By SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
GRAMBLING – Seriously injured Grambling State quarterback C’zavian Teasett remains hospitalized in Las Vegas, Tigers’ coach Mickey Joseph said during his weekly press conference Monday inside the Robinson Stadium Support Facility.
The redshirt sophomore was hurt with two minutes remaining as he led Grambling on what turned out to be the game-winning drive in Saturday’s 26-24 upset of 12th-ranked Jackson State at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
At the end of a 9-yard run for a first down, Teasett was tackled at the Jackson State 49.
Teasett remained face down and motionless on the field as GSU medical personnel rushed to his aid. Almost immediately after getting to Teasett, those personnel signaled for more help and equipment.
Eventually Teasett was strapped to a backboard and put into an ambulance that had driven out to the middle of the field and transported directly to a hospital. No details of the nature of his injury have been made public by the family.
“He’s responsive and in good spirits,” Joseph said Monday morning. “So, we’ve got to play it by ear out of respect for his family. They’re going to keep everything tight to the vest, and that’s their prerogative.
“As I get things from the medical staff, I can give it to you. But that’s what (all) I have right now.”
Joseph said GSU football general manager Reggie Nelson and GSU head trainer Terena Marshall remain in Las Vegas with Teasett and his family.
After Saturday’s game finally resumed with 1:55 remaining following Teasett’s injury, running back Byron Eaton Jr. took the next snap for Grambling out of the Wildcat formation and was stopped for no gain.
Backup quarterback A’Myne Darensbourg then moved behind center, and after two plays netted just a yard, on fourth-and-9 he scrambled for 12 yards to reach the Jackson State 36.
Then, on third and 12, Darensbourg hit Barron Myles Jr. for an 11-yard gain to the Jackson State 27, with Myles going out of bounds to stop the clock.
“Darrensbourg came in and ran around a little bit,” Joseph said. “We asked them all the time, when you go in the game, what play would you like to run? And he said it. He came in there with ice in his veins and scrambled for the first down.
Out of timeouts, Joseph then opted to let Josh McCormick try his first career field goal attempt as a Tiger and the graduate senior sent the ball right down the middle to put the Tigers on top with 21 seconds remaining.
“You could see it in their eyes they were going to try to win it for Teasett,” Joseph said of his team. “I had two things going through my mind — making sure I was calm, that I stayed in a place where I didn’t get overwhelmed by what’s going on with the situation because we still had to go win the game.
“And at that point, for some people the game was important. At that point the game wasn’t important to me. That kid was important to me. Those kids were important to me. Not the game. If we would have lost that game, that’s fine. But the look in (the GSU players’) eyes, they weren’t going to let (Teasett’s injury) stop them.”
Teasett was named the Southwestern Athletic Conference Co-Offensive Player of the Week Monday. He threw for 232 yards and two touchdowns on 16-of-26 passing. He also ran for 31 yards and a TD on eight carries.
Joseph said that with No. 2 quarterback Ashton Frye remaining out with injury, Darrensbourg will start at quarterback this upcoming weekend at home against Alabama A&M while freshman Hayden Benoit, who Joseph termed a drop-back pocket passer, out of Loreauville temporarily moving into the backup role and Eaton continuing to receive some snaps out of the Wildcat formation.
“Now, you don’t want to play musical chairs with this position,” Joseph said. “This isn’t going to be musical chairs. When they go into the game, they’re going to know what they are doing. It’s probably going to take three of these kids to get us into position to win a football game, and we’ll do it.”
Contact Scott at tscottboatright@gmail.com