Six points from TheDerisoReport.com on Grambling’s seventh week of 2009 football, including a victory at Alabama State, its bye week — and the postseason scenarios just ahead:
ONE
If things don’t break Grambling’s way this year, starting with Thursday night (more on that later), 2009 will continue a one-and-done trend: GSU hasn’t repeated as Southwestern Athletic Conference champions in its last three tries.
Crowned in 2002 (the more recent time Grambling has strung together consecutive titles), the Tigers and former coach Doug Williams roared into the Bayou Classic on a 10-game winning streak — only to fall to Southern 48-24 (pictured above), opening the door for the Jaguars to advance to the SWAC Championship Game.
Crowned in 2005, under former coach Melvin Spears, Grambling opened 2006 with consecutive overtime losses to Hampton (27-26, in the MEAC-SWAC Challenge) and then Alabama A&M (30-27, the last time the Bulldogs beat GSU), and never recovered in an eventual 3-8 campaign.
Seven games after earning the 2008 crown, GSU sits at 4-3 overall and 2-1 in the SWAC, having beaten both Alabama league teams but stumbled against Prairie View. As in 2003, that single loss in the conference’s rugged Western Division may be all it takes to bar the door on a repeat.
TWO
The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for Grambling, and not just because that gives everyone a chance to sit back and enjoy this week’s critical SWAC West showdown between Southern and Prairie View on ESPNU.
Grambling got banged around early this season, notably in the Oklahoma State game, and has never been at full strength. The team also hasn’t had a solid period of rainless afternoons to practice since the year began.
“We need to get our guys healthy and our quarterback healthy,” coach Rod Broadway said today. “Right now, we’re mainly a drop-back throwing team. Greg Dillon’s strength is putting pressure on people and getting on the corners. On Saturday, they played two man. If he could run, he probably would have hit his head against the goal post five or six times, but he can’t run.”
Look for players like Dillon and T.J. McCord to return to the field closer to full strength. Grambling, in fact, is sitting Dillon this week to give him extra rest.
“We’re going to go with someone else for the time being to get him well and get him some rest,” Broadway said. “Then, he can come back and do what he’s capable of doing which is using the field and his feet.”
Fans can also hope for a bit more consistency on both sides since it’s easier to build reps on consecutive sunny days.
THREE
About that Thursday game, there is an old saying, repeated in the Godfather movies, that goes: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Grambling fans, hold your noses, if you must. But you’re pulling for Southern this week.
FOUR
Linebacker Cliff Exama, named Monday as the SWAC defensive player of the week, is underrated in an offense so often defined by playmaker Christian Anthony.
Last week alone, he made 15 tackles — 9 of them solo — and was in on two sacks during the Tigers’ win at Alabama State. That’s part of a season that’s seen the Florida native make 56 stops, tops on this team. Exama’s also No. 1 in assists, and trails only Anthony in solo tackles and tackles for a loss.
FIVE
Grambling, one game back from Prairie View, plays a string of SWAC contests to finish the season — Mississippi Valley, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Texas Southern and Southern. I think each of those games is potentially winnable, though the team must deal with a good bit of emotion surrounding the two season-ending TV contests, first against TSU (which features Spears’ return to The Rob) and then the Jaguars.
Elsewhere, I originally thought the main speedbump in Prairie View’s concluding quartet of league matches was Southern. But I also thought Alabama A&M would be tough (the Bulldogs appear, suddenly, to be in disarray) and Alcorn would be a pushover (the Braves are, suddenly, first in the East). The Panthers finish with Pine Bluff.
That upset at Dallas means Grambling must hope for Prairie View to drop two of those games. Difficult to imagine. Lose only one, and the Panthers still hold the tiebreaker.
Finally, Southern actually has five SWAC games remaining, as it plays Texas Southern on Dec. 5 after the Bayou Classic. Between now and then, the Jaguars face Prairie View, Pine Bluff, Alabama State and Grambling.
SIX
I see something in this team that can help it down a critical stretch run that involves playing both mistake-free football and more than a little good luck.
Grambling never gives up.
Down again last week at Alabama State, in a hostile environment, GSU rose up on both sides of the ball to secure the win.
The Tigers scored three times to overcome an early ASU lead, while shutting down the opposing offense — which went scoreless in the second half.
“I think we have good character,” Broadway said. “We’re playing for 60 minutes, even the games we lost. As long as you do that, you have a chance.”
This team doesn’t quit, even when facing dizzying odds. That stick-to-it-iveness is required of a group that must win out — no matter what Prairie View does — in order to have a chance at the postseason.
Every game has a playoff atmosphere right now. I think Grambling has shown it’s up to the challenge.
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