G-Men may have found a quarterback in Crawley

GRAMBLING — After a 2022 season without stable quarterback play, Grambling State may have found its answer for this season and beyond.

Through two games for the Tigers, starting quarterback Myles Crawley has gone 39-of-63 (61.9%) for 450 yards, three touchdowns and an interception as he leads GSU’s new-look offense with new offensive coordinator Tony Hull.

Crawley’s debut against Hampton was a good one, with the Alabama State transfer throwing for 311 yards and two scores – the first GSU quarterback since 2018 to throw for at least 300 yards.

He followed his first start up with a trip to No. 14 LSU in front of over 100,000 people on Saturday and came out strong, leading the G-Men on a seven play, 83-yard scoring drive on the opening series. Crawley tossed a 13-yard touchdown to J.R. Waters to tie the ballgame at 7-7 with just over nine minutes left in the opening frame.

Crawley finished 14-of-25 for 148 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

GSU head coach Hue Jackson knew the Tigers wouldn’t be as successful as they’d want to be without a true quarterback behind center this fall, and through two games he’s been impressed with Crawley’s production.

“He’s (Crawley) done a good job in taking care of the football,” Jackson said Monday at his press conference. “Even though there was a turnover on Saturday, that was a dropped pass. And so, he’s done a really good job spreading the ball around and getting everybody involved, and I think that’s really important as we start this journey on the back half towards our conference schedule because we’re going to need everyone to play well for us on offense for us to have a chance to do what we intend to do.”

GSU’s passing offense has averaged 225 yards per game so far, a sharp increase compared to last season when the Tigers finished with the 11thranked passing game in the SWAC at 143 yards per game.

Last year, the Tigers ended the season with 1,637 total passing yards between Julian Calvez and Quaterius Hawkins, who each played in at least 10 games as both struggled with turnovers. Each of them completed under 48% of his passes as well.

But through two games, Crawley is well on his way to move past the low passing numbers. And the Tigers’ offensive playmakers have been happy to have it after the program was one of two SWAC teams without a 1,000-yard passer a year ago.

Running back Chance Williams, who had a career-high 106 yards on seven carries against LSU, has enjoyed working alongside Crawley in the offense.

“He’s a great vocal leader,” Williams said. “ He does everything right on and off the field. He just keeps us going and he tries to get the playmakers in open field. Myles Crawley has a great way to calm everybody down and make sure everybody takes a deep breath and just do everything right.”