Grambling State may be entering Saturday’s homecoming game against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff in last place, but UAPB coach Alonzo Hampton said he isn’t concerned about how desperate the Tigers will be for a win.
“It’s a big game,” Hampton said. “I’m not worried about their record. They’re not worried about our record. You gotta put the pads on. It’s their homecoming. They’re fired up. They’re ready to go. Our guys need to be fired up, ready to go.”
Grambling State will be seeking its first SWAC win of the season, while UAPB will be looking for a second-straight victory when the teams meet up at Eddie G. Robinson Memorial Stadium at 2 p.m. on HBCU GO.
UAPB (2-4, 1-1 SWAC) is coming off a 21-17 home victory last Friday night against Prairie View A&M.
Grambling State (3-3, 0-2) started the season 3-1. The Tigers lost to an FBS foe, Louisiana-Lafayette, but came back with wins against Tuskegee, Texas A&M-Commerce and Jackson State. The JSU game was played as a non-conference affair and did not affect the SWAC standings.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Since then, Grambling dropped a 36-34 five-overtime game with Prairie View in the State Fair Classic, then lost at home last week to Alcorn State, 17-15, on a last-second field goal.
Those losses leave the Tigers as the only SWAC West team without a conference victory, putting them in sixth place. UAPB enters the week in third.
It is to be expected Grambling will come out with a sense of urgency, needing a win to keep any division title hopes alive. Although UAPB won last week, Hampton said the Golden Lions remain just as desperate for wins as the Tigers.
“We only won two games, so I mean, I’m not worried about them being 0-2,” Hampton said. “At the end of the day, we gotta strap up. They gotta strap up. It’s going to be a great environment to go down there. … Grambling is one of those schools that you just, hey man, that’s a special place. So, I’m excited about taking this football team down there.”
Hampton talks relationship with Hull
The most notable improvement UAPB has shown so far in its second season under Hampton has been its offense, which enters this week as the fourth-best scoring offense in the SWAC, with 27.9 points per game, after finishing 11th last season, with 15.2 points per game.
The passing offense ranks second, with 244.6 yards per game, led by quarterback Mekhi Hagens and wide receiver JaVonnie Gibson.
Hampton said much of the credit for the offense’s success goes to new offensive coordinator Tony Hull, who coached at GSU last season.
“He’s like a brother to me,” Hampton said. “We worked together two years at the University of Louisiana Monroe. One of the smartest dudes I’ve ever been around. Matched him and Mekhi together. Man, those guys, they’ve just really done a good job, and Mekhi’s continuing to grow every single day.”
Hull spent two seasons at ULM while Hampton was on the Warhawks’ staff. He started as outside receivers coach before moving to running backs coach.
He left ULM at the same time as Hampton. While Hampton was taking over as head coach at UAPB, Hull went to GSU as co-offensive coordinator, passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
In one season, he turned the Tigers’ offense around. Wide receiver Javon Robinson was named SWAC Freshman of the Year in 2023, and quarterback Myles Crawley entered this season as SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year.
Hampton said when he and Hull were at ULM together, they often talked about working together in the future.
“When I was interviewing for this job as the head coach, I was in my office at Monroe, my alma mater,” Hampton said. “I walked around and told Tony, I said, ‘Tony, man, I’m about to interview for this job. God told me I’m going to get the job.’ I said, ‘I need you to come with me.’ We laughed about it. Not really laughed about it, because I was dead serious.
“At nighttime, I used to go in my office, and it’d be, like, two people left in the building, me and Tony Hull. Tony Hull was in his office. He’d be making cutups, because he was preparing himself to get a bigger opportunity, as well.”
UAPB on ESPN2 drew 147K
Last Friday night’s UAPB home game drew 147,000 viewers on ESPN2, according to Sports Media Watch.
The national television spotlight drew significantly more viewers than UAPB’s other two home games this season, both of where were livestreamed on the SWAC Digital Network on YouTube.
The Golden Lions’ home opener against Arkansas Baptist has 6,300 views on YouTube, while the home game against then-No. 8 Central Arkansas received 6,900 views.
UAPB’s victory was part of an FCS doubleheader on ESPN2. It followed the conclusion of Harvard’s 38-20 win at Cornell, which drew 312,000 viewers. The 8:15 p.m. kickoff time may have contributed to UAPB’s lower ratings.
The Golden Lions and Panthers outdrew one other week seven weeknight game. The Thursday night Conference USA matchup between Western Kentucky and UTEP, which kicked off at 7 p.m. on ESPNU, drew 81,000 viewers.
Of note, WKU and UTEP were competing with NFL Thursday Night Football, a game between the San Francisco 49ers and Seattle Seahawks. UAPB and Prairie View competed with FBS games such as No. 16 Utah at Arizona State and UNLV at Utah State.
UAPB will return to the SWAC Digital Network for its next two home games against Mississippi Valley State and Alabama A&M, while HBCU GO will handle the home finale against Texas Southern.