JOURNAL SPORTS
NEW ORLEANS – It was so distasteful that heading into Monday, the Grambling athletic website still hadn’t published a recap of the Tigers’ stunning loss to arch-rival Southern at the 52nd Bayou Classic on Saturday afternoon.
Only the Jaguars and their most ardent fans thought there was any chance they could pick up their second win of the season to overshadow the Friday news that Pro Football Hall of Fame running back Marshall Faulk had taken the program’s head coaching post.
But two missed Grambling field goals in the final four minutes, and a last-minute lost fumble, preceded by a furious rally by the Jaguars, left the Caesars Superdome crowd and national television audience shocked by Southern’s 28-27 upset.
The victory was the Southern seniors’ fourth consecutive win in the historic rivalry, clinched by the most accomplished one, Captain Shreve product Gkelby Givens, recovering a fumble with 32 seconds to go, just inside the Jags’ 40-yard line.
Southern finished with a 2-10 overall record, and the Bayou Classic gave the Jags their first Southwestern Athletic Conference win. Grambling, which overcame losing its top three quarterbacks to injury during the second half of the season, fell to 7-5 (4-4) ending Mickey Joseph’s second season as head coach.
Grambling controlled much of the first half, building a 14–0 lead on touchdown passes of 9 and 28 yards from true freshman quarterback Hayden Benoit. Grambling added a field goal before halftime to lead 17–7. Southern came out strong after the break when Barry Remo electrified the crowd with a 51-yard touchdown run just 21 seconds into the third quarter, trimming the margin to 17–14.
Down 24–14 entering the final period, the Jaguars mounted their comeback. LSU transfer Trey Holly scored his second rushing touchdown from 9 yards out to make it a three-point deficit. Grambling extended the lead with a career-long 52-yard Josh McCormick field goal, setting up a tense finish with Southern trailing 27–21 midway through the fourth quarter.
Southern then delivered the game’s decisive drive, a 75-yard march. Quarterback Cam’Ron McCoy connected with Khalil Harris on a 34-yard touchdown pass, and the extra point gave the Jaguars their first lead at 28–27 with 7:16 remaining.
Southern left the door open with just under four minutes to go on Grambling’s comeback bid when it was penalized for running into McCormick on a failed 54-yard field goal attempt off the right upright-, giving the Tigers another set of downs. But the Southern defense denied Grambling, ending when McCormick missed badly wide left from 43 yards out with 2:18 remaining.
Grambling got one more chance. Southern went three-and-out before the two-minute timeout and Benoit led the Tigers, who came back to win five times this season, downfield until the fateful fumble sealed Southern’s postgame celebration.
The Jaguars piled up 204 rushing yards, more than double Grambling’s 85.