By Nick Deriso, The Monroe News Star
Grambling, primarily on the strength of its No. 2 rushing attack, returned to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference stats for total offense with 479 yards against Alcorn State last week.
Running plays accounted for 176 of those yards, as GSU rushers averaged nearly five yards per carry.
Just as importantly, GSU’s coaches felt quarterback Brandon Landers — even while throwing for 300 yards and four scores — did a better job of taking what the defensive gave him in a more considered offensive scheme.
“Brandon has gotten better and better at managing the game and doing the things we ask him to do as a quarterback,” said first-year Grambling coach Rod Broadway. “I see a lot of growth in that young man. He’s done some good things around here. But what we’re asking him to do is manage the game.”
JUST FOR KICKS
Cramps felled GSU’s regular punter, Tim Manuel, leaving two little-used backups to fill in. Grambling averaged just 38.6 yards per attempt, ahead of only Mississippi Valley and Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
HOLD THE LINE
Grambling’s rush defense, a cellar-dweller in the SWAC last season, shot up to No. 4 after the opener. The group is also No. 2 in scoring, though remains in the middle of the pack against the pass, at No. 6 in the 10-team league.
NO MORE FLAG DAYS
Grambling, a team that lately has hovered near the top of the league in penalty yards, gave up 105 yards to finish No. 8 in the season’s first week.
“If you can make fewer mistakes than your opponent, then you have a good chance of winning,” Broadway said. “That means things like alignment and penalties. If you do that fewer times than your opponent, then you are going to win more games. It’s Football 101.”
ENEMY LINES: PITTSBURGH
Pitt has hit a run of bad luck. So, it's likely to run the ball.
Quarterback Bill Stull, a benchwarmer for two seasons behind Tyler Palko, tore up the thumb on his throwing hand in last week’s opener — requiring surgery on Monday.
Stull will miss at least six weeks, and perhaps the remainder of the year.
“He'll have a splint on for 10 days,” Panthers coach Dave Wannstedt said in a news conference with the media on Tuesday. “He'll take the splint off in 10 days, the stitches will come out and he'll start the rehab process. We're just going to have to take it a week at a time and there's not a definite timetable.”
Arriving on the heels of another season-ending injury to top wide receiver Derek Kinder, it’s taken much of the luster off of a 27-3 win over Eastern Michigan last Saturday — and left Wannstedt with two freshman passers to decide upon in this week’s game against Grambling.
Redshirt Kevan Smith appears to be the leading candidate. Wannstedt earlier in the year said he intended to hold back true freshman Pat Bostick — a Pennsylvania state player of the year.
Uncertainty at such a key position provides an opening for a lower-division foe, Grambling coach Rod Broadway admits — even if it’s only a small one.
“It’s always a challenge when you play up,” Broadway said. “It gives us a chance to measure ourselves against a Division I-A program. It will give us an idea about what kind of football team we have.”
Wannstedt said that he will not make a decision before today on who will get the nod, and could wait until game time. The Grambling game kicks off at 11 a.m. local time at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, home of the NFL’s Steelers.
“I don't think any coach on any level would want to put a freshman on the field, but we're going to do that,” Wannstedt said. “I could cite a half-dozen teams that played with true freshmen last year. I think the real key is what you do with them as a coach and who his supporting cast is.”
Whoever starts under center, look for Pitt to rush early and often. Starter LaRod Stephens-Howling had 16 carries for 67 in the Panthers’ opener, while talented freshman LeSean McCoy added 10 for 68 yards.
SWAC ATTACK
A&M, AGAIN
Kelcy Luke finished where he left off, a season after leading Alabama A&M to its first Southwestern Athletic Conference title.
He completed 18-of-29 passes for 261 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for 37 yards and another touchdown in an opening win over regional rival Tennessee State.
Sometimes criticized, even in triumph, for a low-scoring offense, A&M won convincingly at LP Field in Nashville, 49-23.
DELTA DAWN
How badly was the once-thought resurgent Jackson State beaten — and at home, no less — by Division II power Delta State last week?
There’s the score, of course. JSU fell 27-15 in front of an announced crowd of 12,667 at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium. But how’s this for a stat: 122 total yards and were stuffed for minus-29 yards on the ground.
Neither of its quarterbacks were effective, leaving Jackson with some big questions going into this week’s game against Tennessee State – a contest decided in overtime last season.
Good news: running backs Erik Haw and Cody Hull are expected back.
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