Southern University is coming off of one of the craziest wins in the entire SWAC this past week as they defeated Bethune-Cookman 25-23 in a 5-OT thriller. This has become the norm for the Jags this season, as it’s the 3rd OT victory and 4th quarter comeback they have had. Despite it bringing Southern wins, being on the edge of losing all of these games is not a comfortable place to be. Regardless, Head Coach Terrence Graves is only worried about one thing: winning, no matter how the Jags can do it.
We’ll take them any way we can get them. That’s just the way it is. I’ve been on the flipside of that before, and that’s not fun. So I’m going to enjoy it while it’s happening. It may not be comfortable for everybody, but a win is a win is a win, so however we get them, we’ll get them.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
As exciting as the win was, it was also quite perplexing. Southern is the favorite to win the SWAC West, and Bethune-Cookman is one of the worst teams in the conference. Southern had a chance to clinch the division last week going into the game, and that provided plenty of potential distractions to help explain how close the game was.
I thought my team looked past those guys. It’s a great lesson. You can’t look down the road, that’s why I always talk about the precious present. You can’t get caught up in stats or records, you have to look at your opponent, because on any day anybody can be beat.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
If that’s the reason why the team underperformed, then it will be important to make sure to prevent that going into this week, because the distractions (and the stakes) are even greater. The Southern Jags can clinch the SWAC West this week simply be winning their game against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. Nothing else matters this time, although they can also clinch even if they lose this week, if Alcorn St. loses their game this week against Prairie View A&M.
All that is great, but at the end of the day, we have to win the football game. We have to play the way we are capable of playing, which we are yet to do for a full game. Once we do that, the rest of it will take care of itself.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
Chief among the questions coming out of last week’s game is the quarterback position. In what has become tradition at this point, we have no idea who will start for the Jags going into the game. However, unlike past weeks, it feels like we have 3 players in contention for the starting job instead of 2. Day 1 starter Noah Bodden and freshman standout Czavian Teasett are the two names we’ve been used to all season, but Jalen Woods made his presence known Saturday with his leading the offense to all of their 25 points in a comeback victory. Who knows how things will play out this week, but seemingly the only sure thing is this: we will almost certainly see more than one of them on Saturday, as we have in 9 of the 10 previous games this season.
It’s going to play out. The season’s going that way, so we’re just going to let it play out.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves about the current quarterback situation
Just one week ago, it didn’t look like things would turn out this way. Czavian Teasett had the best game any Southern QB has had all season in Southern’s game against Alabama A&M, and it was the only time all season a Jags QB played an entire game. Just as it looked like the Jags had finally found their answer, Teasett came out against Bethune-Cookman and looked completely ineffective, a full regression to how he has looked at times in past games this season. Coach Graves offers an explanation for Teasett’s inconsistency.
It’s inexperience. Sometimes, you take a young quarter back on the road, he doesn’t have to worry about the home crowd in any way and just play care-free. Then he gets home and he thinks ‘well, I have to do more than what I do’, so I think it’s just inexperience.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
Moving on to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, the Golden Lions offer a unique challenge for the Jags this week. They’ve seen high flying passing attacks, but this week they play quite possibly the best WR in the entire SWAC, JaVonnie Gibson. He’s already eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards this season, the most in the SWAC by a wide margin. 3rd place in that category Jamari Gassett (who torched the Jags a few weeks ago) is as close to 22nd place Chandler Whitfield as he is to Gibson. The guy throwing him the football, Mekhi Hagens, is pretty good too, leading the Golden Lions to the 3rd ranked passing attack on the season. It’ll be another tough test for a Southern secondary that leads the SWAC in pass defense.
Dynamic. Both of them are very dynamic. Hagens is one of the best QBs in the FCS, and Gibson is one of the best receivers in the FCS. Hagens is a dual-threat guy. He can throw it, he can run it, the team believes in him and can rally behind him. The receiver is as good as advertised. You got to mix it up on him, you can’t give him the same look twice. Also the receiver #1 (Daemon Dawkins), he’s not bad either. We have to make sure we’re locked in and ready to go. You never stop those guys, you have to contain them.
Southern Head Coach Terrence Graves
You can see Southern host Arkansas-Pine Bluff this Saturday at 2 PM. Check out the full interviews of HC Terrence Graves, LB Derrick Williams, RB Kendric Rhymes, and DT Jelani Davis here!
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