Football | 10/11/2019 9:53:00 AM

Braves Welcome Savannah State for Homecoming Saturday

Alcorn Game Notes | Watch Braves All-Access | Live Radio | Live Stats

LORMAN, Miss. – Riding a three-game winning-streak and six-game home winning-streak, the Alcorn State University football program will take on Savannah State at 2 p.m. Saturday at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
 
It marks Homecoming for the Braves, who are 82-53 all-time at Spinks-Casem Stadium. Alcorn will look to continue putting up big numbers at home where it has scored exactly 45 points in each of its three games this year.
 
Last weekend, the Braves brought the thunder to Montgomery and electrified Alabama State 35-7 after a four hour lightning delay. Alcorn improved to 16-2 against SWAC East Division opponents over the last five seasons.
 
Freshman Niko Duffey is the reigning SWAC Newcomer of the Week winner. He rushed for a game-high 101 yards and a touchdown against the Hornets. Duffey's score came on a 67-yarder, which marked a career-long.
 
Junior Felix Harper has taken over at quarterback the last three weeks, replacing an injured Noah Johnson. During that span, he's thrown for 822 yards, 11 touchdowns and no interceptions. Harper was named the HBCU National Player of the Week winner after the win over Prairie View A&M where he threw for 280 yards and two touchdowns, and also rushed for a score. Harper entered the season as the backup quarterback and came in against McNeese State when Johnson went down.
 
Junior wide receiver LeCharles Pringle is having a breakout season. After recording 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns all of last year, he's already up to 359 yards and five touchdowns this season, which are both team-highs. Pringle submitted a three-touchdown outing against MVSU, which came after he hauled in a career-high 144 yards against PVAMU.
 
Senior Solomon Muhammad is the team's leading tackler with 43 and ranks 21st in the FCS in solo tackles per game with 5.5. He's also recorded 5.0 tackles for a loss and two interceptions this year. Muhammad was the SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
 
Alcorn is one of five teams in the country to carry a perfect 100 percent conversion rate on fourth downs. The Braves also rank fourth in the nation in turnovers gained (15) and sixth in interceptions (8).
 
Alcorn ranks first in the SWAC in fewest points allowed per game (21.5), fewest first downs allowed per game (18.3), and total defense (338.0 ypg). Individually, senior Chris Blair leads the league in yards per reception (21.1), and Duffey is top-five in rushing yards (74.2 ypg) and all-purpose yards (104.0 ypg).
 
SSU is in its first year as a Division II institution and a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC). The Tigers are 3-2 on the season, and 2-0 in conference. SSU spent the previous nine seasons as a Division I member in the MEAC.
 
With Division I student-athletes still on the roster, the Tigers put up a good fight against a Division I opponent in Charleston Southern last weekend where they fell 24-19.
 
The Tigers feature a run-first offense. They've only thrown the ball 46 times in five games, compared to 247 rushes. D'Angelo Durham leads the team with 383 yards and four touchdowns.
 
The game can be watched live on Braves All-Access with a subscription. It can also be heard for free on 91.7 FM or wprl.org with Charles Edmond on the call.
 
NOTES
- Alcorn and Savannah State will meet for just the second time. The Braves won the only previous meeting 34-6 in 1970. Alcorn has won 13 consecutive games against non-Division I opponents.
 
- SSU head coach Shawn Quinn was the defensive line coach for three years at Maryville High School when Alcorn wide receiver coach Jason Phillips was the quarterback. The team won the state championship in 1998 with a 15-0 record.
 
- The Braves have won six SWAC Player of the Week awards in the last three weeks. Harper and senior Corey McCullough won Offensive and Special Teams in back-to-back weeks, respectively. Muhammad won Defensive after the victory against Mississippi Valley State.
 
- Alcorn has outscored the opposition 56-24 in the fourth quarter this year. It came after it outscored the opposition 102-42 in the fourth quarter in 2018.
 
- The Braves are 17-0 when leading at halftime since 2017.
 
- Fred McNair, the reigning SWAC Coach of the Year winner, is in his fourth season as head coach. The Braves have won the SWAC East Division and played in the SWAC Championship all three years under McNair. He carries a 19-7 SWAC record.
 
- McCullough, the kicker and punter, is the all-time leader in field goals made in school history with 38. He broke the record in the season-opener with a 44-yarder at Southern Miss.
 
- Alcorn remained at No. 3 in the national HBCU Top-10 and is also receiving votes in the STATS FCS Top-25 Poll.
 
- The Braves posted a 45-19 over Mississippi Valley State for their seventh straight win in the series. Alcorn overcame five lost fumbles to score the final 21 points of the game and pull away from MVSU in the second half.
 
- Alcorn opened conference play with a 45-41 shootout victory over Prairie View A&M. The Braves trailed 41-38 when they started at their own 35 with 5:20 left. Alcorn marched down the field, converted a 4th-and-4 at the PVAMU 36, and went on to tally the game-winner on a three-yard pass to sophomore Tim McNair. Muhammad won SWAC Defensive Player of the Week tallied a career-high 18 tackles and 2.5 tackles for a loss and a sack.
 
- In Alcorn's first home game this year, it cruised to a 45-7 victory over Mississippi College. Duffey turned in a breakout performance, which included three touchdowns. He rushed for 138 yards and a pair of scores, and caught 38 yards and a touchdown. The Braves won their seventh consecutive home opener.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"Anytime you go on the road against as good a football team as Alabama State it's always good to be able to come out with a win. A tough-fought ballgame after a delay for four hours. I wanted to appreciate Coach Hill-Ely for giving us the opportunity to go into the cafeteria, it meant a lot to us. It showed the kind of respect that these teams have for each other - you go in the cafeteria and eat with the Alabama State football players with no talking, no trash-talking, no arguments and that was great. It was a great atmosphere. It was wonderful to see two teams come together and socialize so much and eat in the same place before a football game before they go to war. Both teams handled themselves professionally."
 
On if Felix Harper is the starting quarterback / quarterback situation
"Normally, when you lose the starting quarterback your backup quarterback comes in and plays his role, and Felix is doing an excellent job at it. We prepare the guys every week to play because who knows who's going to be the next guy up. Right now, Felix is playing well, he'll start for us until Noah [Johnson] comes back. I've been through this quarterback situation before, I had John Gibbs who got hurt his senior year, I had [Lenorris] Footman step in. I had Lenorris Footman start and he got hurt his senior year, I had Noah Johnson come and step in, so now Noah in his senior year gets hurt and now Felix Harper comes in to keep the thing moving. It's always a luxury to have quarterbacks that come in and play well. I think these guys prepare themselves to do that week-in and week-out, we just continue the trend and when Noah gets back, hopefully he'll be able to compete to have his job. Right now, we are going to go with Felix until Noah comes back."
 
What is Noah Johnson's Injury and how long is he expected to be out
"He's got a bruised shoulder, a strain on his throwing shoulder, it's just day-to-day right now. We're seeing how well he can come back from the pain he's got there. We don't know the extent of it."
 
On what Niko Duffey brings to the offense
"The biggest thing is depth-wise at that position, that's what we look for coming into the season and camp. We've got [De'Shawn] Waller, Niko, Jonathon Bolton, another guy that came in and played well Saturday night in Trey Turner running the ball hard, and at the end there we had [Kevon] Marsh come in and run the ball hard. So there's been depth at that position that has helped us out. I think what Niko is doing is something special, stepping up and playing the way he's playing. He's still got a lot of work to do, but the more you play and see the speed of the game, he'll get there. He'll be one of the great running backs in this league in the upcoming years."
 
Previewing Savannah State
"It's going to be a tough one. It's always tough playing a triple-option team. It's one of those games where, I tell you it's a good thing we have a bye after this week, hopefully we don't have any serious injuries because it's always tough playing a triple-option team. Coach Quinn down there at Savannah State is doing a great job with those guys, they lost this past week against Charleston but that's a great football team. They've got some real physical guys, good-looking guys and they look like an FBS-level program. They really look strong on pass defense, and use multiple formations on offense. We've got to have the right mindset this week. Defensively, we need to make sure our eyes are in the right place, on our keys and really zoning in on what they do best. Offensively, we just got to stay focused and execute. This past weekend we had no turnovers, so keep the ball off the ground and we keep the ball out of the secondary's hands interception-wise I think we'll be fine, but we got to play a hard-fought ballgame. We have to be mentally prepared to go out and fight for 60 minutes against a good Savannah State football program."
 
On Solomon Muhammad's performance against Alabama State
"Just talking with the staff this week, Solomon can be a premier linebacker. Solomon's one of those kids that can play at the next level if he does it right. The two interceptions that he had, he did it right, those two interceptions he was in the right spot at the right time just like Coach drew it up. Solomon has a tendency to have those wandering eyes, trying to do too much, but if he does it right, Solomon can be a premier player at the next level. I wouldn't say it was greatest game, he had two interceptions but he can play a whole lot better than he played.
 
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