Grambling State Athletic Communications
The Grambling State University football team looks to win its second game in a row as the Tigers welcome East Texas A&M of the Southland Conference (SLC) to Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium on Saturday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be broadcast on SWAC TV.
Saturday’s game versus ETAMU (0-2) will be the second all-time meeting between the two programs. The Tigers and Lions met for the first time last season with Grambling State (2-1) pulling out a 35-28 win in overtime in Commerce, Texas.
Saturday’s game will also be the first cross-conference FCS matchup of the season for both teams.
GSU won a dramatic overtime thriller 37-31 over Kentucky State last weekend. The Tigers rolled up 458 yards of total offense in the victory with starting QB accounting for four TDs (two passing and two rushing) while throwing for 228 yards and rushing for 99.
Redshirt-Freshman wide receiver Keith Jones Jr. notched a career-high 96 receiving yards and two TDs on three receptions in the win.
Grambling State defensive back Tyrell Raby forced a fumble in overtime, returning it 83 yards for the game winning touchdown. It was the third takeaway of the season for Raby.
East Texas A&M enters Saturday game following a bye week. The Lions opened the season with back-to-back games versus P4 opponents, falling to SMU 45-13 and No. 7 Florida State 77-3.
ETAMU is led offensively by quarterback Eric Rodriguez who has 223 yard passing and 2 INTs on 178-of-35 passing
RABY IS STILL BALLIN’
Grambling State defensive back Tyrell Raby has burst onto the scene in his first season starting for the Tigers.
Raby currently leads the SWAC and sixth in the nation in interceptions (2). He’s made interceptions against Langston and the top ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
He’s also GSU’s leading tackler with 13.0 total tackles (9 solo).
Against Ohio State, he made 6.0 tackles with five solo stops and an INT. He was named the Jim Thorpe HBCU Defenisve Back of the Week.
Last weekend, he retunred a fumble 83 yards for the game winning touchdown in overtime versus Kentucky State.
Raby is a graduate student from Baton Rouge, La.
TRENCH WORK
Grambling State has perfromed well in the trenches on both sides of the football.
The GSU offensive line is currently tied for first in the SWAC in sacks allowed, giving up two sacks in its first three games.
GSU also ranks second in rushing offense, averaging 181.3 yards per game.
Defensively, the Tigers rank second in total sacks with seven.
BALANCED RUN GAME
Grambling State features a five running back rotation in the offensive backfield.
Byron Eaton Jr., Tre Bradford, Andre Crews, Tony Phillips Jr. and Clyde McCelendon Jr. have all been used extensively in the offense.
Bradford leads the ground game for the Tigers, rushing for 119 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
TEASETT EMERGES
Replacing two-starter Myles Crawleyis C’zavian Teasett and Ashton Frye.
Teasett, a transfer from Southern Univeristy, has emerged as the starter. Last weekend, he completed 13-of-27 passes for 228 yards a two touchdowns in GSU’s 37-31 overtime win over Kentucky State last weekend. He also ran for 99 yards a two TDs on nine carries in the victory as well.
For the season, Teasett is 42-of-67 for 493 yards, 5 TDs and one INT.
Frye has a seen a fair amount of action as well. He’s 8-of-15 for 61 yards, a TD and an interception.