be difficult for anyone to run the table, whether on the East or West side. Prairie View has the best chance of doing that right now, but this conference has a lot of parity — particularly, in the East. We will take one at a time.”

Particularly in the East, is right. First, only once since the advent of the SWAC Championship Game has a team from Western Division earned a berth with more than one loss.

The puts Grambling in a tough spot. Many of its fans are pulling for Southern to top Prairie View, hoping that opens the door for a third straight Western Division title.

But it’s not that simple. Assuming PV wins out, that leaves the Panthers at 6-1. Assuming Grambling wins out, that puts the Tigers at 6-1, but without the tiebreaker. So, Prairie View has to lose twice, while Grambling never falls again.

That’s a much steeper climb than on the other side. As usual: Half of the East participants have had two or more losses since the league title game was established in 1999. (TDR’s historical breakdown.)

And, right now, A&M, Jackson State and Alcorn State are all 1-1, but none has lost to an Eastern division opponent (a key tiebreaker).

FIVE
For Grambling fans who still aren’t buying tickets to the home games, and there were a lot of them last week with a ridiculously sparce announced crowd of 2,661, you’re missing out on a stirring run of wins.

In fact, the Tigers have never lost at The Rob under Rod Broadway, a streak that continued through Saturday’s blowout over A&M. In doing so, he has now tied a signature record for consecutive victories at Robinson Stadium.

Broadway has a chance to break the school record at the facility against Mississippi Valley State on Oct. 31.

The all-time mark at Robinson Stadium, which opened in 1983, is 9 in a row — most recently during the 2000-02 seasons under Doug Williams. The Tigers went three years without a stumble in Grambling, and won the SWAC title every time.

Eddie Robinson, who coached the team to four unblemished home records, also captured 9 in a row between 1992-94 — falling to Alcorn State to begin the ‘92 campaign and then not losing again at The Rob until the ‘95 home opener against Central State.

The last time Grambling lost a home game was Dec. 2, 2006, in the final contest led by Spears — who concluded that eventual 3-8 season on a four-game losing streak.

SIX
Up next for Grambling — coming off a game where A&M starter Kevin Atkins was a paltry 5-of-14 for 69 yards — is a team that’s put up impressive offensive numbers, though some of that has been against lesser opponents in non-conference play.

Alabama State ranks No. 2 in the SWAC for total offense, primarily on the strength of a passing offense that is also second for yards per play (7.5). The Hornets are No. 3 for passing touchdowns and No. 4 for passing yards per game (217).

Grambling, meanwhile, remains opportunistic (No. 2 for total interceptions; No. 3 for turnover ratio), but is in the middle of the SWAC pack for pass-defense efficiency and total pass defense.

“They throw the ball all over the yard,” Broadway said today. “They do a good job. We’ll have to get our guys focused and playing hard.”