COVER STORY
Photo by James Terry III
Southern's sideline cheers on the Jaguars defense late in the fourth quarter of the twentieth Bayou Clank , held in the Louisiana Superdome against Grumbling. Southern
captured its first outright championship in 34 years with a 31-13 win ^ ^
Southern Capitalizies on Grambling's Miscues for 31-13 Win
Jaguars Win its first SWAC title in 34 years by holding Tigers to Season Low in Points
A change in attitude is what
Southern coach Pete Richardson credits to
the Jaguar's best season in 34 years.
After a 31-13 win over arch-rival G ram
bling in the twentieth Bayou Classic
before a Louisiana Superdome sellout
crowd of 72,586 and a national television
audience, Southern wrapped up its first
"""? Southwestern Athletic Conference title
outright since 1959.
Southern finished its SWAC schedule
with a 7-0 record and was 10-1 overall.
The Jaguars shared the title with Jackson
State in 1975, but this year it belongs to
the Jaguars.
"We've had a lot of exciting things
happen to us this season,** said Richard
son, who became the first Southern coach
to lead the team to a title in his inaugural
season. "We had to get rid of a lot of peo
ple, and we had to change a lot of atti
tudes. There have been a lot of first, and I
attribute that to my football team. They
made a commitment to win. My assistant
coaches also did a great job."
Southern's SWAC title can be attrib
uted to solid defense. The Jaguars led the
league in total defense with a 253-yard
average and in scoring defense (12.9 ppg.)
'The old saying in football is offense
wins games and defense wins champi
onships, w said Southern linebacker Jimmy
Conner, who had nine tackles and two
interceptions against G rambling.
Grambling, which had the league's
second-best offense, racked up 361 yards
on the Jaguars. However, it was the six
turnovers by the Tigers that was the differ
SSES^BSSESESESSSSESES
safety Jabbar Juluke recovered a fumble
by Grambling fullback Eric Gant at the
Southern's 27 yard line.
Southern increased its lead to 10-0 on
Duane Fuller's 26 yard field goal, which
came 10 plays after defensive and Earl
Mackey recovered a fumble at the
Jaguars' 26 yard line.
"Every time we got started offensive
ly, something would always come up to
hinder our drive," said Grant, who had 96
"The old saying in football is offense wins games and
defense wins championships,"
? Jimmy Conner
ence.
"We just got whipped in all cate
gories, M Grambling coach Eddie Robinson
said. Southern capitalized on the Tigers
mistakes.
The Jaguars built a 10-0 lead in the
first quarter. Southern quarterback Eric
Randall connected with Landry Williams
on a 59-yards pass play after Jaguar free
yards and one touchdown on 20 carries.
"Any time ybu make turnover early, it gets
your opponent riled up. But we though we
could come back against Southern, and we
didn't.**
Grambling's 13 points were the
fewest by the Tigers in the Bayou Classic
since a 10-3 loss in 1988. It was the sec
ond time this season Grambling didn't
score at least 20 points.
Grambling cut the lead to 17-13 when
outside linebacker Valmond Brown
returned a fumble by Randall 54 yards for
a touchdown in the third quarter.
However, that was close as Gram
bling would get
Southern extended its lead to 24-13
when Randall, who completed 13 of 24
passes for 153 yards, hit Williams on an
1 1 yard pass play in the third quarter. The
Jaguars closed out the scoring on Lindsey
Scott's 1 1 yard run in the fourth quarter.
"We are the SWAC outright champi
on, and we have the No. 1 defense in the
country ." Conner said. "We had to go out
and shot it today. For two weeks we've
practiced in the rain and in the cold. Some
body had to pay for it"
Southern will now face South Caroli
na State in Heritage Bowl on New Year's
Eve in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The
two teams played earlier this year, with
Southern defending the Bulldogs 14-10 in
the Atlanta Classic at the Dome.
? By Derrick Mahone