Southern rallies for win in Bayou Classic to reach SWAC title game

Off a huge win at Cincinnati, Tulane will host the American Athletic Conference championship game against UCF next Saturday at 3 p.m.

Off a deflating loss to Texas A&M, LSU will play in the SEC championship game in Atlanta against defending national champion and top-ranked Georgia next Saturday at 3 p.m.

Southeastern Louisiana won its FCS first-round playoff game, outlasting Idaho 45-42 in a thriller at Strawberry Stadium Saturday night. The Lions head to Samford next Saturday at 2 p.m.

Meanwhile, another Louisiana team punched its ticket to a conference championship game, right here in New Orleans.

Southern rallied from a second half deficit to whip Grambling 34-17 to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference Western Division title in the 49th annual Bayou Classic at Caesars Superdome before a huge crowd announced at 62,337 and before a national television audience on NBC.

The game was entertaining.

It was very competitive for three quarters, with four lead changes.

While Grambling outgained Southern 353-234, it was turnovers that separated the two rivals.

Grambling took the early lead on a 4-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Julian Calvez to Rash to take a 7-0 lead in the final minute of the first quarter.

Southern tied the game midway through the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Karl Ligon to make it 7-7.

The Tigers recaptured the lead on a 44-yard field goal by Garrett Urban with 3:37 to play in the first half.

Once again, the Jaguars answered, this time taking their first lead on a 5-yard run by Kendric Rhymes to take a 14-10 halftime lead.

Grambling fought back again to take the lead early in the third quarter on a 1-yard run by Calvez to make it 17-14 by the end of the third quarter.

From that point forward, Southern dominated, scoring the final 20 points of the contest, all in the final quarter.

Quarterback BeSean McCray scored on a 22-yard run to give the Jaguars the lead for good at 21-17 with 13:30 to play in the game.

The Southern defense capped a big afternoon, scoring a pair of late touchdowns to pull away.

First, Jordan Carter returned a fumble 48 yards for a touchdown to make it 28-17 before Kriston Davis returned an interception 42 yards for a score to account for the final margin.

McCray earned the game’s Most Valuable Player honors, completed 7 of 17 passes for 75 yards and rushing 17 times for 93 yards and two scores.

Ligon finished with 13 carries for 57 yards. Southern converted 7 of 16 third down opportunities.

Calvez completed 13 of 27 passes for 152 yards with a touchdown and an interception and he rushed for a score. Chalk had eight carries for 120 yards for the Tigers.

The Tigers committed three turnovers and they were too much to overcome.

Julian Campbell paced the Southern defense with 11 tackles, including a pair of sacks and two tackles for loss. Derrick Williams had nine tackles, including two sacks, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. Carter had six tackles and the fumble recovery for a score.

It was a sweet Homecoming for Eric Dooley.

The New Orleans native and Fortier graduate played and coached at Grambling previously and previously served as an assistant at Southern under Pete Richardson during a great run for the Jaguar program.

In his first season on the job, Dooley has the Jaguars back on track, in the conference championship game.

The win for Southern broke a tie in the Bayou Classic, giving the Jaguars a 25-24 edge overall in the big game.

As a result, Southern (7-4, 5-3) earned a spot in the SWAC championship game at Jackson State next Saturday at 3 p.m. on ESPN.

It marks a return to the scene of the crime, of sorts.

Jackson State blanked Southern 35-0 on October 29 in Jackson.

The winner to advance to the Celebration Bowl against the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on December 17.

With the attendance Saturday, the Bayou Classic is back in full force, truly full force for the first time since the advent of the COVID 19 pandemic.