'Storm the land, burn the ships': Bayou Classic a playoff game for GSU, Southern

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- The point of no return.

Win or go home.

State rivals Grambling State (9-1, 6-0) and Southern (7-3, 5-1) square up Saturday in the 44th annual Bayou Classic in the Big Easy with the SWAC Western Division title on the line for the second straight season.

To avoid an abrupt end to their season at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans and to extend it to at least include a return trip to Houston for the conference championship, the Tigers coming off a bye week have approached this weekend’s showdown just like a playoff. Or as senior running back Martez Carter put it, a war with much more at stake.

“We’re battle-tested. (Grambling State head football coach Broderick Fobbs) is always setting us up for war and right now, we’re training for the war on Saturday,” Carter told reporters Tuesday. “You lose some battles, but we win the war. We lost battle one, but Saturday means war, it’s win or go home.

“Like (offensive coordinator Eric Dooley) say, ‘we’re going to storm the land and burn the ships. We’re going to a place of no return.’”



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