By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
NEW ORLEANS — Tradition has always been that records are thrown out of the window when it comes down to Grambling State and Southern University facing off in the Bayou Classic.
So don’t tell the GSU Tigers they don’t have anything to play for as they kick off against the Jaguars at 1 p.m. Saturday inside Caesar’s Superdome in New Orleans.
The game will air live on NBC and Peacock.
Grambling will be playing for its first .500 or better finish since 2019 as it brings a 5-6 overall record into the contest against the Jaguars, who have already clinched a berth in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship game.
The Tigers see the Bayou Classic as a chance to earn some sort of redemption — redemption for their 22-17 loss to Alabama A&M in their most recent game on Nov. 14, redemption for losing the Bayou Classic for two straight years, and redemption by hopefully winning six games for the first time since 2019, when they finished at 6-5.
For GSU coach Mickey Joseph, it will not only be a time to find some sort of redemption — it will also provide an opportunity to evaluate for the future.
“I’ll go back at the end of the year, you know, right after the Bayou Classic and see where we’re at as an offensive staff,” Joseph said. “Really as an entire staff, because you just don’t lose on one side of the ball. Everybody’s involved, but I understand numbers.
“Numbers don’t lie. And the numbers are not great. The numbers are not where I want them to be. The numbers are not up to my standard, you know, but we’ll get to that problem after the Bayou Classic. I don’t think right now is the time to say let’s make changes, because you’re on your last leg, so now you just gotta figure out what we can do and what we can’t do and play at a high level against a very good football team.”
When it comes to this year’s Bayou Classic coaches, their attitude is “friends every day but foes for the week.”
That’s the way Joseph and Southern coach Terrence Graves have approached the week preparing for the Bayou Classic.
Joseph and Graves first became friends in 1999, but it was in 2014 and 2015 when both were serving as assistants on Broderick Fobbs’ first staff at Grambling that their bond became significantly stronger.
“When you’re first hired and get there, they put you in off-campus housing,” Joseph said during an interview on New Orleans TV station WGNO. “All the younger coaches had taken the bedrooms, so there was only room left and Graves and I didn’t have rooms.
“So he took one side and I took the other, so we always say we’re old roommates, like living in a college dormitory. He’s always been a part of my life and I’ve always been a part of his and I have the utmost respect for him.”
Graves also fondly remembers their time as temporary roommates.
“It took us forever to go to sleep some nights because we’d start telling stories and then start cracking jokes,” Graves told WGNO. “The other coaches were yelling at us to shut up because I think they were jealous because they weren’t in there with us.
“But Mickey is a great coach. He’s a great leader and it’s a blessing to know him.”
Contact Scott at tscottboatright@gmail.com