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September 25, 2009
Know OSU's foe: Grambling
Justin Wilmeth
OStateIllustrated.com After a disappointing loss to Houston and an uninspired win over Rice, Oklahoma State now prepares to face a team that is nowhere near on the same level as the Cowboys. That's because they're a Division I-AA (or Football Championship Subdivision, if you must) school. The Grambling State Tigers prowl into Stillwater this weekend for what should be a game in only the loosest sense of the word. OSU should be able to name its score in this one: TD-TD-TD-TD-TD-Grambling Band-TD-TD-FG-Ballgame. While its band gets more talk these days than its football, Grambling has a pretty interesting history. Since this is a school OSU has never played before and likely won't again, here is some random information on the Tigers. School History Founded: 1901 Location: Grambling, Louisiana - about 60 miles east of Shreveport on I-20 Name: Came from a man named P.T. Grambling, who donated land for the campus Enrollment: Roughly 4,400 Program History The history of Grambling football can be summed up with one name: Eddie Robinson. The legendary coach led the Tigers from the program's inception in 1941 until his retirement in 1997. In that 56-year period, Robinson compiled a 408-165-15 record, won nine black college football national championships and 17 Southwestern Athletic Conference championships. He also posted 45 winning seasons - two of those undefeated - at the school. Over his time there, he sent over 200 players to either the AFL or NFL. One of the most notable was Doug Williams, who won a Super Bowl with the Washington Redskins and followed Robinson as coach at Grambling, running the program from 1998-2002, when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the front office. He is now the director of scouting for the franchise. The Band Now pretty much world-famous, the Grambling band wasn't a national name until the mid-1960s when they performed at the AFL Championship game. After that, they received invitations from around the country to perform and eventually showed its stuff to troops in the USO, the first Super Bowl and the inaugurations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama. . GSU 2009 Season After going 11-2 and winning a black college football championship, the Tigers have gone 2-1 so far this season and are 1-0 in the SWAC. They come to Stillwater on the heels of a 27-17 win over Jackson State . In those three games, the Tigers have compiled 955 yards of total offense - 483 rushing, 472 passing. Individually, Frank Warren leads the team in rushing, accounting for 339 yards (7.4 yards per carry) and two touchdowns. Quarterback Greg Dillion accounts for all those passing yards on 45-of-77 throwing with two touchdown and four interceptions. His receiving targets have been varied, as six Tigers have posted 50 yards or more in receiving yards. Van Phillips leads the way there, with 98 yards and a score off of five catches. If you're looking for scheduling oddities, then look no further than GSU. The Tigers only have four home games this season. They also have four neutral-site games. Two of those are annual events: The State Fair Classic against Prairie View A&M in the Cotton Bowl and the Bayou Classic against Southern in the Superdome in New Orleans.
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