Nov. 29, 2010
Final Stats
NEW ORLEANS – Southern could not take advantage of early opportunities and miscues in the second quarter would lead to Grambling defeated Southern 38-17 in Bayou Classic XXXVII on Saturday at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Tigers (9-1, 8-1) rebounded from a 41-34 overtime loss at Texas Southern. The Jaguars (2-9, 1-8) lost their sixth consecutive game.
Grambling, winning the Bayou Classic for the third consecutive season, took a 19-18 edge in the Classic and evened the series between the two schools at 29-29. It was the Tigers' largest margin of victory in the series since a 30-3 triumph in 1986.
The announced crowd of 43,494 is the lowest attendance figure in Bayou Classic history.
Southern would get on the board first when the Jags special teams unit came up with the first big play of the day, when they recovered a muffed punted by GSU's Kiare Thompson. SU's freshman kicker, William Griswold, connected in his 15th field goal of the season, this time from 27 yards out to give SU its only lead of the afternoon at 3-0.
Grambling would then score 24 unanswered, before Sylvester Nzekwe scored from one yard out to cut into Grambling's lead before the half.
Southern U's Jeremiah McGinty could not get things going and had to come out of the game before halftime with an injury to his non-throwing shoulder. Dray Joseph would enter and lead SU's scoring drive.
The Tigers extended their 24-10 halftime lead to 31-10 when the first possession of the second half ended with Warren running 16 yards for a touchdown. Warren rushed for 106 yards and three touchdowns as Warren, who carried 21 times and scored on runs of 1, 1 and 16 yards, became the second-leading rusher in Southwestern Athletic Conference history.
McGinty was able to return after halftime, but was once again ineffective due to constant pressure fromthe GSU defense, was eventually replaced by Joeph again in the second half.
The Jaguars defense, which forced one punt per half, allowed six consecutive scoring drives from midway through the first quarter until halfway through the fourth.
Southern's Dray Joseph and Grambling's Frank Warren were named Bayou Classic XXXVII MVP's.
Offensively for Southern, Jeremiah McGinty led the Jags rushing attack with 48 yards on four carries. Dray Joseph finished with 38 yards on eight carries, while Gary Hollimon also rushed eight times for 29 yards and one score. Sylvester Nzekwe also picked up a rushing touchdown.
Dray Joseph led the Jaguars passing attack, coming off the bench was 11 of 16 passing for 148 yards with one interception, while Jeremiah McGinty completed just two of 11 passes for 21 yards with an interception.
Defensively, Levi Jackson recorded and game and career high 14 tackles, while Gary Chatman and Johnathan White each recorded seven tackles. Anthony Balancier and Jordan Miller had five tackles respectively, while Jordan had a season and game high three sacks. Mychal Bell and Steven Williams also recorded one sack each.
