NEW ORLEANS — Grambling State’s late rally try fell just short Saturday as Southern held on for a 27-22 win over the Tigers in the 50th annual Bayou Classic at Caesar’s Superdome.
The Tigers opened scoring on a one-yard touchdown run to go on top 7-0 with 1:17 left in the opening stanza, but the Jaguars responded with 21 unanswered points to push their lead to 14 points at half.
Former Grambling quarterback Noah Bodden, who got the start for Southern, went on to throw for 231 yards and one touchdown against the Tigers in their win.
In the Tigers’ attempt to battle back, they had strong drives leading to scores as they really turned it around, gathering key stops on defense starting with senior defensive end Sundiata Anderson leading the comeback with an interception returned for touchdown, but a safety by the Jaguars stretched their advantage to 27-16 at the 6:58 mark of the third quarter.
GSU’s Floyd Chalk rushed for 172 yards and a fourth-quarter touchdown that cut the Southern lead to 27-22 midway through the fourth quarter.
Grambling’s rushing game is what carried this offense pretty much all season as they placed second in rushing from heir duo with Chance Williams and Floyd Chalk.
The G-Men had a late opportunity to steal the game away with a first-and-goal at the Southern 4-yard line with a little more than two minutes remaining.
But the Tigers managed only three yards on four rushing attempts before Crawley attempted a back shoulder fade pass to the end zone that was batted away to secure the win for the Jaguars.