NEW ORLEANS – A team who has faced injury after injury and still managed to post a respectable 7-4 record, season comes to an end. In the 28th Annual State Farm Bayou Classic, the Southern Jaguars’ season came to a sad end, as they were defeated 30-20 by the Tigers of Grambling State University.
“This game ranks up there. No doubt about that,” said coach Doug Williams, who has turned GSU into a powerhouse football program.
Though GSU is the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference champion and was ranked number three in Division II standings earlier in the season, Grambling under the leadership of Williams, had never beaten Southern…Until November 24, 2001.
Grambling and their quarterback Randy Hymes got the game started with a 61-yard touchdown run. Hymes went on to throw for 251 yards in the first quarter to bring the score to 27-0 Tiger lead.
“Randy Hymes in the first quarter was as good as they get, as cool as any quarterback is ever going to be,” Williams said.
Hymes teammates also agreed that Hymes was as good as it gets.
“Oh, man, he came out on fire,” said Levi Washington, who had five catches for 128 yards and two touchdowns. “He just wanted the ball.”
Grambling, take advantage of Southern’s weakened offensive lineup and a sometimes lagging defense.
“We knew that a constantly moving quarterback would cause some major problems,” said Hymes.
Grambling abandoned its usually effective running game, and turned Saturday’s contest into a passing game.
Grambling almost saw their first Bayou Classic win in eight year disappear, as the Jaguars tried to make a comeback, as they had done in many years before. But, this was not to be, as the Jaguars lay finished with only 20 points.
But, they tried. Codie Smith-Robinson, got the Southern team riled up with a 97-yard interception return for the score.
“We regrouped at halftime, told them to get a little at a time and hope we could get something happen,” Southern coach Pete Richardson said. “We thought we had a little momentum there, but that’s the way it goes. (Grambling) played hard on defense.”
Southern quarterback Quincy Richard, who was in the midst of his second collegiate start, set up the next score for the Jaguars with a short pass to Byron Minor, who dashed 61-yards into the endzone for the score.
Southern tightened the score even further with a 21-yard touchdown run by Kentrell Plain.
“The first thing we said was, ‘Man, here we go again,’ ” Spears said.
But, this time the Tigers knew how to maintain their composure and kept the Jaguars from scoring in the final minutes of the game.
“We couldn’t execute when we needed to execute,” Minor said, who was voted Southern’s Most Valuable Player. “When the defense turned it up, the offense couldn’t get it going. When the offense turned it
Categories:
BAYOU BLUES
November 30, 2001
SU running back Byron Minor is hit by a host of GSU defenders. Photo by Brandi Jade Thomas/DIGEST
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