Prairie View WR Nelson steps into spotlight

Dallas, Texas - Prairie View A&M junior Spencer Nelson entered summer camp with the most game experience among the wide receivers and was expected to glide into the No. 1 role.

But Nelson struggled to gain his footing as the Panthers experienced inconsistent play at quarterback from the outset. He had only four catches for 68 yards in the first two games. What a difference two weekends make.




Nelson rebounded with the first two 100-yard, one-touchdown performances of his career. He caught seven passes for 113 yards in a 36-29 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 17 and had nine catches for 117 yards in last Saturday's 43-34 win over Mississippi Valley State.

Nelson (5-8, 175) has quickly become ...

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Football preview: Grambling State vs. Prairie View A&M at Cotton Bowl in Dallas on Saturday

Dallas, Texas - Doug Williams, former Grambling State University quarterback and Grambling’s head football coach from 1998-2003, just had to come back as head football coach to where he considers home.

“What made me come back?” Williams told a press conference audience on Monday. “It’s just one word: Grambling.”

Williams, along with Prairie View A&M University Panthers head coach Heishma Northern, on Monday were part of the Kickoff Press Conference for the State Fair Classic, one of Black College Football’s most prestigious annual games. The two teams square off Saturday, October 1 at 6 p.m. at the Cotton Bowl at Fair Park.



The game regularly attracts between 50,000 and 60,000 fans. Traditionally held on the opening weekend of the State Fair of Texas, officials determined that the event brings in close to $10 million of economic infusion into North Texas each year.

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Prairie View hurt by fumble in 34-17 loss to Grambling State

DALLAS, TX — Penalties and a costly fumble doomed Prairie View A&M in a 34-17 loss to Grambling State in the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl. The Panthers, (1-3, 1-2 SWAC) were penalized seven times for 62 yards and fumbled inside the Tigers’ 5-yard line in the second half.

After a 17-yard pass from KJ Black to Shaun Stephens on the opening drive of the second half gave 
the Panthers a 17-14 lead, Prairie View was poised to score again on its next possession.
After Black hit Devin Brown for a 21-yard gain to the Grambling 3-yard line, Brown fumbled, killing the drive and any Prairie View momentum.

“It killed us,” Panthers head coach Henry Frazier III said. “We had the lead. We should have scored again. That was very devastating. That gave them the momentum.”



State Fair Classic: Big plays help Grambling State top Prairie View A&M

Grambling State used big plays in the second half to defeat Prairie View A&M, 34-17, at the State Fair Classic on Saturday at the Cotton Bowl. The Tigers avenged their loss from last year, their first in the series since 1986.

A 59-yard bomb from Anthony Carrothers to Kiare Thompson with 4:21 left put Grambling State up by 10 and sealed the Panthers' fate. Grambling State's Cornelius Walker scored on a 66-yard run with 1:24 remaining for the final score.

The Panthers' defense gave them a chance by stuffing Frank Warren on a fourth-and-1 at Prairie View's 14 with six minutes left and Prairie View down by a field goal. But Prairie View's drive consisted of an incompletion, a sack, a false start and a near-interception. Carrothers hooked up with Thompson on the following drive.

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Attendance: 43,754

State Fair Classic is SWAC predictor

The official SWAC Championship is played in Birmingham in December. But the State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas might be the conference's true championship game.

The winner of the annual matchup between Grambling State and Prairie View A&M has gone on to win the SWAC's Western Division — and eventually, the conference championship — in each of the past two seasons. The loser has had to play out the rest of its season, fruitlessly hoping the other team will slip up and provide a path to the championship game.

Do-or-die game faces Prairie View at Cotton Bowl‎

Prairie View A&M coach Henry Frazier III hardly knew what to say when addressing his team in a huddle after last weekend's 18-15 loss to Alabama State at Blackshear Stadium. The Panthers had just seen their nine-game home winning streak snapped. Their 15-game winning streak against Southwestern Athletic Conference opponents also went up in smoke. For Frazier, it was unfamiliar territory.

"It was hard to accept," Frazier said. "A part of me was like, 'Damn, we lost. What do I say?' I had to question myself (to see) if I was cut out to coach because I can't accept ...

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Losing is no longer routine for resurgent Prairie View A&M‎

PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas – There was a time in the not-so-distant past when handling defeat was like rolling out of bed to the Prairie View A&M football team. It was routine, rote, all too regular. Holders of the NCAA record for consecutive losses at a mind-boggling 80 from 1989 to '98, the Panthers did not post a winning season from 1977 through 2006.

Yet there was nothing been-there, done-that about their latest loss. A last-minute 47-yard field goal by Alabama State resulted in an 18-15 defeat Saturday in front of a shocked crowd at Blackshear Stadium. Walking off the field with a 15-game Southwestern Athletic Conference winning streak in tatters, players sank into an abyss of remorse and pain.

"This is awful," said senior receiver Shaun Stephens. "We just don't do this." Not anymore, anyway.

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Next Game: Saturday: 6:00 p.m., Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic - PVAMU Panthers vs. Grambling State Tigers, Cotton Bowl, Dallas, TX
TV: ESPNU (delayed broadcast)

GSU's Broadway: That's not the same old Prairie View

By Nick Deriso, Monroe News Star

Grambling's offense is still occasionally misfiring.
But that's not the only reason GSU ended up in a nail-biter last week with traditional league doormat Prairie View, coach Rod Broadway said.

"I tried to convince my team, and everybody who would listen to me, that Prairie View is a much better football team," Broadway said. "We didn't play as well as we had hoped, and a lot of that is due to Prairie View."

The Panthers scored two final-period touchdowns to tie the game, leaving Grambling to sweat out a lengthy field-goal attempt with seven seconds left on Saturday. It wasn't until GSU defender Nigel Copeland blocked Pedro Ventura's kick that the 17-14 victory was secured.

By way of contrast, Henry Frazier-led Prairie View teams had lost 156-46 over the last three State Fair Classics.

"Our primary goal is to keep Grambling under 50," Frazier joked last week.

Instead, Prairie View fell by the tightest margin since the last time GSU dropped a game in this series, 1986's 24-19 loss.

The Panthers — a group that last had a winning season since 1976 — are just that much better than they used to be, Broadway said.

The game confirmed what he already thought about Prairie View's dominant defense, which is allowing league lows for touchdowns and yards.

"I told our kids that it would be a defensive struggle, and it really was," Broadway said. "Prairie View is a pretty good football team. People better not go into the game thinking that's the same old Prairie View."

Grambling's offense did its part, of course, coughing up a fumble and two interceptions — including one pick that was returned for a critical touchdown in the Panthers' furious, but ultimately failed, fourth-quarter comeback attempt.

"That gave the momentum back to Prairie View, and they responded like you are supposed to do," Broadway said. "But our team hung in there."

Grambling strung together some lengthy drives, holding the ball for 34 minutes. Its offense collected 400 yards along the way.

But four trips to the red zone only resulted in two scores, and GSU almost fell to the Panthers for just the second time since 1965.

"We need to get that corrected from our end, and protect the ball a little better," Broadway said. "It was a close game; we're proud of our football team being able to win it. My hats off to Coach Frazier."

The other game

By Michael Kinney, The Norman Transcript

DALLAS — It has long been known as the baby brother to the Red River rivalry. Taking place the week before Oklahoma and Texas butt heads, the Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic doesn’t get near the attention of its Division I brethren.

However, when the SWAC’s Grambling State and Prairie View A&M meet at the Texas State Fair, the atmosphere is beyond that of a single football game.

“If you are trying to reach more than one market, which we are, we want to be as diverse in our entertainment as we can be,” said Cotton Bowl Stadium manager Roland Rainey. “The Southwest Airlines Classic averages around 60,000. The difference being that there is such a huge rivalry with Texas-Oklahoma … Most of the coaches and teachers in this area came from Grambling and Prairie View. This is more of a homecoming.”

The event

Even though it doesn’t come with the national fanfare of the Red River rivalry or the consequence of the AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic, the State Fair Classic is still an integral part of the stadium’s annual schedule.

“The State Fair Classic is ranked within the top three in attendance in all Classic games in the nation,” Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert said. “Additionally, it is the largest African-American sports gathering in Texas, attracting an average of 60,000 attendees.”

The capacity crowd that attended last Saturday was the first group to make use of the “new” Cotton Bowl after millions of dollars went into renovations this year. Finishing touches took place all the way up until game time.

Grambling and Prairie View have played each other 59 times, with the Tigers leading the series 45-14. That includes this season’s 17-14 triumph, Grambling’s 20th straight victory in the series.

The thing about the event, though, is the outcome is really secondary.

“The State Fair Classic has become a highly anticipated gathering that includes much more than a football game,” Prairie View President George Wright said. “This Cotton Bowl game represents a tremendous opportunity to continue camaraderie and connection.”

One of the elements that makes the Classic stand out when compared to other traditional rivalries is the half-time battle of the bands. For many of the fans, the band battle is the real main event.

The coach

Without one man, the State Fair Classic would never have taken its place as a highly anticipated sporting event. Former Grambling coach, the late Eddie Robinson, winner of 408 games, almost single-handedly. brought prominence and prestige to the Classic.

Robinson died earlier this year at 88. He coached Grambling for 57 years and started bringing his Tigers to the Cotton Bowl 35 years ago. He coached his final game in the stadium Oct. 4, 1997. But his legacy lives on.

“I know everyone in the stadium was a big fan of coach Robinson,” Leppert said. “He took the four hour trip to Dallas for this game with Mrs. (Doris) Robinson by his side. He had an enormous impact.”

Leppert presented Doris Robinson with an award during Saturday’s pregame show honoring her husband. She was escorted by former Super Bowl MVP and Grambling player, then coach Doug Williams.

“This is where it all started for me,” Williams said. “Right here in this stadium.”

Late field goal lifts Grambling to victory over Prairie View A&M

State Fair Classic - Attendance: 55,878

DALLAS — Senior kicker Tim Manuel nailed a 19-yard field goal with 1:22 left in the fourth quarter as the Grambling State Tigers held off a furious second-half charge by Prairie View A&M for a 17-14 victory Saturday night.

The game remained scoreless for most of the first half until Grambling State (3-1) mounted a 12-play, 71-yard drive that had an interesting ending.

The Tigers drove to Prairie View's 3 but came up short after quarterback Larry Kerlegan was stopped at the 3. On fourth-and-goal with the team lined up in field goal formation with 1 second left, GSU gambled and executed a perfect fake field goal capped off with a Kovarus Hill shuffle pass to John Carter.

The Tigers went up 14-0 margin at the 7:36 mark in the third quarter when quarterback Brandon Landers found wideout Clyde Edwards in the end zone for a 41-yard score.

Then Prairie View (2-2) rallied.

Quarterback Mark Spivey passed 38 yards to Shaun Stephens to cut the deficit to 14-7 early in the quarter. On GSU's next drive, Gary Hicks intercepted a Landers' pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown to tie the game.

The Tigers then went into ball- control mode and rode the backs of freshmen running backs Cornelius Walker and Frank Warren. The duo, who set up Manuel's game-winning field goal, combined to lead the Tigers on a 16-play, 76-yard drive that took nearly nine minutes off the clock.

Prairie View had a chance to tie but Nigel Copeland blocked a 57-yard field goal attempt to seal the victory.

Grambling's Cornelius Walker rushed for 109 yards, and Brandon Landers passed for 173 yards and a touchdown.

Clyde Edwards, who caught seven passes for 100 yards, hauled in a 41-yard TD from Landers that put the Tigers ahead 14-0 midway through the third.

Mark Spivey threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Shaun Stephens that brought Prairie View within 14-7 with 11:02 remaining.

Less than a minute later, Gary Hicks intercepted a pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.

Grambling then drove for the winning score by converting all three of its third down conversions on a 76-yard drive.

Walker's 23-yard run to the 3 set up Manuel's game-winning kick.

State Fair Classic: Grambling State (2-1, 2-0) at Prairie View (2-1, 1-1)

By BOBBI ROQUEMORE, The Dallas Morning News

Grambling State (2-1, 2-0) at Prairie View (2-1, 1-1)

6 p.m. today, Cotton Bowl

No line

Grambling owns rivalry
The Grambling State Tigers won their 19th consecutive game over the Prairie View A&M Panthers, 53-7, at the 2006 State Fair Classic. Grambling has scored 50 or more points in each of the last four meetings and leads the all-time series, 44-13.

Prairie View, however, is an improving team finally capable of freeing itself from Grambling's grip. Prairie View has allowed just 33 points this season. LB Zach East has been a beast on defense with a team-high 34 tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble.

QB Chris Gibson is the leading rusher with 182 yards on 6.1 yards per carry. DB Val Ford is an alert special teams player who, after recovering two blocked punts, turned them into touchdowns in Prairie View's 22-7 victory over North Carolina A&T on Sept. 8.

Grambling, meanwhile, is coming off a 31-6 win against defending SWAC champion Alabama A&M on Sept. 22. QB Brandon Landers completed 22 of 32 passes for 235 yards and two touchdown passes. WR Clyde Edwards has four touchdown receptions in three games. Muhammad Karim (Lincoln) starts at RG and John Scroggins (Wilmer-Hutchins) starts at DE.

Grambling State wins if ...
QB Brandon Landers can stymie Prairie View's defense early. Grambling has scored an average of 14.7 points in the first half this season. Prairie View will have trouble keeping up in a high-scoring game.

Prairie View wins if ...
Every unit – offense, defense and special teams – contributes with at least one big play to force Grambling to take notice. The combination of pride and power can carry a team a long way.