Marshall Faulk finally had the moment he had been waiting for.
After Southern University’s 34-15 victory over Kentucky State on Saturday, Faulk walked off the field with his first win as a college head coach — a milestone that came in just his second game on the Jaguars’ sideline.
Faulk, however, was less interested in celebrating the personal accomplishment than he was in what the victory could mean for his team.
“A win takes you in a better direction than a loss,” Faulk said after the game.
That was a noticeably different feeling from a week earlier, when Southern squandered an 11-point lead in a 30-17 loss to Alabama State in Faulk’s head-coaching debut. The Jaguars responded against Kentucky State by playing a more complete game, particularly on defense and in the running game.
For Faulk, the victory represented another opportunity for Southern to learn from what happened on the field.
“It’s the second game that we played. We went, we won from it,” he said. “And what we’re going to do is continue to try to stack our wins.”
Faulk said the Jaguars still have plenty of work ahead of them, particularly when it comes to becoming a cohesive team.
“If I had to say one thing, it’s continue to grow on becoming a team,” he said. “We just — there’s just a ways to go.”
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That growth was evident in stretches against Kentucky State.
Southern’s defense provided the early spark, including Tay James’ interception return for a touchdown. Faulk said the play was an example of what happens when players simply execute their assignments.
“A lot of times in sports, you think you need to make a play,” Faulk said. “Sometimes if you just do your job, the plays make themselves.”
The Jaguars’ running game eventually took over, with Trey Holly rushing for two touchdowns while Mike Franklin and Champ Davis provided additional options.
Faulk particularly liked the unselfishness among his running backs.
“I love the way those three guys root for each other,” he said.
Quarterback Christian Johnson also earned praise for protecting the football and making decisions that helped the offense stay on schedule.
Still, Faulk said the victory did not erase Southern’s mistakes. The Jaguars continued to have issues with penalties, substitutions and personnel alignment.
“We still made a lot of mistakes,” Faulk said. “A lot of in-game process and things that we can get better at.”
For Faulk, the biggest takeaway from his first victory was not the personal milestone. It was seeing his players begin to understand what it takes to win together.
“We’ve got some individual talent on this team,” Faulk said. “But when we play together, it looks like what our defense looked like. It looks like late in the game what our offense looked like running the football.”
