JACKSON, Miss. – Points were tough to come by Saturday for both the Alcorn State University football program and Jackson State University, but the Tigers scored the lone touchdown in the game to take a 7-3 decision at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.
The touchdown for JSU (3-8, 3-4 SWAC) came in the second quarter as Terrell Kennedy rushed through the middle for 69 yards.
The Braves (7-4, 5-2 SWAC) out-gained the Tigers 339-250 in total yards but could not overcome 111 penalty yards.
Sophomore
Noah Johnson got the start at quarterback and threw for 199 yards and rushed for 70. Senior running back
De'Lance Turner recorded 43 yards on the ground.
Senior
Jalen Walker turned in a big game with a career-high 114 receiving yards on six catches. Senior
Norlando Veals, the reigning SWAC Offensive Player of the Week winner, caught two passes for 13 yards.
Defensively, sophomore
Brelion Hollis wrapped up a career-high eight tackles.
JSU got the ball first and returned the kick-off to the 40-yard line, but couldn't do anything with it after a three-and-out by the Braves defense. The drive included a tackle for loss by junior
Trae Ferrell.
On Alcorn's first possession, the Braves started at their own 12-yard line when Walker caught passes of 29 and 25 yards, respectively, to march down the field. Alcorn was set up with a first-and-goal at the eight-yard line, but settled for a 19-yard field goal by sophomore
Corey McCullough to go up 3-0 at the 5:34 mark.
The Tigers completed a pass of 44 yards to Benjy Parrish on a 3rd-and-13 on their ensuing drive to move into Braves territory. Though, after a defensive stand which included a big hit by sophomore
Terry Whittington, JSU attempted a 52-yard field goal that was missed wide-left.
The second quarter was a defensive battle early. Alcorn thought about going for it on a 4th-and-2 at the JSU 41, but Johnson stayed in for a pooch-kick that landed at the JSU 18 with just over five minutes left. It was his first career punt.
The Tigers threw a pass that was nearly intercepted by Hollis as both players fell to the ground attempting to maintain possession of the ball. The play was ruled a catch for JSU and not reviewed, and two plays later, Kennedy ran 69 yards through the middle for a touchdown to put the Tigers ahead 7-3 with 3:32 left in the half.
JSU took over again late in the half and moved to the Alcorn 41 with under a minute left. After a third down conversion, the Tigers attempted a 47-yard field goal but it was blocked by junior
Leishaun Ealey. JSU carried a 7-3 lead into the break.
The Braves began the third quarter on their own eight-yard line after a holding penalty on the kick return. After first down rushes by Turner and Johnson moved the ball to midfield, they got pushed back by a personal foul chop block and were forced to punt.
After a good punt by JSU, Alcorn took over at its own five-yard line with 4:59 left in the third quarter. Johnson got the Braves going with a 16-yard run, followed by a 21-yard screen pass to Walker on the right. Alcorn was near midfield when another 15-yard chop block was called which resulted in a 2nd-and-26, and the Braves ended up punting.
After sacks by senior
Ramonte Bell and junior
Sterling Shippy, the Braves started with the ball at the JSU 37 following a penalty on the punt to start the fourth quarter. Though, after a sack on 3rd-and-6, the Braves had to punt it back. McCullough landed a punt at the one-yard line that was downed by freshman
LeCharles Pringle.
The Tigers were then pinned at their own three-yard line on 3rd-and-8 when they escaped for a run of 15 yards through the middle. However, the drive ended at their own 28 after good coverage by sophomore
Solomon Muhammad on third down.
The Braves took over at their own 27 with 5:04 to go. The drive started with a nine-yard completion to sophomore
Tavares Johnson, followed by a nine-yard run by Turner to the Alcorn 45. After a pair of incomplete passes and an eight-yard pass to Hughes, the Braves went for it on 4th-and-2 but a quick pass to the left fell incomplete.
Alcorn had one last chance after getting the ball back at its own 39 with 1:47 left and one timeout. Johnson completed a pass to Walker, but the Tigers forced a fumble after the catch and recovered it.
The 2017 SWAC Championship game is slated for 3:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 2 at NRG Stadium in Houston. Alcorn will play the winner of Grambling State against Southern on Nov. 25.
NOTES
- The Braves had already clinched the SWAC East Division crown coming into the game. Alcorn will become the first team in the history of the league to play in four consecutive SWAC Championship games.
- It was Alcorn's first defeat to a SWAC East Division opponent in three years. The Braves had an 11-game winning-streak against division foes.
- Turner needs 64 more rushing yards to break the single-season school record of 1,286 set by Rodney Thomas in 1998. Turner entered the game ranked second in the nation (FCS) in yards per carry with 8.1, and top-five in rushing yards per game with 118.0.
- Walker's 114 receiving yards broke his previous career-high of 100 set against Prairie View A&M earlier this season on Oct. 14.
- Hollis doubled his previous career-high of four tackles set twice earlier this year.
- McCullough's field goal was his 16th of the year which is both a league-high and the most all-time by an Alcorn kicker in a single-season.
- The 10 combined points was the lowest in an Alcorn game since 1998 when it dropped a 7-0 decision to JSU. The fewest amount of points scored in program history was a 0-0 tie against Arkansas AM&N in 1954. Arkansas AM&N is now Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
- Alcorn's captains were Turner and senior
Lenorris Footman. The Braves won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"We didn't execute today and we played terrible. Too many penalties, too many penalties, too many penalties. We weren't able to overcome those against a good defense. I can't take any credit away from Jackson State because they played well. They're a very aggressive team. Though, it just comes back to penalties and our guys have to realize those types of mistakes won't beat anyone. A lot of those penalties were selfish penalties. We can't have that and we have to get it corrected starting Monday."
On what needs to be done to correct the penalties
"It's about guys not doing the things that they're supposed to. We should never be seeing this many chop blocks. We have two weeks to fix it and we will."
On the performance of the defense
"They played solid. Jackson State had one big run where we had a missed gap and that was it, just one mistake the whole night. They are a bend but don't break group and they always look solid. We did a great job on that side of the ball, we just have to straighten out the offense now. We know we'll be facing a really good team in either Grambling or Southern."
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