Just because you make history does not mean you did something good.
On Saturday, when Grambling State University’s football team faced Mississippi Valley at Rice-Totten Stadium in Itta Bena, Miss., the Tigers made history. Unfortunately, the achievement was not positive.
The Delta Devils’ quarterback tandem of Garrick Jones and Marcus Randle torched the Tigers 45-21, and the G-Men dropped their sixth consecutive game and remain winless on the season.
Grambling’s (0-6) loss to Mississippi Valley (2-4) is a historic milestone because no football team in GSU’s documented history has ever gone winless through its first six games.
The last time the G-Men suffered from a record this bad was in 1941, the late legendary coach Eddie Robinson’s first year, when the Tigers dropped their first five games before defeating Tillotson 37-6.
Losing in such a manner is also new for Tigers head coach Doug Williams, a perpetual winner.
“This is the worst start in my career ever,” said Williams, who has four Southwestern Athletic Conference Championships. “I’ve never been in this situation and I can honestly say it’s not an easy situation, but it’s an understandable situation.
“But we have to find a way to get out of it..”
Despite the losses, which have knocked the Tigers out of championship contention, Williams says the team still has something to play for.
“It’s a pride thing, not about championship,” said Williams. “You’re playing for Grambling, you’re playing for yourself, you’re playing for your family and you’re playing for your teammates.”
Throughout the G-Men’s tough times on the gridiron, all talk about the football team has been negative. Fans have scrutinized, criticized, completely turned their backs on the Tigers, but true Tiger fans understand that not every season can go as expected.
During an unfortunate season, Quantreus Hayes, also known as “The Grambling Man” around campus, and a die-hard GSU fan, stated, “You cry a lot, but look forward to the future.
“One bad season don’t stop our program from being the icon of Black college football.”
The 2012 Grambling football team may be responsible for the worst start fans have seen, but overall, it’s just another lost season – as in no SWAC title.
The football culture in Grambling is rich; the team has experienced lost seasons before. In 2009 and 2010, head coach Rod Broadway’s last two seasons at Grambling, the Tigers had winning records, but it was to no avail as they did not win the SWAC title.
Other teams in the Football Championship Subdivision that suffer from a 0-6 or worse record include Savannah State (0-6), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference; Austin Peay (0-7), Ohio Valley Conference; and Rhode Island (0-6), Colonial Athletic Association.
The Tigers’ next meeting on the gridiron will be its Homecoming game against Virginia University of Lynchburg (1-5) in Eddie Robinson Stadium. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.