Tigers and Bulldogs collide in SWAC battle
Grambling tail back Keilon Elder (23) leaps into the end-zone over Alabama State on Nov. 9. GSU faces Alabama A&M tonight on the road. Photo by Tony Valentino
GRAMBLING – Mickey Joseph needed time, more than he and fans would have hoped, to figure out how to get Grambling State back to winning consistently.
But now, 10 games into his tenure as head coach, he’s realizing the plan of attack to not just close this season with a winning record — what would be the first for the program since 2019 — but also carry momentum into the offseason as he works to restore order to a program that once contended for the SWAC title every year.
Time on task has helped the G-Men (5-5, 2- 4 SWAC) find their identity of running the football while playing stout defense that rallies to the ball and disrupts plays behind the line of scrimmage.
It’s not the high-flying attack GSU thought it would be coming into the year with quarterback Myles Crawley, the SWAC Preseason Player of the Year, but good teams adjust, and Joseph is proud of his Tigers for not rolling over last week against a strong Alabama State team and knocking off the Hornets 24-23, snapping a two-game losing streak.
“ I think Saturday, just being down like that, they showed they still have some fight in them,” Joseph said. “But we still have a way to go. Coaches have a way to go too about what the kids can do.”
GSU committed to the run like it hadn’t all year last week, rushing for a season-high 171 yards on a season-high 49 attempts to upset the Hornets. Running back Keilon Elder ran for a game- high 104 yards and a touchdown, while Tre Bradford and Dedrick Talbert each had a TD as well. GSU was clear in its attack, asking quarterback Deljay Bailey to pass just 15 times for 76 yards.
The passing game, thought to be GSU’s best chance to win this season, has had to take a step back with Crawley injured and the G-Men getting the most out of a fresh stable of running backs each week. And Joseph won’t apologize for the change. It might have come too late, with GSU out of the SWAC contention, but Joseph said anytime a team can find an identity and stick with it, a program can be built for that foundation.
“We had to get to the point to where we said we’re going to hand the ball off,” Joseph said. “We’re going to hand it off. We only threw it 15 or so times. It took time but we’ve gotten there to where we know what we want to be each week.”
Facing Alabama A&M, GSU will need to put up points and hope its run game is just as effective as it was last week. The Bulldogs rank No. 1 in the SWAC in passing offense (260 ypg) and total offense (455 ypg) to go with the No. 2 scoring offense (30.8 ppg).
But fixing the on-field process is just one aspect of restoring order. Changing the program from the inside was the hidden beast Joseph needed to feel out, and now he knows it’s the final boss standing in the way between the G-Men and sustained success.
“They don’t give jobs to guys to programs that are winning. This program was losing. There’s a lot going wrong. There’s a reason why you lose,” Joseph said. “It can be financial, it can be skill, it can be coaches, it can be facilities, it can be everything. We have to figure out how to get everyone on the same page and get this thing back on track. And we will.”
Joseph expanded on his answer when asked about what he had to learn coming into the job at GSU after recent years in the Power 4 ranks.
“When you come into a program, and I hadn’t been on this level in a while, it’s always something new. They can’t do it the same way they do it at LSU. But we’re smart around here. We’re smart enough to figure out the things we need. It’s different,” Joseph said.
“I’m not going to sit up here and say it’s not. There are things I have to get used to and deal with. Where I came from before and I said, ‘Bam, I want it.’ It’s there. Not saying it’s not happening here, but it takes a lot. It takes money. It takes a lot of money to win consistently. We gotta continue to grow as a university and grow as a department. We gotta strive to get better every day.”
Grambling State (55, 2- 4 SWAC) battles Alabama A&M (4-5, 2-3 SWAC) tonight at 7 p.m. in Huntsville, Alabama. The game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.
The Tigers have lost their last two matchups against Alabama A&M, including 45-24 on Homecoming last year.
