Hopson happy with Alcorn’s position

COURTESY ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

LORMAN, Mississippi -- In the blink of an eye, in football terms, Jay Hopson took Alcorn State from the depths of despair to the class of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The program that was 2-8 the year before he got there has gone 28-10 over the past three seasons, with two SWAC championships, one Black College national title, and one near-miss at a second national title.

The stat Hopson, ever the perfectionist, has stuck in his mind, however is 50. Excluding two blowout losses to Football Bowl Subdivision teams Mississippi State and Georgia Tech, that’s the total number of points Alcorn’s losses have been decided by in the past three seasons.

It works out to about a touchdown per game. A play here or a play there. It’s a razor-thin margin that could have turned Alcorn’s run from great to historic — and also the reason Hopson is happy with where his program sits despite a 41-34 season-ending loss to North Carolina A&T in the Celebration Bowl last weekend.

“You look at our losses this year, and we’re 15 points away from being 12-1,” Hopson said.

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