Football | 10/13/2017 8:58:00 AM

Braves Look to Extend Winning-Streak against PVAMU during Homecoming

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LORMAN, Miss. – Riding a three-game winning-streak, the Alcorn State University football program will return home to face Prairie View A&M at 2 p.m. Saturday during homecoming at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
 
The Braves (4-2, 2-0 SWAC) completed a stretch of three games in 13 days where they won all three. It included back-to-back road victories over Texas Southern 24-17 and Alabama State 24-10.
 
Alcorn has had a lot of success moving the ball offensively as the team ranks first in the SWAC in scoring (30.5 ppg), total offense (455.8 ypg), rushing offense (226.0 ypg), first downs per game (20.0) and third down conversions (47.6%). Alcorn's 47.6 percent on third down conversions is top-10 in the FCS.
 
Senior Lenorris Footman leads the SWAC and is top-25 in the FCS in both passing (222.3 ypg) and total offense (286.5 ypg). He ranks No. 7 all-time in school history in both career rushing yards (1,896) and touchdown passes (30). He's 10th in career passing yards with 3,705.
 
Senior running back De'Lance Turner ranks second in the FCS in rushing yards (728), fourth in yards per carry (8.37), fifth in rushing yards per game (121.3) and sixth in all-purpose yards per game (149.67). He also leads the SWAC in total touchdowns with six this year.
 
The ground game been a determining factor in Alcorn's outings this year. The Braves are 4-0 when they rush for over 100 yards, and 4-0 when they have more rushing yards than the opposition.
 
Defensively, Alcorn has seen different student-athletes step up each week. Junior Isiah Thomas and sophomore Solomon Muhammad have each won SWAC Defensive Player of the Week nods. Last week at ASU, sophomore Terry Whittington paved the way with a sack and a couple tackles for a loss.
 
PVAMU (2-3, 2-1 SWAC) is looking to shake off a 34-21 defeat to Grambling State last weekend. The Panthers got off to a slow start but outscored the Tigers 14-3 in the second half.
 
The Panthers have been balanced on both sides of the ball as they rank second in the SWAC in both total offense (387.3 ypg) and total defense (337.0 ypg). Lavell McCuller has taken the majority of the snaps at quarterback and has thrown for 848 yards and five touchdowns.
 
Junior linebacker Anthony Stubbs averages a team-high 7.2 tackles per game, and 25 of his 36 tackles have been solo. Sophomore Ju'Anthony Park has tallied a pair of interceptions in the secondary.
 
PVAMU head coach Willie Simmons is in his third season. He previously coached at Alcorn as the offensive coordinator and running backs coach from 2012-14.
 
NOTES
- The Braves are 2-0 in league play for the fourth time in the last five years. Alcorn is looking to start 3-0 SWAC for the third time in four years.
 
- Alcorn is 40-15 all-time against the Panthers with a point differential of 1639-975 (+664).
 
- The Braves are 71-52 all-time at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium which is in its 26th season (first year was 1992).
 
- The Braves are coming off a 24-10 victory over Alabama State. Footman accounted for all three touchdowns with two on the ground and one in the air to senior Norlando Veals. Alcorn led 24-0 at half and held a 330-10 edge in total offense at that point. Alcorn beat the Hornets for the fourth straight year, and Alabama State has been held to under 20 points in every game during the streak.
 
- Alcorn has won six SWAC Player of the Week awards in six weeks this year. Turner has won two Offensive Player of the Week awards, Footman has won once, junior Marquis Warford earned Special Teams Player of the Week, and Thomas and Muhammad each won Defensive Player of the Week.
 
- The Braves remained at No. 4 in this weeks BOXTOROW HBCU Coaches Poll. Alcorn is also receiving six votes in the FCS Coaches Poll.
 
- Alcorn notched a wire-to-wire 24-17 win over TSU after taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Braves beat the Tigers for the sixth straight year and improved to 34-18-4 in the all-time series. The game was a non-conference affair.
 
- In the team's 48-31 win over Southern, Turner tallied 272 yards rushing which was the second-most in school history. He recorded three touchdowns including two on the ground and one receiving. Alcorn improved to 36-27-2 all-time against Southern and has won six of the last seven meetings.
 
- Against McNeese State, Footman led all of FCS that week with a career-high 424 passing yards. He completed passes to eight different receivers, threw three touchdowns and also caught a touchdown on a trick play.
 
- Alcorn trailed FIU 10-7 late in the fourth quarter when sophomore kicker Corey McCullough drilled a 49-yard field goal to tie the game 10-10 with 3:54 remaining. It marked the second-longest field goal in school history behind a 50-yarder by George Green Jr. in 1984 against Alabama State.
 
- McCullough, who is both the kicker and punter, ranks 12th in the FCS in field goals made per game with 1.33. He's made eight field goals and is chasing the school's single-season record of 13 set by Wilfredo Rosales in 1980 and David McConnell in 2003.
 
- In the season-opening 50-21 win over Miles College, Turner rushed for 131 yards and averaged 14.6 yards per carry. His 88-yard TD run was the longest in school history. Alcorn scored six touchdowns in the game; Footman accounted for three of them with two on the ground and one in the air.
 
- Muhammad, a linebacker, ranks top-five in the league in both tackles (8.6 per game) and tackles for a loss (5.5 per game). He notched a career game against Southern where he recorded a career-high 13 tackles, forced a fumble and ran back a 71-yard interception return. It was the second time this year Muhammad tallied double-digits in tackles as he wrapped-up 10 in the season-opener against Miles College.
 
- Warford, a threat on both kick returns and punt returns, ranks third in the conference with 121.5 all-purpose yards per game and top-five in kick return average (19.7 yards). He ran back a punt 72 yards for a score against Miles College.
 
- Six different receivers have caught touchdown passes for Alcorn this season. Veals leads the SWAC in receiving yards (87.3 ypg) and is third in receptions per game (5.2). Veals' 87.3 receiving yards per game is also top-15 in the FCS.
 
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