Grambling, Southern ready for Bayou Classic

Southern fell short of its goal of making it to the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship game, but feel Nov. 24 match up against Grambling is its championship game instead.
“It’s important for our football team to defeat Grambling because that’s going to be our championship game,” said SU coach Pete Richardson. “We’re not going to get to the championship game so defeating them will give us momentum going into next season.”
Southern (7-3, 5-3 SWAC) takes on Grambling at 1 p.m. Nov. 24 in New Orleans at the Superdome.
Southern is 11-4 in Bayou Classics under Richardson and Southern leads the series 17-16.
“We’re still an inexperienced team, so this will build the confidence in our football team going into next year to play against a fine football team that’s hopefully going to the championship,” Richardson said.
Grambling (8-2, 8-0) is led by first year coach Rod Broadway, formerly of North Carolina Central. Last year Broadway won the 2006 “Sheridan Broadcasting Network Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year Award” and his North Carolina Central team was voted as the 2006 Sheridan Black College National Champions.
In taking over for Melvin Spears, Broadway wasted no time restoring a winner, as his teams only two loses have come against division I opponents Pittsburgh, 31-10 and University of Louisiana at Monroe, 28-14.
“We’re going against a team that’s only loses have come against division one schools, so now we’re going to test and see exactly what kind of football team we have,” Richardson said. “Offensively they have a fine quarterback and excellent wide receivers. Defensively their strong up front, so it’s going to pose a challenge for us.”
Plus, Grambling has dominated every team Southern has lost to this season beating Alabama A&M 21-7, Jackson State 30-20 and University of Arkansas-Pine Bluff 30-24.
“It’s important to always try to control the tempo of the football game, especially in a huge game like this one,” Richardson said. “I think that it’s more important to avoid giving up big plays to make them drive the field and earn everything.”
Southern definitely has its work cut out this year as Grambling has steamrolled every SWAC opponent on its way to an undefeated conference record and a birth in December’s championship game.
“It’s going to be a highly emotional game,” Richardson said. “Their coming off a loss and they want to build confidence going into the championship game and we want to build confidence on our football team going into next year.”