Texas Southern 33, Grambling State 28

October 28, 2006

HOUSTON – Aftter falling behind by 20 points at the half, the Grambling State Tigers made a valiant effort with a 21-point second half but came up short at the end as Texas Southern captured its first victory over Grambling State since 1999 with a 33-28 victory before an overflow crowd at Durley Field on the campus of TSU.

The Tigers received the game's opening kickoff and drove down the field with strong runs by Ab Kuuan but came up short as the drive stalled on the GSU 46. On the ensuing punt, GSU punter Tim Manuel avoided a near-block by the TSU defense but came up short of the first down after a five-yard run. On TSU's opening drive, the Tigers opened with a 33-yard pass from quarterback Tino Edgecombe to Michael Anderson and several plays later went ahead 7-0 after Edgecombe found wide receiver Daniel Davis in the corner of the endzone. TSU increased its lead to 14-0 on GSU's very next drive after defensive back Stacey Thomas intercepted a Brandon Landers' pass and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown.

On Grambling State's next drive, they drove to the TSU 21 but came up short once again as Texas Southern recovered a Landers fumble. With TSU threatening to score once again, cornerback Greg Fassitt came up big on the next possession and intercepted Edgecombe's pass for a 25-yard return. Grambling State marched 43 yards in seven plays and trimmed the lead to 14-7 after Kuuan's 1-yard run.

TSU opened the second quarter with another scoring drive as they increased its lead to 21-7 when Edgecombe found Davis once again in the endzone. After stopping GSU on 4th-and-1 at the Texas Southern 32-yard line, TSU marched 68 yards in 11 plays but came up short as Bakari Guice recovered a fumble and returned it 61 yards to the TSU 39. However, Grambling State coughed up another scoring opportunity as Landers was picked off once again in the endzone on the very first play of Grambling's drive. Several drives later, TSU added another score late in the second quarter to move ahead 27-7 and things looked bleak for Grambling from that point due to the fact that TSU received the ball at the start of the second half.

After forcing TSU to punt on its opening possession in the third quarter, Landers was intercepted by Thomas once again and TSU capitalized with an eight-play, 72-yard scoring drive to move ahead 33-7.

Down by 20, the Tiger offense finally came to life as Henry Tolbert caught a six-yard pass from Landers to trim TSU's lead to 33-14. TSU was forced to punt again and Grambling State responded with a fourth quarter scoring drive that was capped off with a 13-yard run by Landry Carter to cut the deficit to 33-21. On TSU's next drive, GSU received a gift with field position at the TSU 35 after stopping punter Stephen Soloman on a fourth down rush. Four plays later, Grambling made it a one-possession contest after Landers rushed in from 14 yards to reduce TSU's lead to 33-28.

With the momentum on GSU's side, the Grambling defense made another huge play after linebacker David Hicks forced a TSU fumble on their own 20-yard line. However, the GSU offensive train came to a complete stop on a fourth down play that featured Tim Abney coming up inches short after catching a Landers pass with 1:50 remaining in the game. TSU ran the clock out after receiving the ball on downs to capture the victory.

For the game, TSU netted 409 (267 P, 142 R) yards of total offense while GSU churned out 431 (290 P, 141 R) total offensive yards. Landers threw for 280 yards on 23-of-40 passing and Tolbert led all receivers with eight receptions for 93 yards. David Hicks led the GSU defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble.

Grambling State returns home for homecoming festivities next weekend with a 3 p.m. kickoff against Alabama State at Robinson Stadium.