BATON ROUGE, Louisiana – Allowing just 139 yards of total offense, the defense of the Alcorn State University football program shined in a 20-3 victory over Southern on a rainy Saturday evening at A.W. Mumford Stadium.It was the fourth win a row for Alcorn (4-1, 2-0 SWAC), which spoiled Southern's (2-3, 1-1 SWAC) Homecoming night.
The defense gave up just 76 passing yards and 63 rushing yards. SU's lone score came after a kick-off was returned to the red zone, but the Braves held the Jags to a field goal.
Alcorn also scored seven points defensively on a pick-six by sophomore Qwynnterrio Cole.
BOX SCORE
The Braves led 3-0 at half when the offense scored on their opening drive of the third quarter. The scoring play was a one-yard run by junior De'Shawn Waller. Cole's pick-six then made it 17-3 and gave Alcorn all of the momentum.
Junior Noah Johnson threw for 138 yards and rushed for a game-high 81 yards. The Braves ran for 243 yards as a team which included 57 yards by senior P.J. Simmons, 54 yards by Waller and 50 yards by freshman Marquise Forman. Junior Chris Blair led the receiving core with 79 yards.
Alcorn limited SU quarterback John Lampley to just 9-of-26 throwing with an interception.
To open the game, Southern had the ball first and was stopped, three-and-out, after a big tackle for a loss by junior Brelion Hollis on first down.
On Alcorn's first possession, the Braves moved the chains a couple times on runs by Simmons to cross midfield. Alcorn then faced 3rd-and-10 when Blair hauled in a 14-yard pass to move the ball to the SU 23. Though, the Braves got backed up by a chop block penalty and were sacked on third down which forced a punt.
Near the end of the first quarter, the Jags started with good field position after an interception by Demerio Houston on a deep route. SU moved the ball to the Alcorn 20 when the Braves got a stop, and a 37-yard field goal attempt sailed wide-right to keep the game scoreless.
A big play in the second quarter came after the Jags recovered a muffed punt at the Alcorn 46. Though, the Braves defense continued to hold strong and forced SU to punt after a rush for no gain, followed by two incomplete passes.
On the ensuing series, the Braves got it started by a 36-yard reception by Blair through the middle to move into SU territory. On the very next play, Simmons rushed up the middle for 13 yards to the SU 27. Alcorn got on the board with a 32-yard field goal by junior Corey McCullough to lead 3-0 with 50 seconds left in the half.
The Braves ran it all the way down the field on the first drive of the second half. It started with an 18-yard run to the right by Johnson after he kept it on a quarterback-option. On the next play, Johnson dashed through the center for a big 38-yard gain to setup first-and-goal. The Braves scored on a one-yard run by Waller as he went high and jumped through the defensive line to give Alcorn a 10-0 edge at the 12:58 mark.
Southern responded with a huge kick return by Christopher Chaney which put the Jags in the red zone at the Alcorn 18. However, the Braves defense stood tall again and held SU to a 28-yard field goal which cut the deficit to 10-3 with 11:11 remaining in the third. The series included a key tackle for a loss by Hollis on 3rd-and-1.
Alcorn had a promising drive going on its next series after Forman ran it to the SU 36 for a gain of 15. However, the drive ended after an interception by Chase Foster on a screen pass midway through the third.
After another defensive stop by the Braves, the Jags tried a fake punt but the pass fell incomplete, giving the ball back to Alcorn at the SU 40. The Braves were then looking at a 4th-and-4 when they decided to go for it, but the handoff through the middle was stopped short.
The Jags were faced with a 3rd-and-10 when Lampley tried to dump off a short pass to the right, but Cole cut in front of the route for an interception and returned it back untouched for a pick-six. It extended Alcorn's lead to 17-3 with 4:14 to go in the third.
The Braves upped their advantage to 20-3 with 8:28 left in the fourth after a 22-yard field goal by McCullough. It came after a 13-play, 54-yard drive which included a 12-yard rush by Forman.
SU had the opportunity to put points on the board after crossing midfield on the ensuing drive, but the Braves forced a turnover. Senior Sterling Shippy stripped the running back near the line of scrimmage and senior Brady Smith dove on it for the recovery.
Up next, the Braves will return to Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium next Saturday when they host Alabama State at 2 p.m. on Homecoming. Alcorn is 23-18 all-time against the Hornets and have won four straight meetings between the two teams.
NOTES
- Saturday marked the 65th meeting between the Braves and the Jaguars. Alcorn now leads the all-time series 37-27-2 and beat SU for the second straight year.
- The three points was the fewest allowed by Alcorn against Southern since 1981 when the Braves won 18-0.
- The Braves are off to a 2-0 start in conference for the second year in a row.
- Alcorn improved to 10-0 when leading at halftime over the last two seasons.
- Alcorn's perfect streak in the red zone came to an end when the team elected to go for it instead of kicking a field goal at the very end of the game leading 20-3. The Braves were one of 15 teams in the FCS to score on 100 percent of their trips inside the 20.
- On the flip side, the Alcorn defense entered the game ranked eighth in the nation in red zone defense, limiting teams to score on just 60 percent of their trips inside the 20. Southern was 1-for-2 (.500) in the red zone.
- Waller's 54 rushing yards marked a career-high. It was his first career touchdown at Alcorn.
- The Braves, which entered the game leading the SWAC in time of possession, dominated the time of possession battle tonight 36:03 to 23:57.
- Alcorn improved to 4-0 this year when it posts over 350 total yards, and also when it has more total yards than the opposition. The Braves notched 381 yards tonight.
- The Braves entered the game ranked No. 4 in the HBCU Poll, while the Jags were No. 7.
- Alcorn's captains were McCullough, Shippy and junior Darius Davis. Southern won the coin toss and choose to receive.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"Our guys played really hard tonight and gave great effort. The defense played a heck of a ball game. The offense sputtered a little bit, but overall our guys are fighters. We go after it at practice every day and our guys took it in stride tonight. Southern is a real good football team and we did what we needed to do to get a victory tonight."
On whether he was surprised or not that the offense sputtered for so long
"Yeah, well I thought we had a great game plan coming into the game. We made some adjustments at halftime and were able to come out and score on our first drive which was big. We still need to quit shooting ourselves in the foot with penalties and we need to learn to play without backing ourselves up. We need to continue to get better."
On the defense being able to play the way it did in a hostile environment
"We talked about this type of environment all week. We knew obviously it was their Homecoming, and it was a game where we'd need to grow as a team; we did that and we showed we can play in a hostile environment and under tough conditions. Our defense played fast and got turnovers which was what we needed."
Quoting quarterback Noah Johnson
On being able to win despite the offense not clicking on all cylinders
"Big shout out to our defense tonight. They played lights out and it gave us momentum. The offense was struggling a little bit tonight but the defense picked us up. We'll go back into the film room and clean everything up."
On what Southern did to throw them off
"We just beat ourselves. We started behind the chains too many times and we can't do that. We turned the ball over, and that's on me, I have to minimize those mistakes. We'll be fine though, and we'll get back at it at practice and be clicking again next week. It's just a lot of little things that we need to correct, especially not starting behind the chains. Our defense played really well tonight, and it's a team sport and I'm happy we got the win."
On whether it was something that was said at halftime to get the team going in the third quarter
"Yeah, the coaches got into us a little bit, but there was no negativity. We knew we had to pick each other up and get it going. The offensive line blocked their tails off and we were able to do enough to get the 'W' and that was big for us."
Quoting defensive back Qwynnterrio Cole
On the pick six
"On the first drive of the game, we had run the same coverage and they had run that same play. So, I saw what was coming, the ball came and I took off with it. I have to give a shout out to Creo Argue for putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback on the play, and I just had to do my part."
On what was going through his head after he grabbed the interception
"I was determined to run it all the way back. Especially in a low scoring game where points were hard to come by, I wanted to make a play and create a spark. A pick six is rare, but it felt good and I felt it was a game changer."
On his thoughts on the team's defensive performance as a whole
"We just have to do our part. Our coaches had us well-prepared tonight. We were familiar with a lot of their plays and we just had to go out and execute. We know the offense is going to score, and as a team we just pick each other up. When the offense struggles, we try to pick them up, and when the defense struggles, we know they're going to pick us up. It's a team game and it was a team win."
ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETIC MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
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