In Hue Jackson’s first season, Grambling State finished with a 3-8 overall record and went 2-6 in the SWAC.
Despite not experiencing the desired level of success in year one, which Jackson termed as a “feeling out period,” he is optimistic heading into 2023.
At his recent coaches’ clinic, Jackson said the Tigers have “improved tremendously across the board” for a season ago.
Hue Jackson head football coach Grambling State University pic.twitter.com/egmogUU5oT
— HBCU Premier Sports & More (@HBCUSports1) July 19, 2023
A team that lost eight games has a plethora of areas in which improvements must be made.
In addition to its roster needing to physically get bigger and stronger, if Grambling can perform better in these outlined aspects of the game, it will be well on the path to, as Jackson put it, “recapture the conference the way Grambling used to.”
A more productive passing game
The Tigers’ passing attack ranked 11th out of 12 teams in the SWAC, averaging 143.3 yards per game. Grambling only eclipsed the 200-yard mark through the air twice on the season. Once in a 290-yard effort against Northwestern State and then complied 287 years against Bethune-Cookman.
Grambling was able to be a bit more successful on the ground, averaging 167.8 yards per game which was the fifth most prolific rushing output in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. The running backs topped 170 yards three times in 2022 — 174 versus BCU, then 348 against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and 201 in the Bayou Classic against Southern.
Run defense
The Grambling defense was very run-friendly, allowing 180.9 yards per game, which was the ninth-worst in the SWAC.
Pass defense
The defense was also one of the worst against the pass, allowing 204.4 yards per contest, which was ninth in the conference.
Protecting the quarterback
An offense cannot optimally perform if the quarterback is consistently under pressure. To that end, Grambling was one of the least adept teams in the SWAC at keeping their quarterback upright. Only Bethune-Cookman signal callers were sacked more than the 38 Grambling allowed in 2022.
Penalties
Penalties can kill an offensive drive or sustain one for the opposition. Grambling was the ninth-most penalized team in the SWAC, averaging 9.9 penalties per game for 80.7 yards.
Red Zone defense
The Grambling defense was the second-worst in the red zone, allowing opponents to come away with points at an 82.7% rate.
Grambling kicks off its 2023 season in the Brick City HBCU Classic on Sept. 2 at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, New Jersey.
