Thanksgiving for Southern means two things, spending time with family and the Bayou Classic. A weekend rich with tradition where people can come down to New Orleans and enjoy the rivalry between the Southern University Jaguars and Grambling State University Tigers. Southern currently has won the match-up the past three years and fans would hope that the Jags could get it done for a fourth time, but this current season leaves little to admire about the football team. With a loss to Alcorn State the Jags have received their eighth straight loss and fallen to 1-9. Despite the team’s recent struggles, Southern may have gotten lucky with the help of their rivals up north.
On November 9th, the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats faced off against the Grambling State Tigers in a tight game. As the players returned from halftime tensions flared and a brawl erupted. The fighting was so fierce that it resulted in five Tiger ejections and four Wildcat ejections. After the game, suspensions and fines were given to the universities. Twenty-seven players from Bethune-Cookman were suspended and the university received a twenty-five thousand dollar fine. Eighteen players were suspended from Grambling with three players receiving two game suspensions along with a forty-thousand dollar fine to the university.
Southern’s chances of winning have now grown exponentially. Although Grambling has a better record and on paper looks like the better team, they are wounded. Not only has the team lost players that would have played during the Bayou Classic, the team took a large hit to its morale. Southern with its new head coach has a chance to move on from the mistakes earlier this season and gain momentum heading into the off-season. Leaving fans to wonder: “Will the Jags take advantage of the situation”?
