SWAC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME VII
Grambling humbles Alabama A&M, 45-6
When Grambling State QB Bruce Eugene and the high-powered Tiger offense fumbled the ball away to the powerful Alabama A&M defense in the first possession of Saturday's Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship Game in Birmingham, it looked like it was going to be one of those topsy-turvy days.
A&M promptly marched 52 yards down the field and scored a
touchdown, gaining more yards and scoring more points in the that drive than they did
in the entire first half of a 44-0 loss to the G-Men earlier this season.
Sound A&M defense and Grambling miscues left A&M trailing just 12-6 at halftime and Bulldog coach Anthony Jones thought his halftime adjustments boded well for a competitive second half.
He was wrong.
The Bulldogs had no answer for Eugene after the break as the SWAC offensive player of the year threw five second half TD passes, four in the decisive third quarter, as the Tigers (11-1) completed their march through the SWAC with a 45-6 shellacking of A&M (9-3). Eugene finished 30 of 47 for 473 yards and six TDs with no interceptions, breaking a number of SWAC and I-AA records along the way.
His 12-yard fourth quarter scoring pass to wide receiver Henry Tolbert not only put the finishing touches on the rout but allowed Eugene to tie the I-AA single season touchdown mark held by former Mississippi Valley State QB Willie Totten at 56. The score also gave Eugene 140 career TD passes, breaking Totten's I-AA career TD mark of 139. The grab was Tolbert's 11th of the game for 184 yards. Four of his receptions went for touchdowns (12, 31, 2 and 12) bringing his season total to 19, a new Grambling record.
"We made some mistakes in the first half with fumbles that stopped some drives," Eugene said. "But we knew if we held onto the ball and ran our plays, we would catch a break. We hit some plays deep and broke their momentum."
"They're obviously a great football team and much better team than we are at this time," said Jones, who suffered his second title game loss to the G-Men. "They showed us another level of football. What can you say about Eugene. He's obviously a special talent and probably will get a chance to play on Sundays. There's a lot of respect for the things he's able to do."
Grambling wideout Clyde Edwards had nine grabs for 122 yards and running back Ab Kuaan ran for 52 yards on 11 carries including a one-yard second quarter scoring plunge. WR Reginald Jackson scored on a 23-yard reception and George Piggott from 41 yards out in the third quarter.
A&M QB Kelcy Luke was 18 of 34 for 187 yards but threw two picks. RB Nic Luke (10 carries, 44 yards) scored the only A&M touchdown on a one -yard run.
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