3 KEY TAKEAWAYS: Bethune-Cookman outplays Grambling State in second half to earn first win

DAYTONA BEACH — Jalon Jones settled into a chair in the second-floor president’s suite at Daytona Stadium and looked out the big glass windows.

Waiting for Saturday’s postgame press conference to start, the junior quarterback carefully scanned the field and turned to his coach sitting next to him.

“Man, that’s such a better view when we win, coach,” Jones said.

“Mm-hmm,” Terry Sims said. “I don’t even want to look out there when we lose.”

The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats didn’t give them that problem against Grambling State. They calmed down after a shootout start to claim their first victory of the season 36-19. It also was their first Southwest Athletic Conference game — and win — of 2022.

“Today, I thought we saw a true Bethune-Cookman University football team,” Sims said. “We made plays when we needed to.”

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Oh, yes, they did.

Up 20-19 a minute into the fourth quarter, the Wildcats blocked Grambling State’s potential go-ahead, 39-yard field goal attempt.

“I think that gave us the shot in the arm we needed to push forward and win this football game,” Sims said.

Five minutes later, tight end Kemari Averett grabbed a 9-yard touchdown pass from Jones in traffic to boost Bethune-Cookman’s advantage to eight points. The Tigers never recovered.

Here are three takeaways:

1. Both teams start fast

On the game’s second play from scrimmage, B-CU running back Que’Shawn Byrd broke off an 81-yard run that set up a 4-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Riley two plays later.

The Wildcats’ 7-0 lead didn’t last long, as Grambling State assembled an 11-play, 75-yard response of a touchdown drive.

Fourteen seconds later, Darnell Deas sprinted the kickoff return 97 yards to the end zone, and Bethune-Cookman was back on top.

Both teams tacked on field goals on their next drives before the Tigers threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to knot the game at 17-17 in the beginning stages of the second quarter.

Got all that?

Both teams had scored on each of their first three possessions of the game. Defense was more of a concept than a reality at that point.

That changed quickly, though.

2. Bethune-Cookman’s defense settles in

Only three-and-a-half minutes into the second quarter, Bethune-Cookman’s defense had already surrendered 17 points.

After that, zilch.

Grambling State netted only two points the rest of the contest, and its defense was responsible for those. The Tigers tackled Byrd in the end zone for a second-quarter safety.

They held a 19-17 lead at halftime.

So what shifted?

“We changed our attitudes,” Sims said. “I think that was the main thing. Defensively, we have a lot of athletes all over the field. Sometimes, that’s dangerous because a lot of times guys try to create plays instead of doing the things they’re coached to do.

“I think, after going in at halftime and making really no adjustments, it was just us settling our guys down.”

Grambling State actually outgained the Wildcats 446-336, but its yardage came on 27 more plays (79 to 52).

Omari Hill-Robinson and Darnell Deas each grabbed interceptions. Rosendo Louis and Reyan Blake tied for the team lead with eight tackles apiece.

“We played our bend, don’t break (style),” Sims said.

Bethune-Cookman took a 20-19 lead with a third-quarter field goal. It pulled away in the fourth with Averett's touchdown snag, Deas' interception, which was a pick-six, and another field goal.

3. Jones, Byrd and Averett star — as expected

Three players who were projected to carry Bethune-Cookman’s offense entering the year did just that Saturday.

For the first time this season, Bethune-Cookman used only one quarterback. Jones started and finished the game behind center. He threw for 137 yards and two touchdowns.

And after two weeks of not being very involved, his best two weapons got going, too. Byrd ran the ball 19 times for 171 yards, and Averett reeled in five catches for 65 yards and a touchdown. All of those figures were team highs.

“You have to get your playmakers involved,” Sims said. “That’s what you have them for. We had every guy that was capable of making explosive plays do it today.”

Next up

Bethune-Cookman (1-2) plays its first road game since its Sept. 3 season-opener next Saturday. The Wildcats head to Huntsville, Alabama, for a 3 p.m. matchup with Alabama A&M.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: College football: 3 takeaways from Bethune-Cookman vs. Grambling State