The Grambling State University football team will take on Prairie View A&M in the 95th Annual Southwest Airlines State Fair Classic in a Southwestern Athletic Conference match-up on Saturday. Kickoff from the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas is set for 4:00 p.m.
Grambling State (1-2 overall, 1-0 SWAC) will be looking for their second straight win of the season, and their 27th straight win against a conference opponent. The Tigers are coming into the competition with a 34-0 win against Alabama State last weekend at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium. The Tigers scored on all three possessions of the first quarter including a 79-yard punt return by Malik Route, an 11-yard touchdown by quarterback Aldon Clark. De’Arius Christmas picked up his first collegiate interception as he returned it 66-yards for a touchdown.
Prairie View (2-3 overall, 1-0 SWAC) had conference play last weekend against Arkansas Pine Bluff as they took the win, 62–13. Quarterback Jalen Morton accounted for 511 yards and six touchdowns in the victory.
The winner of this game could potentially have the inside track on the SWAC West title and a spot to the SWAC Championship game.
“They’re going to try to score a lot of points,” Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs said. “They’ve been very dominant in their first five games with scoring points. We have to make sure we can match their intensity, but we also have to make sure we are effective in making things uncomfortable for their quarterback and also stopping their running game because they have a really good running game. We’ve been in big games before. A lot of our kids have been in big games before so they’re used to the magnitude of the football game, and we’re ready to play.” Grambling State-Prairie View A&M Connections
* Grambling State leads the series, 51-17-1, including winning the last four.
* GSU is looking to avoid a loss in the Cotton Bowl, which hasn’t occurred since the 2013 season when the Tigers lost to the Panthers 31-3.
* Tigers head coach Broderick Fobbs is 4-0 against Prairie View A&M.
* Grambling State won the last matchup, 34-21, in 2017.
*The most points scored by Grambling State was 77 (1991) and 54 by Prairie View A&M (2015)
*The schools separated by 327 miles, this will be the 70th meeting between the two schools and the 32nd meeting at the State Fair Classic.
Accolades
• Morton earned SWAC Offensive Player of the Week honors, SWAC College Sports Madness Offensive Player of the Week and STATS FCS National Player of the Week honors
• De’Arius Christmas and Malik Route earned SWAC Defensive Player of the Week and Specialist of the Week honors, respectively.