bluedog
"Leader of Kings"
Grambling lighting up scoreboard, sparking controversy
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
[email protected]
Advocate sportswriter
Up 58-21 against Texas Southern, a team which has won just once in its last 23 games, Grambling went for a two-point conversion with 34 seconds to play.
The pass failed. Grambling didn't hit 60.
"The point was, we were having problems with our field-goal kicker," Grambling coach Melvin Spears said. "We needed to start working on our two-point game. ? That's why we did it. And that was the only reason."
True enough, Grambling kicker Tim Manuel has been called in to replace Shawn Millison, who left the team earlier this season, as the Tigers try to fill the shoes of former mainstay Brian Morgan, now the team's special teams coach.
Then again, Manuel, a sophomore, has been doing well enough that he's been the Southwestern Athletic Conference's specialist of the week for two straight weeks.
Manuel went 7-for-7 on PATs and made a 44-yard field goal. The week before, the sophomore, now 21-for-23 on PATs, went 7-for-7 on PATs and had a 27-yarder.
"I don't have any comment on that," TSU coach Steve Wilson said of Grambling going for two with a 37-point lead. "That's not something I would do, but evidently that's something someone else would do."
Spears, in his second season with Grambling, continues to be a lightning rod for controversy or the just plain bizarre.
Whether it's having his academic credentials questioned (and solving that situation before his first game as interim head coach) or salvaging a winning season to become Grambling's permanent coach (a sticking point to alumni concerned with an Alcorn State graduate taking over the legendary program), Spears has been in the middle.
The sunglasses he wears constantly because of an eye condition fuels the mystique, the image of a maverick.
Earlier this season, Spears created a firestorm by asking for Alcorn State to forfeit when Alcorn, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, did not stage its season-opening home game or take up Grambling's offer to play at Grambling.
Spears said he would refuse to play after the regular season concluded with the Bayou Classic. However, officials have decided the game will be played Dec. 3 at Alcorn.
Lately, Spears has kept Eugene -- who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury -- in the fourth quarters of games already decided.
Up 38-21 entering the fourth quarter with TSU, Eugene threw TD passes of 4 yards, 5 yards and 43 yards (with 43 seconds left). TSU is 1-6.
"You certainly expected him to be at his best (for his final homecoming) and for them to showcase his talent," Wilson said. "He just turned the game over to his senior quarterback in the second half (with Grambling leading 24-14 at halftime)."
Up 38-14 entering the fourth quarter at Jackson State, Eugene threw a 3-yard TD pass and then, with 11:01 remaining, ran for a 4-yard score (up 38-14 entering the final quarter in a 52-21 final). JSU is 2-6 and fired third-year coach James Bell on Monday.
Bell told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger he wasn't angry at Grambling or Spears but that he wouldn't leave his starting quarterback in that late in a blowout.
"I guess that's his way of trying to help his kid out," Bell said. "Am I mad? No. We've got to go out and play no matter what. We did a lot to help those circumstances."
Earlier, he threw three fourth-quarter TDs against Prairie View (up 30-7 entering the fourth quarter in a 50-7 final). PV is 2-5.
Spears acknowledged his quarterback was re-inserted when Grambling realized Eugene could set a single-game SWAC passing mark, and he did, with 618 yards (but finished six shy of tying Jamie Martin's Division I-AA record of 624).
Of those blowouts, that's the only game a replacement, Larry Kerlegan (0-for-1), came in for Eugene in the fourth quarter.
"If a guy can get one of those (records), that says a whole lot about your career," Spears said. "We need to look at it as a league perspective, as opposed to a team-by-team. ? If he was trying not to score, I would try not to score."
"They've got the best talent in the league," Prairie View coach Henry Frazier said, "and we also knew that once they got up, they were going to continue to throw the ball. In my opinion, it was classless. But that's just the way (Spears) does things, and I cant really worry about it."
There's a history there, as PV and Grambling players brawled after the 2004 game. Frazier calmed down for the conference's Monday-after teleconference.
"It's OK. I don't have any comment," said Frazier, who said he couldn't control what other people say when given a chance to counter Spears' remarks.
Spears said he's trying to bolster Eugene's numbers to pad his resume as a Walter Payton Award candidate. Eugene was a finalist for the Division I-AA honor in 2002 and 2003.
Eugene has thrown for 2,632 yards and 31 touchdowns (against only two interceptions). The yardage and TD totals still are only third best on his career marks, but Eugene still has four more regular-season games (including a matchup with first-year Concordia College of Selma, Ala.) plus the SWAC Championship Game on Dec. 10.
"We're looking at this more from a conference standpoint than a team-by-team," Spears said again Monday.
Spears said he's also trying to redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Landers, who was the SWAC Freshman of the Year in replacing Eugene last season. Landers has yet to play, and Kerlegan, a sophomore who did not play or practice as a nonqaulifier last season, is 1-for-3 for 0 yards.
"Right now, we constantly talk to our guys about playing for 60 minutes," Spears said. "When the other team stops trying to score, we'll stop trying to score."
By JOSEPH SCHIEFELBEIN
[email protected]
Advocate sportswriter
Up 58-21 against Texas Southern, a team which has won just once in its last 23 games, Grambling went for a two-point conversion with 34 seconds to play.
The pass failed. Grambling didn't hit 60.
"The point was, we were having problems with our field-goal kicker," Grambling coach Melvin Spears said. "We needed to start working on our two-point game. ? That's why we did it. And that was the only reason."
True enough, Grambling kicker Tim Manuel has been called in to replace Shawn Millison, who left the team earlier this season, as the Tigers try to fill the shoes of former mainstay Brian Morgan, now the team's special teams coach.
Then again, Manuel, a sophomore, has been doing well enough that he's been the Southwestern Athletic Conference's specialist of the week for two straight weeks.
Manuel went 7-for-7 on PATs and made a 44-yard field goal. The week before, the sophomore, now 21-for-23 on PATs, went 7-for-7 on PATs and had a 27-yarder.
"I don't have any comment on that," TSU coach Steve Wilson said of Grambling going for two with a 37-point lead. "That's not something I would do, but evidently that's something someone else would do."
Spears, in his second season with Grambling, continues to be a lightning rod for controversy or the just plain bizarre.
Whether it's having his academic credentials questioned (and solving that situation before his first game as interim head coach) or salvaging a winning season to become Grambling's permanent coach (a sticking point to alumni concerned with an Alcorn State graduate taking over the legendary program), Spears has been in the middle.
The sunglasses he wears constantly because of an eye condition fuels the mystique, the image of a maverick.
Earlier this season, Spears created a firestorm by asking for Alcorn State to forfeit when Alcorn, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, did not stage its season-opening home game or take up Grambling's offer to play at Grambling.
Spears said he would refuse to play after the regular season concluded with the Bayou Classic. However, officials have decided the game will be played Dec. 3 at Alcorn.
Lately, Spears has kept Eugene -- who missed almost all of last season with a knee injury -- in the fourth quarters of games already decided.
Up 38-21 entering the fourth quarter with TSU, Eugene threw TD passes of 4 yards, 5 yards and 43 yards (with 43 seconds left). TSU is 1-6.
"You certainly expected him to be at his best (for his final homecoming) and for them to showcase his talent," Wilson said. "He just turned the game over to his senior quarterback in the second half (with Grambling leading 24-14 at halftime)."
Up 38-14 entering the fourth quarter at Jackson State, Eugene threw a 3-yard TD pass and then, with 11:01 remaining, ran for a 4-yard score (up 38-14 entering the final quarter in a 52-21 final). JSU is 2-6 and fired third-year coach James Bell on Monday.
Bell told the Jackson (Miss.) Clarion-Ledger he wasn't angry at Grambling or Spears but that he wouldn't leave his starting quarterback in that late in a blowout.
"I guess that's his way of trying to help his kid out," Bell said. "Am I mad? No. We've got to go out and play no matter what. We did a lot to help those circumstances."
Earlier, he threw three fourth-quarter TDs against Prairie View (up 30-7 entering the fourth quarter in a 50-7 final). PV is 2-5.
Spears acknowledged his quarterback was re-inserted when Grambling realized Eugene could set a single-game SWAC passing mark, and he did, with 618 yards (but finished six shy of tying Jamie Martin's Division I-AA record of 624).
Of those blowouts, that's the only game a replacement, Larry Kerlegan (0-for-1), came in for Eugene in the fourth quarter.
"If a guy can get one of those (records), that says a whole lot about your career," Spears said. "We need to look at it as a league perspective, as opposed to a team-by-team. ? If he was trying not to score, I would try not to score."
"They've got the best talent in the league," Prairie View coach Henry Frazier said, "and we also knew that once they got up, they were going to continue to throw the ball. In my opinion, it was classless. But that's just the way (Spears) does things, and I cant really worry about it."
There's a history there, as PV and Grambling players brawled after the 2004 game. Frazier calmed down for the conference's Monday-after teleconference.
"It's OK. I don't have any comment," said Frazier, who said he couldn't control what other people say when given a chance to counter Spears' remarks.
Spears said he's trying to bolster Eugene's numbers to pad his resume as a Walter Payton Award candidate. Eugene was a finalist for the Division I-AA honor in 2002 and 2003.
Eugene has thrown for 2,632 yards and 31 touchdowns (against only two interceptions). The yardage and TD totals still are only third best on his career marks, but Eugene still has four more regular-season games (including a matchup with first-year Concordia College of Selma, Ala.) plus the SWAC Championship Game on Dec. 10.
"We're looking at this more from a conference standpoint than a team-by-team," Spears said again Monday.
Spears said he's also trying to redshirt sophomore quarterback Brandon Landers, who was the SWAC Freshman of the Year in replacing Eugene last season. Landers has yet to play, and Kerlegan, a sophomore who did not play or practice as a nonqaulifier last season, is 1-for-3 for 0 yards.
"Right now, we constantly talk to our guys about playing for 60 minutes," Spears said. "When the other team stops trying to score, we'll stop trying to score."
...(paraphrasing)
