Grambling’s series with Alabama State is an underrated rivalry in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, one that has seen the debut of Grambling’s most prolific passer, a memorably tight SWAC championship battle, the conclusion of a stunning winless campaign at Robinson Stadium, and a first-ever division-title clinching victory for Rod Broadway. Here’s a look back by TheDerisoReport.com at some of the highlights:
GRAMBLING BREAKS THROUGH — 2000:
Grambling met Alabama State for homecoming as it streaked to the first of three consecutive SWAC titles wins under Williams.
This Nov. 4, 2000, game, won 20-2 by Grambling, marked the first time the Hornets had been held without a touchdown for 30 consecutive games, dating back to 1998. Grambling held Alabama State to just 50 total rushing yards at The Rob.
The pivotal play came when former GSU coach Doug Williams, after pounding the ball inside for most of the game, called a pass play on first-and-10 from the ASU 47-yard line in the third quarter. Quarterback Randy Hymes hit receiver Scotty Anderson down the left sideline for 31 yards and a first down deep in Hornet territory. Two plays later, Michael Young scored to put the game out of reach for Grambling.
Grambling was headed to its first-ever appearance in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game, slated for one month later in Birmingham, Ala., on Dec. 2.
“I already have one championship ring,” Williams, the former Super Bowl champion, said that afternoon. “But this one will mean a lot more.”
BRUCE EUGENE DEBUTS — 2001:
Before Bruce Eugene rewrote every significant passing record at Grambling, he was redshirt freshman subbing for a struggling starter. He got his first start in an offensive firestorm at Alabama State in 2001.
These two teams would eventually put up more than 1,000 yards, and eight touchdowns, before Grambling fell 45-38 at the Cramton Bowl — in what would turn out to be the Tigers’ only loss of the season. GSU scored 18 points in the second quarter, only to see Alabama State score 24 in the third.
“They had more ammunition and used it,” Williams said. “It was one of those up and and down games and they were up when they needed to be. They came up with the big plays when they needed them and we didn’t. That was the difference.”
Eugene was taking over for senior Randy Hymes — briefly benched that season after completing just 1-of-7 passes for six yards with three interceptions the week before. He finished with 349 yards, three touchdowns and one interception on a 29-of-58 night. Hymes, moved to receiver, led Grambling with eight catches for 139 yards.
This loss was eventually erased when the NCAA ruled that Alabama State had to forfeit after a series of alleged violations.
THE CHAMPIONSHIP REMATCH — 2001:
Grambling had been tripped up at Alabama State in early November, despite a sterling performance by its offense. A month later, as the Tigers advanced to a second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game, the defense was still smarting over surrendering 45 points and 624 yards.
This rematch was no different, a barnburner that ended with Grambling up 38-31 — setting a new record for combined points scored in the title match.
The difference came down to which team made costly mistakes: Alabama State quarterback Darnell Kennedy — who had splintered GSU in November with 423 passing yards, 66 rushing yards and five touchdowns — fumbled on back-to-back possessions to give the momentum to Grambling in the second half.
GSU’s victory in Birmingham secured the school’s first back-to-back outright SWAC championships since 1977-78. Grambling also won 10 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1974-75.
THIRD STRAIGHT TITLE BERTH — 2002:
Grambling’s 34-21 win over Alabama State on Nov. 9, 2002 secured the third consecutive SWAC Championship Game berth for Doug Williams — an opportunity that once looked remote, indeed.
And it didn’t come easy.
In the first half, Alabama State rushed for 151 yards on 26 carries and had 199 yards of total offense. over the final two quarters, the Grambling defense clamped down, holding the Hornets to just 11 rushing yards on 20 attempts.
Bruce Eugene, meanwhile, kept Grambling just ahead of the Hornets — completing 21-of-45 passes for 374 yards and one touchdown. Top target Tramon Douglas caught eight passes for 175 yards.
“To be in the championship game three straight years in only the fourth year of the championship game says how far this program has come,” Williams said.
GSU, after losing 14 starters from the 2001 title-winning squad, opened with a devastating 52-20 blowout in the season opener at McNeese State. But the Tigers gathered themselves, and peeled off nine consecutive wins — and sat on the verge of becoming the first Grambling squad to ever win three straight outright conference titles in a row.
The legendary Eddie Robinson had three different streaks of four straight championships, but each of those stretches included co-championships.
WINLESS YEAR AT THE ROB — 2004:
After a too-tight 2003 contest that didn’t count in the standings, when Grambling scored 28 points in the second half to win, the two teams met again with a lot of on the line.
Never before had Grambling dropped more than three games at home in a single season.
In fact, when the Tigers fell 37-23 to Alabama State in their home finale on Nov. 6, 2004, it was just the third time since 1950 that a Grambling team had lost even three times at Robinson Stadium.
That’s one more stumble than former coach Doug Williams had in his entire six years at the helm. Interim replacement Melvin Spears had taken over earlier that year, and struggled mightily after starter Bruce Eugene blew out his knee in the opener.
No loss that year hurt worse than this one, which set a new mark for futility.
“We’ve got some major-league bad breaks,” Spears said that day. “But the main thing is, even though we’ve lost ball games, our guys have come out and played hard. We’ve just got to get them to play consistently – wherever we are playing, home or the road.”
Meanwhile, Alabama State clinched its second berth in four years as the East Division representative in the conference title game. The Hornets lost in 2001 to Grambling, the second of GSU’s three straight SWAC championships.
ANOTHER ENTERTAINING BATTLE — 2005:
As with the last time it was played in Montgomery, a blinding intensity could be found in this game between Grambling and Alabama State.
There is an engaging passion to it, and that’s a largely unique experience for a GSU team that had beaten overmatched conference opponents by scores like 44-0, 50-7, 52-21 and 58-21.
Not this time, as GSU won 32-27 on on Nov. 5, 2005. Grambling opened a big lead but would only win by four points, as Alabama State hung around and nearly won.
“We needed an ending like this,” a breathless GSU coach Melvin Spears said afterward. “They can’t all be blowouts. We learn more from games like this one.”
The scores reflect just how closely the game has been played: Two games now, and both decided by less than a touchdown.
A Grambling-Alabama State game at the Cramtom Bowl is like watching a knife fight in a phone booth.
“We have confidence going into every game, regardless of who we play,” said senior quarterback Bruce Eugene. “Any given Saturday here in the SWAC, anything can happen. Especially playing us. Teams tend to bring their ‘A’ game. We knew the circumstances.”
The last time Grambling came to Montgomery, it fell behind 24-23 early in the fourth quarter – needing a 21-6 run to finish off ASU. There were similar heroics from the Hornets this time.
ASU defensive back Desmond Foster broke up a late pass in the end zone intended for Tim Abney, then intercepted a subsequent Eugene pass on the same drive. ASU middle linebacker Billy Gresham nearly recovered a Eugene fumble, sending the remaining crowd into hysterics.
The final sequence was pure magic, and typical of contests at the Cramton Bowl.
First, there was an Alabama State score, then an onside attempt, a fair catch by Jermaine Mills that negated his fumble, a third-and-inches that GSU couldn’t convert before drawing a flag for offsides, and then Ab Kuuan’s run for a first down to close out the win.
ANOTHER SIGNATURE LOSS — 2006:
Grambling fell hard on Nov. 4, 2006, shut out in the second half against Alabama State to drops a crushing 35-16 decision.
It wasn’t just that it was homecoming. The loss ended GSU’s slim championship hopes, and ensured a losing campaign just one season after the Tigers went undefeated in league play.
Grambling, on its way to a three-win season, finished with only 207 yards of total offense, including just 32 yards rushing.
Most all of it came during a first half that was by turns surprising and thrilling. Emotional see-saws were sparked by one-handed grabs, blocked kicks, tipped balls and unlikely turnovers on both sides.
As the two teams fought to a virtual draw, Grambling returned to its two-quarterback look. Sophomores Larry Kerlegan and Brandon Landers would combine for 175 yards and one touchdown apiece. Neither could spark a late charge from the GSU offense, which actually held a slim 16-13 advantage at the break.
GSU’s Tim Manuel, Ruben Mayes and Terrion Rogers all lost fumbles. Landers threw a critical fourth-quarter interception that sent much of the announced homecoming crowd of 18,420 to the exits.
BROADWAY’S FIRST WEST TITLE — 2007:
They didn’t win the West with the bravado of 2005, or the fanfare. No, the 2007 edition of these Grambling State football Tigers crept up on everyone.
They beat Alcorn, but then the Braves went on to drop their first five. They fell to Pittsburgh, but then that was expected. They had a bye week to think things over, while Alabama A&M — Grambling’s next opponent — settled in as the lone Southwestern Athletic Conference squad in the Sports Network’s Football Championship Subdivision polls.
Whipping A&M, the defending league champs, on Sept. 22 provided the first inkling of what this Grambling team could be: SWAC Western Division champions, for the first time since 2005 — and just a year after imploding into a scattered eight-loss mess.
“That’s the thing you’ve got to think about, where we came from,” said junior Grambling passer Brandon Landers, as his teammates continued to celebrate the Nov. 3, 2007, division-clinching 21-7 win over Alabama State. “We were 3-8, and now we’re headed to the SWAC Championship.”
The road was long, and it had some potholes.
Grambling was dominant against Mississippi Valley State and Texas Southern, breezing past these two conference foes by a combined 97-9. They slugged it out with Jackson State, another top team from the opposing divisional bracket, and came out 10 points ahead. But Grambling had some unexpected troubles in too-close wins over Prairie View, Arkansas-Pine Bluff and, this week, Alabama State.
They won them all, though.
In the end, there was this jubilant bus ride back from Alabama, a divisional crown and the resulting title-game invite in tow.
Never far from their minds were the struggles. After all, Grambling didn’t score after the eight-minute mark in the second quarter.
But then there was this: A Grambling program that once sat at 1-1 on Sept. 8, and was being ignored in droves, had now quietly extended its SWAC-leading winning streak to seven straight.
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