By Nick Deriso, The News Star
ON THE UP AND UP
Grambling coach Rod Broadway praised his team for not playing down to the competition against one-win Mississippi Valley last week. The team will need a similar mindset this week against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, which sports a 1-4 overall mark.
"Nobody's going to give it to you," Broadway told the team after a recent practice. "It's about desire. Let's piece together a good season. Stay focused and maybe we can win a championship."
SCORELESS LESSONS
Grambling has held opponents out of the end zone in two of its four league games — first allowing Alabama A&M just two field goals and then shutting out Mississippi Valley.
Both games were played at home, where GSU has won by an aggregate 71-6 this season.
Maurice "Mo" Forte — head coach of GSU's next opponent, UAPB — has taken notice.
"They have a very strong defense," Forte said. First-year Grambling defensive coordinator Cliff Yoshida "has them playing very well down there. We're going to have to find a way to move the ball."
In all, Grambling has surrendered just three touchdowns, a score a piece on the ground, in the air and on an interception return.
WINNING IS EVERYTHING
Junior Grambling quarterback Brandon Landers hasn't been able to find his favorite target, Clyde Edwards, as much as he would like this season.
"Opposing teams are dictating their defense toward him," Landers said. "They know he can make the big catch."
The result, so far, has been Edwards' lowest statistical average per game since he and Landers were both true freshmen in 2004.
Landers sees those numbers going up. Either way, though, he and Edwards are focused on the bigger picture.
"He's the type of guy, and so am I, that as long as we're winning," Landers said, "we're fine."
ENEMY LINES: ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF
For Arkansas-Pine Bluff, mired in a three-game losing streak, the bye week was a welcome respite.
Fresh off a SWAC Western Division title, the Golden Lions (1-4 overall; 1-2 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) needed to take stock.
After all, this team nearly sunk itself last season, only to reel off six straight wins to advance to the league championship game. That run began against this week's opponent, when UAPB beat Grambling 33-28 at War Memorial Stadium at Little Rock in 2006.
"We know we have dug ourselves a hole," said Pine Bluff coach Maurice "Mo" Forte. "Our kids welcome the challenge. The harder the challenge, the more we like it."
There have been plenty, with tough out-of-conference games against Southern Illinois and New Mexico State coming back to back in Weeks 4-5.
While UAPB fell 58-3 to the Salukis, in the worst whipping of Forte's tenure, the Golden Lions held their own against the high-powered NMSU — which came in ranked No. 16 nationally in total offense, yet needed a 37-yard field goal with seconds left on the clock to steal a victory.
"We feel that they are getting better each week," Forte said. "When we came in there, we had an entirely new (offensive) line and it takes time to learn a system. It takes time to do the things that coaches expect you to do. They are getting better each week. Whether that's good enough, well, it really hasn't been so far."
UAPB's struggling offense, which has put up 69 fewer points than Grambling so far this season, also showed signs of life against New Mexico State.
Junior quarterback Jonathan Moore was 16-of-34 for a career-best 234 yards, while junior running back Martell Mallett got back on track with a season-high 84 yards.
Moore now has 554 yards and two touchdowns over three starts this season. Mallett upped his average to 42 yards a game, after a slow start. Tim Turner leads all Golden Lions tacklers with 55 on the year.
Unfortunately that hole Forte was talking about is a deep one.
UAPB enters Saturday's contest two games back from unbeaten Grambling, and one behind second-place Southern. Its only victory on the year is against winless Alcorn State.
History isn't on Pine Bluff's side either. Since winning three straight over Grambling in 1938-40, the Golden Lions have only strung together consecutive wins over GSU twice -- and the last time was a decade ago.
"Do the math," Forte said, "and you could say we are out of it. But we are not thinking about that. What we're thinking about is the next game."
SWAC ATTACK
TELEPHONE LINES
The Southwestern Athletic Conference's coaches teleconference turned into a free-for-all this week.
When it was over, comments made by two league coaches, Jackson State's Rick Comegy and Prairie View's Henry Frazier, were both under review.
First, Comegy questioned the security of Southern's stadium, where he will coach his first game this week — calling the conditions "hostile," and adding that many JSU fans "are not taking their families" out of fear.
Frazier then questioned the competence of the league's officials: "Either they're cheating or they're incompetent," he said.
The SWAC reprimanded Comegy on Wednesday, though it stopped short of suspension. His school president hastily issued an upbeat news release stating that JSU had sold out its allotment of tickets.
Meanwhile, interim league commissioner Duer Sharp rebuked Frazier on Monday, saying: "It's disappointing he used this forum to make those comments; it goes against the code of conduct."
Prairie View was flagged nine times for 79 penalty yards last week against Alcorn State, but won 17-7.
No comments:
Post a Comment