Terrence Graves looks to begin his first season as Head Coach at Southern University as the Jags travel to Lake Charles to play McNeese St this Saturday night. He spoke to the media today as his team continues to prepare for the season opener.
The Jags are in the somewhat unique position of opening their season against a team that has already played a football game this year, as the Cowboys opened their year playing in week 0 this past Saturday at Tarleton St. Despite having the advantage of getting additional game film their opponents don’t get, Coach Graves outlined some of the advantages McNeese also has in this situation.
“I don’t know if it’s a huge advantage, but it is an advantage in some senses of the word. They got to play, and you usually want to improve from week 1 to week 2. So they were able to get some of the kinks out in week 2. Not a huge advantage, but I think it helps to get to play before your opponent starts.”
McNeese has struggled mightily in recent years. Their last winning season was in 2019, and last year they went 0-10 in games actually played on the field. It seemed like more of the same for the Cowboys after they started their week 0 game trailing 26-7 to Tarleton St. However, led by star transfer quarterback Clifton McDowell, they rallied back in the second half to make it a tight game down the stretch, losing only 26-23 after a field goal attempt to tie the game as time expired missed the uprights.
“They showed a lot mentally last week. Some teams will fold up and call it a day, but those guys did a great job in the second half making it a ball game. They had a chance to win, and that’s what you want. So hats off to them, they did a good job staying in that ball game.”
McDowell is a key focus for many going into this game. He transferred this past offseason from Montana, where he led the Grizzlies to a FCS national championship appearance, as well as being the Big Sky Conference’s Newcomer of the Year for 2023. Now he’s in Lake Charles where Southern will be tasked with trying to handle his dual threat prowess to kick off this season. Coach Graves had a lot to say about him throughout the press conference.
“Clifton was committed here at one time, so we are familiar with him. He is a very athletic quarterback. He can throw, he can run, and he can lead. He did a lot of that on Saturday. He threw the ball well and he led the team in rushing.”
“Clifton is a great quarterback and a great athlete. The thing about him is his leadership. He kept those guys in the game. They were down 26-7 and he didn’t bat an eye. Hats off to him, he did a great job of leading those guys back.”
This is only the 4th time Southern University has faced McNeese St, with the two teams most recently having played in 2021. This is a chance for Southern to beat McNeese for the first time in series history, which has long term recruiting ramifications across the entire state for both teams.
“Everybody wants to stick their chest out and say ‘I beat this school, I beat that school’. We’re all trying to recruit the same guys. So to say ‘yeah I beat this school’ is huge.”
This game at McNeese St will be this Saturday, August 31st at 7 P.M. in Lake Charles. For future updates on Southern University as well as football at both the high school and college level, make sure to stay posted here at www.gridironfootballusa.com !
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