From Grambling State Sports Communications
Defense Sparks Grambling State to Win Over TSU
GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University football team got two scores from its defense as the Tigers celebrated Homecoming with a 34-20 victory over Texas Southern in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) game on Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium.
Grambling State (3-4 overall, 2-2 SWAC) started slow but used a 17-point third quarter to pull away from Texas Southern.
TSU capitalized on a turnover by GSU starting quarterback Noah Bodden as Andrew Body took advantage of the short field with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Jyrin Johnson to grab a 6-0 lead with 10:19remaining in the opening quarter.
Grambling State answered on the very next possession with a 9-play, 75-yard drive as Donald Johnson scored on 4-yard touchdown run to pull ahead, 7-6, after the extra point, with 5:44 left in the first.
GSU extended the advantage to 10-6 after Garrett Urban 29-yard field goal as time expired as the two teams entered the half.
Grambling State’s defense scored the first of two touchdowns as Quincy Mitchell took a Body interception 75 yards to paydirt as GSU pushed the margin to 17-6 with 12:40 left in the third.
Urban’s second field, a 33-yard field, gave GSU a 20-6 lead with 6:02 remaining in the quarter.
Grambling State added the second defensive score with 3:04 left in the third as Myron Stewart recovered a fumbled and rumbled 70 yards for the touchdown as GSU extended the lead to 27-6 advantage.
Texas Southern (2-4, 1-2) ended the scoring drought early in the fourth quarter as Javius Williams recovered a Bodden fumbled and went 44 yards for the score as TSU closed the gap to 27-13 with 14:34remaining.
Elijah Walker gave Grambling State its final score with a 1-yard touchdown run, giving GSU a 34-13 lead with just over five minutes left.
Texas Southern added a Jeff Proctor 4-yard touchdown run with 1:59 remaining, but it wasn’t enough as Grambling State picked up the Homecoming victory.
CHECKING THE BOX SCORE
– Grambling State finished with 16 first downs and 246 total yards of offense- Noah Bodden went 15-of-30 passing for 156 yards and two interceptions- Aldon Clark finished with 12 yards passing on 3-of-4 passing, with one interception- Elijah Walker filled in late in the fourth quarter at quarterback and carried the ball for 32 yards on seven carries- CJ Russell registered 41 yards on nine touches- Greg White caught five passes for 73 yards- Defensively, Lane Lewis and Marquis Britten each recorded six tackles- Garrett Urban went 2-for-2 on field goals and 4-for-4 in extra point attempts- Texas Southern finished with 20 first downs and 362 total yards of offense- Andrew Body, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Week, went 16-of-26 passing for 172 yards- Body also carried the ball 10 times for 55 yards- Jonathan Giles recorded seven catches for 52 yards- Joshua Murray and Julian Marcantel paced the defense with six tackles
GAME NOTES
– Grambling State got two defensive scores, both coming in the second half to pull away from Texas Southern- GSU’s defense has forced 10 turnovers over the last three games- Noah Bodden, Aldon Clark and Elijah Walker saw action at the quarterback position- Grambling State led 7-6 after the end of the first quarter… the first time this season GSU held a lead in the opening quarter- GSU remains unbeaten in Homecoming games (8-0) under head coach Broderick Fobbs- Grambling State remains perfect in home games this season (wins over Alabama A&M and Texas Southern)- GSU improved to 23-3 in games played in October and 46-2 when leading at the half- Broderick Fobbs remains perfect against Texas Southern (7-0)- Grambling State played Texas Southern for its Homecoming game for the third time since 2017
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BRODERICK FOBBS”He’s young (Noah Bodden), he’s a freshman. He’s got to go through all the growing pains, but I want to make sure he stays healthy.
“Aldon gives us another package where we can run the football and do a little more of the running game”
“We gotta help the young kid (Bodden),” coach Broderick Fobbs said. We gotta do more around him so he can be the type of player, gain the type of confidence that he needs to gain and that’s really what it’s about. I expect a freshman to not play well all the time, but we have to make catches and acrobatic catches for him when the ball isn’t there right in our chest.”
“Our defense is stellar,” Fobbs said. “Coach (Everett) Todd and our defensive staff do a really good job of putting our staff in the right positions. Other than two drives, I think we played grade A defense.”
“I think we’re growing; we’re getting better,” Fobbs said.
UP NEXT
Grambling State takes a week off before visiting Florida A&M. Kickoff against the Rattlers is set for 3 p.m. (Central) at Bragg Memorial Stadium. The last time GSU and FAMU met was in 2001, a 12-10 victory for the Tigers.
