President Willie Larkin and head football coach Broderick Fobbs are expecting Grambling fans to “Pack the Hole” in Grambling’s home opener against Bethune-Cookman University on Saturday.
“It’s good to be at home in the month of September in front of our home crowd,” said Fobbs.
Both teams took a lop-sided loss in week one to power conference teams.
While Bethune-Cookman went scoreless against Miami last Saturday, the G-Men also suffered a tough loss with a score of 73-14.
Power conference opponents lead to big paychecks. Although, Grambling came up short, they earned $600,000 over this past weekend.
Fobbs is expecting his team to improve this week.
“Most teams get better between week one and week too,” said Fobbs. “Last week is helping us prepare for this particular week.”
Now that the playing fields are even, the G-Men are prepared to take on a team on their level.
With Grambling and Bethune-Cookman both 0-1, it is projected to be an exciting match up.
Two touchdowns in the final six minutes gave Bethune-Cookman the edge over Grambling last season in Daytona, Fla.
“This year we’re going to attack them differently,” said associate head coach and wide receivers coach Robert ‘Mickey’ Joseph. “We missed some throws on them last year.
Bethune-Cookman is known for playing their transfers and that’s what makes them successful according to Joseph.
“At the end of the day, it all boils down to execution,” said Joseph. “The speed of the game is going to be the same what we seen Saturday, we got to do what we’re supposed to do.”
Assistant coach, linebackers coach, and special teams coach Terrence Graves has gotten Bethune-Cookman’s offense figured out and due to the G-Men’s defensive speed it could be an advantage.
“Bethune spreads you out, but they won’t be physical,” said Graves. “They spread you out to run more so than they do pass.”
This year I think we have everything to show them a different game plan,” said Joseph. “Now its time to buckle down and cut out little mistakes.” Kick off is set for 6 p.m.