| ||
Courtesy: Zena Lewis
|
Football championship brings excitement to Houston
Courtesy Antonio Morales, Clarion Ledger
Fri, December 04, 2015
Alcorn State beat Southern 38-24 in the SWAC title game last season. Now the Braves will try to become the first repeat conference champion in 13 years. Alcorn State will enter the title game on a three-game winning streak and has allowed 33 points combined in the past three games. The Braves have lost two consecutive games to Grambling, though, which included a 35-34 overtime loss earlier this season.
The Tigers are trying to win their first conference title since 2011. They also earned a lot of accolades from the SWAC. Quarterback Johnathan Williams was the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, and coach Broderick Fobbs was named the conference’s Coach of the Year. Grambling is the only team in the SWAC without a loss in conference this season.
3 THINGS WE’RE TALKING ABOUT
Can Alcorn State slow down the Grambling offense?
The Tigers didn’t go crazy offensively in terms of yards in the first meeting, they posted 343. But they still managed to put plenty of points on the scoreboard. Grambling is the second-highest scoring offense in the SWAC at 43.2 points per game. Alcorn State, which allows 21.2 points per game, has the top scoring defense. So it’ll be a battle between two of the top units in the conference.
How much does experience help?
Braves coach Jay Hopson said he hopes the experience of playing in the title game last season helps. It didn’t matter much to Alcorn State last season when it was new to the SWAC title game and beat defending champion Southern. Grambling will be playing in this game for the first time since 2011. Braves receiver Brandon Vessell said he felt some pressure while playing in the game last season, but those nerves should be a bit more calm this time around.
Will John Gibbs Jr. play?
It seems like it’s the main question posed to Hopson every week. Hopson typically says Gibbs, who is dealing with an ankle injury, is “day-to-day.” He gave that answer when asked about Gibbs this week. Quarterback Lenorris Footman has been struggling passing lately, so the possible return of Gibbs could help the passing attack.
GAMEDAY DATA
When: Today, 3 p.m.
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas
Television: ESPNU
Last meeting: 35-34, Grambling, on Oct. 17, 2015
All-time series: Grambling 44-19-1
No comments:
Post a Comment