From Grambling State Sports Information:
Tigers take to the road to visit Southern Miss
GRAMBLING, La. | The Grambling State University football team travels for the second straight week, but will have its first real road contest of the season on Saturday night against Southern Miss at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
The Tigers (1-0) are coming off a victory on Sunday against Tennessee State at the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic in Canton, Ohio, while the Golden Eagles (0-1) dropped a road tilt to South Alabama last Saturday. Jason Baker and Dustin Almond will have the call action as the game will be streamed live on ESPN3.
In addition, Grambling State will broadcast and stream the game on the Grambling State Sports Radio Network. The game can be heard in Ruston (KRUS – Hitz 96.3) and in Monroe (KNNW – 103.1 FM). The Tigers’ broadcast crew of Santoria Black, Ossie Clark, Nick Harrison and T. Lay Collins will call all of the action.
“We got the opportunity to play football in the fall and with our entire team,” Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs said. “Even though it was an ugly win we were able to come away with the victory. Our coaching staff did a really good job of disciplining our players and organizing our team.
“We didn’t throw the ball well and we didn’t pitch and catch well, but it is a start. Of course we are going to have to play better if we want to win the league and what we want to accomplish. Most teams take the biggest jumps between Week 1 and Week 2 because you really don’t know what you have until you play a game. We feel like we have a chance, but of course we have to play better on offense.”
ABOUT THE GAME
– Believe it or not, this will be the first time Grambling State and Southern Miss will meet
– GSU is seeking the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s (SWAC) first victory over Southern Miss
– The Golden Eagles are 7-0 all-time against members from the SWAC (Alcorn State, Jackson State and Southern)
– Fobbs is in eighth season as head coach at Grambling State, but he was an assistant at Southern Miss in 2012
– USM head coach Will Hall came to Hattiesburg after being an offensive coordinator for two seasons at Tulane
– Hall is no stranger of roaming the sidelines as he was the head coach at West Alabama and West Georgia
GRAMBLING STATE NEWS & NOTES
– The Tigers are coming off a 16-10 victory on Sunday against Tennessee State in the Black College Football Hall of Fame Classic
– Quarterback Elijah Walker and defensive back Kenan Fontenot grabbed offensive and defensive MVP honors, respectively
– The Tigers amassed just 184 total yards of offensive in the victory
– GSU had just four penalties against Tennessee State, while TSU finished with 18 for 150 yards
– Kicker/punter Garrett Urban picked up a pair of weekly honors, earning SWAC Specialist of the Week and Louisiana Sports Writers Association’s (LSWA) Special Teams Player of the Week
– Grambling State led 7-3 at the break and improved to 44-2 during the Fobbs era when leading at the half
– It’s been 20 years since Grambling State won back-to-back season opening games
– Grambling State went 10-1 in 2001, coached by Doug Williams, as the Tigers opened that season with seven straight wins
SOUTHERN MISS NEWS & NOTES
– The Golden Eagles enter Saturday’s game off a 31-7 road loss to South Alabama
– Freshman Frank Gore Jr. earned his fifth 100-plus all-purpose yard contest
– USM limited South Alabama to under 100 yards rushing and it was the first time in the last nine games that they had done that and not won
– Arvin Fletcher started his 48th game for the Golden Eagles and made his first start at center
– Punter Mason Hunt averaged 47.9 yards per punt over eight kicks, with a long of 58 yards
– The Golden Eagles are 81-18-2 all-time in home openers in Hattiesburg
– Southern Miss had five straight winning seasons snapped last season after finishing 3-7
ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY
– Grambling State and Southern Miss are meeting for the first time in school history
BRODERICK FOBBS TRENDS
– Grambling State is 9-1 all-time in the State of Mississippi
– The lone loss in Mississippi came in 2018 to Alcorn State
– Grambling State is 0-1 against opponents from Conference USA
– The Tigers are 0-7 against teams from the FBS
– GSU is 14-12 in September and 14-8 in games played after 6 p.m.
LOOKING AHEAD TO WHAT’S NEXT
– Grambling State will visit the University of Houston on Sept. 18
– The Tigers and Cougars have played twice (2006 and 2014)
– Houston is 2-0 all-time against GSU
– The Cougars blanked the Tigers in the last meeting, 47-0
