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LORMAN, Miss. – The 26th season at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium kicks off Saturday for the Alcorn State University football program when it beings the 2017 campaign against Miles College at 6 p.m.
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Alcorn (0-0) will field an experienced group which includes eight returning starters on offense and seven on defense. The Braves return their starting quarterback senior
Lenorris Footman and starting running back senior
De'Lance Turner. They also brought back five of their top six wide receivers.
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Defensively, the Braves return three starting defensive linemen and four of their five defensive backs.
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Alcorn shined on both sides of the ball during its 2017 Purple vs. White Scrimmage. Offensively, the Braves used three quarterbacks. Footman and sophomore
Noah Johnson threw touchdown passes. Alcorn spread the ball around as 11 different wide receivers lined up. The most notable defensive play was an interception by sophomore
Javen Morrison who led the team with three picks last year.
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The Braves are looking to win their season and home opener for the second year in a row after defeating Alabama State 21-18 last year at Spinks-Casem Stadium. Alcorn is seeking its fifth consecutive home opening victory.
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Miles College (0-0) is a Division II program from the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). The Golden Bears are coached by Reginald Ruffin who enters his seventh season. Ruffin has coached Miles to SIAC championships in 2011 and 2015.
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The Golden Bears finished second in the SIAC West Division last season and were picked second in the 2017 preseason poll. Miles notched three Preseason All-Conference First-Team selections including running back Ger'Kerry Jackson, defensive lineman Kaelon Bonds and kicker Nick Christiansen.
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Saturday marks the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and Miles College. It's the first of six home games for the Braves who are 69-51 all-time at Spinks-Casem Stadium.
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PRESEASON NOTES
- Alcorn is the three-time defending SWAC East Division champion and was picked to win the division again in the 2017 Preseason Poll. The Braves have gone undefeated against SWAC East Division opponents in back-to-back seasons.
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- The Braves landed seven student-athletes on the SWAC Preseason All-Conference Teams. Senior offensive lineman
Timothy Gardner and senior defensive lineman
Michael Brooks were named to the first-team.
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- Footman enters the season ranked 11th in school history in career passing touchdowns with 21, 12th in career rushing yards with 1,511 and 14th in career passing yards with 2,372.
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- Alcorn was ranked No. 7 in the Preseason BOXTOROW Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCU) Preseason Coaches Poll. The Braves were picked fourth among SWAC programs.
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- The Braves are receiving four votes in the 2017 FCS Preseason Top-25 Coaches Poll. The only other SWAC team on the list is Grambling State which is ranked No. 21.
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- Alcorn ranked second in the SWAC and 18th in FCS last season with 215.2 rushing yards per game. The team ran for at least 155 yards in 10 of 11 contests including at No. 20 Arkansas. Turner led the team with 744 yards (67.6 ypg). Turner, Footman and Johnson combined for 22 of Alcorn's 26 rushing touchdowns.
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- The Braves ranked top-10 in FCS last season in sacks allowed, only giving up 0.90 per game. On the flip side, Alcorn ranked 11th in FCS in total sacks.
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- Alcorn graduate Donald Driver was inducted into the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame in July 2017. He is Green Bay's all-time leader in both receptions (743) and receiving yards (10,137).
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 - Leslie Frazier, who ranks second all-time in school history and sixth in the SWAC with 20 interceptions, was inducted into the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame in August 2017. Frazier served as head coach of the Minnesota Vikings from 2010 to 2013 and currently works for the Buffalo Bills as the defensive coordinator.
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