Still 4-boding
GSU maintains the talent for a run at a fourth SWAC title
Nick Deriso
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August 19, 2003
Sixth-year Grambling State coach Doug Williams says he would glance out his office window this summer and notice them: Young teammates working after practice, in the summer's heat, to get back to the championship.
The Tigers (11-2 overall, 7-1 for first place in the Southwestern Athletic Conference) seem to know that they'll have to be in exceptional physical condition to move under the weight of so many expectations.
"Right now, we're on top and everybody wants to knock you off," said senior wide receiver Tramon Douglas - who, despite missing a game in 2002, led the nation in Division I-AA receiving yards. GSU's high-powered offense propelled the Tigers to their third-straight SWAC championship.
"You have to come out here every day with the mentality that you've got to work harder than you did last year," Douglas said. "Last year doesn't count this year. That's what movitivates me: It's hard to get on top; it's even harder to stay there."
And how: No one has ever won the SWAC championship four times in a row.
Offensive coordinator Melvin Spears knows he can't do it without rethinking everything - even that celebrated offense.
"We wanted to supplement Tramon Douglas," Spears said. "We wanted to make sure that everyone will have to cover the whole field. They can't just come in and bracket him."
The bulk of Grambling State's offensive misdirection this year will come from wide receiver Moses Harris - who, despite having just 20 catches and one touchdown in 2002, streaked up the depth chart with an impressive off-season.
The unit is rounded out by returning senior Calvin Colquitt and several new additions, including junior transfer Chris Day and newcomer Bryan Carroll.
"If you double-team me, somebody else is going to have a great day," said Douglas, already honored with an invited to the East-West Shrine Game for his lofty numbers in 2002. "It doesn't matter to me, as long as we win."
"With Moses playing the way he has been playing, with Colquitt, Day and the freshman Carroll - that makes us very potent," Spears said. "We're also adding a few other things, like the running game. But the guy that makes it go is at the quarterback position."
That would be Bruce Eugene. Thrust into the leadership position as a sophomore last spring, Eugene was later demoted after the first game, then came back to break every significant Grambling passing record - most of which were set by his head coach back in the 1970s.
"He's a long way from where he was last year," Williams said. "He was still feeling his way. He had all of the abilities to throw the football. But now, he's not only making throws - but making good decisions."
Eugene has looked much more comfortable in the leadership role this off-season, directing the offense with polish and fire.
"It's partly getting older, but also playing the position," said Eugene, a Walter Payton Award finalist. "As quarterback, you've got to be a leader not only on the field, but off the field. I credit both Coach Williams and Coach Spears for getting me ready."
Spears doesn't take those off-the-field concerns lightly.
"You know, Eugene is an honor student now," Spears said. "When he came to school, he was little lazy. But now he's applying himself in the classroom - and applying himself here on the field."
Eugene's quickly developing maturity, and his ability to avoid injury, will key the 2003 season for Grambling.
"That's pretty much the key for any team - for their starting quarterback not to get injured," Eugene said. "We won't come in and surprise anybody this year. This year, every one knows we have talent. We'll have to show up and prove it."
While the defensive unit lost six starters from last year, coordinator Mike Roach has reloaded with immediate first-teamers like sophomore linebacker Dimitri Carr and senior cornerback Seneca Lee, a Louisiana-Monroe transfer.
"I knew, this being my last year, that I couldn't play around," said Lee - mirroring this team's aggressive approach to the offseason.
They'll need it: Even with a spotty SWAC schedule - Alabama State enters the year in turmoil over recruiting violations, for instance - the Tigers won't coast into the championship game.
The upcoming slate features two nationally known, non-conference programs - San Jose State, a rare Division I opponent, this Saturday; and McNeese State, the Division I-AA runner-up in 2002. "Last year, McNeese beat us pretty good," Lee said of the Tigers' 52-20 season-opening loss at Lake Charles. "But things will be different this time."
Too, as is tradition, the regular season ends with the always well-coached Southern University at the Bayou Classic. The Jaguars accounted for Grambling's only other 2002 loss.
"The respect that people have given us this year - whether that's write-ups in the newspaper, awards, polls, what have you - people are expecting a lot from us," Williams said. "Our players have to understand that it's up to them to keep that interest. Coach Roach told them: 'This is hollowed ground.' So many great guys have come through here. Now, they have a chance to leave a stamp."
Count Tramon Douglas among those ready to get started.
"All the young guys want to get themselves a ring," he said. "They ask me about in the locker room all the time. I'd like to go out as a winner, too. Four straight years as a champion? You can't beat that."
?The News-Star
August 19, 2003
