Grambling State 36, Jackson State 7

October 21, 2006

GRAMBLING, La. - The Grambling State University Tiger (3-4, 3-2 SWAC) football team clicked on all cylinders as they easily defeated the Jackson State Tigers (5-2, 4-1) 36-7 before a near-capacity crowd at Robinson Stadium in Grambling, La.

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Tigers marched down the field in style with an 8-play, 88-yard drive that was capped off by Brandon Landers’ 10-yard touchdown pass to receiver Clyde Edwards. The scoring strike was set-up two plays earlier when Landers hooked up with wide receiver Henry Tolbert on a 45-yard toss which put the Tigers at JSU’s 12-yard line.

JSU marched to the Grambling State 32-yard line on its opening drive in seven plays but saw the drive stall when safety Jeffery Jack stopped running back Eric Haw on 4th-and-1. With the momentum shifting back to Grambling, Landers opened the drive with a 31-yard run to the JSU 37 and connected with Tolbert once again on a 46-yard pass to the JSU 1. Two plays later, GSU went up 13-0 after Ab Kuuan punched in the ball from one-yard out.

In the second quarter, JSU quarterback Jimmy Oliver crashed a potential scoring drive after fumbling at Grambling State’s 24-yard line. GSU quickly took advantage six plays later when Landers found Edwards again on a 40-yard touchdown reception at the 10:45 mark of the second quarter. Both teams traded possessions from that point as GSU closed the first half ahead 21-0.

Jackson State made a quarterback switch in the second half and went with true freshman William Brack. Brack made his presence felt on JSU’s opening drive by rushing for 39 yards to put JSU into scoring position. Once again though, the Tiger defense stepped up on the drive and thwarted another JSU scoring attempt as linebacker Dimitri Carr forced a fumble on 4th-and-7 at their own 8-yard line to regain possession. On GSU’s next drive, the Tigers marched 87 yards in 10 plays and went up 28-0 after Kuuan’s 31-yard pass from Landers.

Grambling State was in position to record the shutout but JSU defensive back Marcus Smith prevented it when he returned a Landers interception 55 yards for a touchdown. JSU recovered the onside kick but GSU returned the favor when cornerback Bakari Guice intercepted Brack and returned it 54 yards for the touchdown. A PAT rush by Landry Carter closed out the scoring at 36-7 in favor of GSU.

For the game, GSU amassed 441 (350 P, 91 R) yards of total offense and allowed a season-low 148 (98 R, 50 P) yards of offense to JSU. Brandon Landers led the Tigers with 57 rushing yards and 350 passing yards. Defensively, Zaire Wilborn led the Tigers with 12 tackles.