By Curtis Ford, Grambling State Association AD for Athletic Communications; featured photo by Aniyah Rivers
DALLAS — Grambling State University dropped its Southwestern Athletic Conference opener to Prairie View A&M, 36-34, in a five-overtime marathon on Saturday evening in the 99th State Fair Classic at the Cotton Bowl Stadium.
GSU (3-2 overall, 0-1 SWAC) led 17-7 at halftime, but couldn’t find its rhythm in the second half, allowing PVAMU (2-3, 1-2) to rally back for its first conference win of the year.
Offensively, Grambling State out-gained Prairie View A&M 386 to 303. Starting quarterback Myles Crawley accumulated 286 of those yards through the air. He completed 29-of-48 passes with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Crawley’s top targets were Javon Robinson and Julien Lewis who both caught six passes. Robinson had 48 receiving yards while Lewis had 47.
Ke’Travion “Bull” Hargrove ran for 61 yards on 15 carries. Dedrick Talbert and Tre Bradford accounted for the rushing touchdowns for the Tigers with Talbert running for 36 yards and a score on three touches and Bradford rushing for eight yards and a score.
Andrew Jones once again led the GSU defense in tackles with 11 total stops, three solo tackles and one tackle for loss.
Grambling State got the scoring started in the second quarter when Crawley connected with Khris Simmons for a 23-yard touchdown, giving GSU a 7-0 lead with 14:52 to go in the half. It was Simmons’ first TD reception of the season.
Prairie View A&M responded two drives later with a 1-yard run by Lamagea McDowell, tying the game 7-7 with 8:46 remaining in the half.
With 6:26 on the clock, Caleb Lee-Collinspicked off PVAMU’s Cameron Peters at the GSU 49-yard line. That takeaway led to another GSU TD; a 9-yard gallop by Tre Bradford, making it 14-7 Tigers with 4:18 left until halftime.
Reed Harradine’s 29-yard field goal with four seconds left in the half gave GSU a 17-7 cushion heading into the break.
The Panthers pulled within a touchdown, 17-10, on their first drive of the second half on a 42-yard field goal by Guillermo at the 9:47 mark.
After PVAMU’s Cameron Franklin intercepted Crawley’s pass to Jacoby Bellazar at the GSU 37-yard line with 2:07 remaining in the third quarter, the Panthers utilized the short field, eventually scoring on a 9-yard run by quarterback Jaden Johnson and tying the game 17-17 with 13:50 remaining regulation.
Prairie View A&M picked off another pass when JR Coleman snagged an errant throw and set the Panthers up at the GSU 39 yard-line with 9:52 left. PVAMU immediately made GSU pay on a 39-yard TD run by Connor Wisham, giving the Panthers their first lead of the day, 24-17.
Grambling State tied the game on its final drive of regulation, moving the ball to the Panther’s 47-yard line. No play, however, was bigger than Marquise Harris helping GSU convert a 4th and 18 but making a 38-yard reception near the Tigers’ sideline to keep game alive and giving GSU 1st and goal at the 9-yard line.
Two plays later, Crawley tossed the game-tying touchdown, a 12-yard strike, to a wide-open Jalen Johnson with 38 seconds to go.
In the first overtime, Grambling State started on offense. On third down from the PVAMU 16 yard, Talbert scampered into the end zone to GSU a 31-24 lead.
PVAMU responded with a 4-yard TD pass to Jaden Jonson to send the game to a second overtime period.
After trading field goals in the second OT, both defenses would make big stops to keep the game alive.
In the fifth OT, after GSU’s offense was stopped, Grambling State’s defense seemingly made another stop, but pass interference set the Panthers up just outside the 1-yard line. McDowell burst into the end zone for the game winner.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Grambling State accumulated 386 yards of total offense. GSU threw for 286 yards and ran for 100 yards.
- Prairie View A&M racked up 303 yards with 185 coming through the air.
- GSU picked up 23 first downs while PVAMU registered 18.
- GSU was 7-for-19 on third down. The Tigers were also 1-for-2 on fourth down.
- Grambling State won the time of possession battle. GSU held the ball for 31:25. JSU had possession for 28:35.
- Javon Robinson led the GSU receiving corps in receptions. Robinson caught eight passes for 48 yards.
- Bull Hargrove ran for 61 yards on 15 carries.
- Andrew Jones led the Tiger defense with 11 total tackles, three solo stops and 1.0 tackles for loss.
- Caleb Lee-Collins registered his second interception of the season. It was GSU’s ninth INT of the year which ranks second nationally.
- Prairie View A&M starting quarterback Cameron Peters was 7-for-11 for 81 yards one interception. Backup QB Jaden Johnson was 12-for-18 for 104 yards and one touchdown.
- Connor Wisham led the Panthers’ ground game, rushing for 85 yars and a touchdown on 14 carries.
- PVAMU’s Chris Herron made seven catches for 43 yards.
- Prairie View A&M’s Ayden Jones made 12 total tackles with two TFLs and 0.5 sacks.
- PVAMU went 5-for-14 on third downs. The Panthers were 0-for-1 on fourth down.
- Grambling State was penalized seven times for 75 yards. Prairie View A&M was penalized 11 times for 97 yards.
UP NEXT
Grambling State returns to action on Oct. 12 when the Tigers host Alcorn State. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Satdium and will be broadcast on ESPN+
