Courtesy of Grambling State Athletic Communications:
GSU falls behind early and falls at FAMU
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. |The Grambling State University football team fell behind early and could not recover as Florida A&M celebrated Homecoming and Senior Day with a 26-3 victory over the Tigers in a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) on Saturday at Bragg Memorial Stadium
Florida A&M (6-2 overall, 4-1 SWAC) got the ball to opening the game and marched 82 yards in 10 plays as Rasean McKay found a streaking Jah’Marae Sheread for 15 yards for the score as the Rattlers took a quick 7-0 lead with 10:27 remaining in the opening quarter.
After a Grambling State punt, FAMU, which went 3-for-3 on third downs on the drive, nearly went the length of the field, as the Rattlers marched 90 yards in 16 plays as McKay tossed a 6-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the endzone to Jeremaine Hawkins to extend the advantage to 14-0 with 14:55 left in the second quarter.
Florida A&M continued to put pressure on the GSU defense as the Rattlers started their drive on the 39 and captitalized on an unsportsmanlike penalty. FAMU went 61 yards in 12 plays as Jaylen McCloud scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to push the margin to 21-0 with 4:55 remaining in the first half.
Grambling State (3-5, 2-3) cut the deficit to 21-3 after a 35-yard field goal by Garrett Urban with 6:14 remaining in the third quarter.
The Rattlers added a safety when Tigers quarterback Elijah Walker was sacked in the endzone by Savion Williams with 1:40 left in the third.
Florida A&M got a 44-yard field goal by Jose Romo-Martinez with 10:55 remaining to extend the advantage to 26-3.
CHECKING THE BOX SCORE
– Grambling State finished with 10 first downs and 187 total yards of offense- Elijah Walker went 6-for-13 for 63 yards- Aldon Clark rushed the ball two times for 58 yards, including a 55-yard burst late in the fourth quarter- Greg White caught a pair of passes for 23 yards- Defensively, Blake Thomas, Kenan Fontenot and Quincy Mitchell each registered six total tackles- Garrett Urban booted a 35-yard field goal in the third quarter and is 4-for-4 from between 30-39 yards this season- The Tigers recorded six penalties for 61 yards- Florida A&M finished with 24 first downs and 356 total yards of offense- Rasean McKay recovered from one his worst outings last week at Mississippi Valley State and went 20-of-34 passing for 204 yards, with two touchdowns and one interception- Terrell Jennings rushed the ball 12 times for 54 yards- Bishop Bonnett, who came in as one of the best running backs in the conference, was held in check with nine touches for 26 yards- Xavier Smith caught seven passes for 72 yards- Markquese Bell registered six total tackles- Florida A&M recorded 10 penalties for 84 yards- Both teams missed an opportunity in the red zone as GSU went 1-for-2, while FAMU was 3-for-4
GAME NOTES
– Grambling State started Elijah Walker at quarterback and Aldon Clark saw action in the fourth quarter- The Tigers gave up an open drive to begin the game for the fourth time in the last five games
– Florida A&M received a delay of game penalty to begin the game and another one at halftime- FAMU celebrated Homecoming and Senior Day
– The game was halted for approximately 15 minutes in the third quarter as an altercation broke out between the two teams
– The Rattlers closed the gap in the series, 10-6, with the win against the Tigers- The announced attendance of 31,887 was a sellout at Bragg Campbell Memorial Stadium
– Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs dropped his first game against FAMU head coach Willie Simmons as Fobbs was previously 4-0 against Simmons
– FAMU beat Grambling State for the first time ever inside Bragg Memorial Stadium- The Tigers fell to 40-20 in games played before 6 p.m. and 23-4 in games played in October
– Grambling State is now 38-21 in games played on artificial turf- The Tigers are 18-22 when the opponent scores first and 2-26 when trailing at break
QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BRODERICK FOBBS
“Florida A&M is an outstanding football team and I tip my hat to head coach Willie Simmons and his staff for doing outstanding job. We just made some mistakes and couldn’t get some key stops early on. Once we played from behind, we just could not recover. Anytime you play from behind the chains or make mistakes, you put yourself in a bad position.
We will take this week to regroup and shift our focus to a good Arkansas-Pine Bluff football team.”
UP NEXT
Grambling State continues its road swing on Saturday, Nov. 6, as the Tigers visit Arkansas-Pine Bluff at Simmons Bank Field. GSU and UAPB met during the Spring 2021 COVID season with the Golden Lions earning a 48-20 victory at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium. Arkansas-Pine Bluff visited Texas Southern on Saturday.
