Football | 11/15/2019 1:43:00 PM

Braves Host AAMU on Senior Day

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LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University football program will look to bounce back Saturday when it hosts Alabama A&M at 2 p.m. at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
 
Prior to the game, Alcorn (6-3, 4-1 SWAC) will honor 26 seniors in a special ceremony.
 
The Braves have a one-game lead in the loss column atop the SWAC East Division and control their own destiny to both play in and host the SWAC Championship. Alabama State sits at 4-2, Alabama A&M 3-2 and Jackson State 3-2.
 
Alcorn can clinch the division Saturday with a win, and a Jackson State loss to Southern. In that scenario, the Braves would be 5-1 with a head-to-head tiebreak over ASU and AAMU, while Jackson State would be two games behind with only one game remaining.
 
The Braves are unbeaten at home this year and have won eight consecutive home games dating back to last season. The program is 84-53 all-time in Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium, which is in its 28th season.
 
Alcorn will also look to continue its dominance over the SWAC East Division. The Braves are 16-2 against the division over the last five seasons and 2-0 this year with wins over Mississippi Valley State 45-19 and Alabama State 35-7.
 
The Braves are shaking off a 19-16 overtime defeat at Grambling State last weekend. The Braves outgained the Tigers in 385-353 in total yards. Alcorn had a chance to win at the end of regulation but missed a 47-yard field goal. Senior Raidarious Anderson hauled in a game-high 103 receiving yards and a touchdown.
 
Senior Solomon Muhammad was named the SWAC Defensive Player of the Week on Monday. He wrapped up a game-high 14 tackles, 2.0 tackles for a loss, a sack and a broke up pass against Grambling State. Of his 14 tackles, 12 were solo.
 
Muhammad is the team's leading tackler with 71. He ranks top-10 in the nation in solo tackles per game with 5.8. Muhammad has also record 7.5 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks, 2 interceptions and a forced fumble this year. He was the SWAC Preseason Defensive Player of the Year honoree.
 
At quarterback, junior Felix "Triggerman" Harper has thrown for 1,825 yards, 21 touchdowns and just four interceptions this season. He took over as the starter after senior Noah Johnson, the SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, went down with an injury in the third game at McNeese State.
 
Senior Chris Blair ranks fourth in the nation in yards per reception (22.7). He's the team's leading receiver with 589 yards on the year and has also hauled in five touchdowns.
 
Junior wide receiver LeCharles Pringle is having a breakout season at the wide receiver position. He's recorded 441 receiving yards and eight touchdowns. It came after he finished with 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns all of last year. His eight touchdowns this year ranks 21st in the nation.
 
AAMU (6-4, 3-2 SWAC) is coming off a thrilling 48-43 win over Jackson State last weekend. The Bulldogs trailed 43-34 with 4:59 left when they struck twice at the end. The game-winner was a 32-yard touchdown pass from Aqeel Glass to Ryan Stoves with 25 seconds.
 
AAMU's offense leads the league with 310.9 yards per game. Most have it has come in the air, as Glass has thrown for a league-leading 3,064 yards, 29 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His top receiver has been Zabrian Moore who has caught eight touchdowns and averages 95.3 yards per game.
 
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
- The Braves have beaten the Bulldogs five years in a row. Last season, senior De'Shawn Waller rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns. Alcorn sacked Glass seven times.
 
- Alcorn is the only team in the country to maintain a perfect 100 percent conversion rate on fourth downs. The Braves also rank top-10 in the nation in interceptions (14) and turnovers gained (22).
 
- Harper is on both the CFPA and the Walter Payton Award Watch Lists, which go to the player nationally in FCS. He currently ranks sixth in the nation in offensive efficiency (165.2), eighth in points responsible for (18.3 ppg), 17th in passing TDs (21) and 22nd in points responsible for (146).
 
- 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 20-8 SWAC record.
 
- The Braves are 18-0 when leading at halftime since 2017.
 
- Alcorn has outscored the opposition 66-37 in the fourth quarter this year. It came after it outscored the opposition 102-42 in the fourth quarter in 2018.
 
- The Braves rank first in the SWAC in scoring defense (19.8 ppg), total defense (326.2 ypg), fourth down conversion percentage (1.000) and fewest first downs allowed per game (19.2).
 
- The Braves have won 10 SWAC Player of the Week awards this year. Harper has won SWAC Offensive Player of the Week three times, while senior Corey McCullough has won SWAC Special Teams Player of the Week three times. Muhammad has won SWAC Defensive Player of the Week twice and junior Malik Holbert once. Freshman Niko Duffey won SWAC Newcomer of the Week once.
 
- McCullough, the kicker and punter, is the all-time leader in field goals made in school history with 43. He broke the record in the season-opener with a 44-yarder at Southern Miss.
 
- Duffey is the team's leading rusher with 551 yards and five touchdowns. He's coming off a 106-yard game against GSU. He and Waller Waller have flip-flopped in the starting running back role due to injuries to both student-athletes.
 
- Junior Qwynnterrio Cole leads the defense with four interceptions, and his 0.4 interception per game average ranks 17th in the country. Cole is also second on the team in tackles with 57.
 
- Alcorn sits at No. 2 in the national HBCU Top-10 Poll and is also receiving votes in the STATS FCS Top-25 Poll.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Fred McNair
Recapping Grambling State
"I'm most definitely proud of the effort they gave the whole 60 minutes. It was a close ballgame, good, hard-fought, physical ballgame. Both teams played exceptionally well - they just made one more kick than we made. Hats off to Coach Fobbs and his group of guys, coaches and the team for the way they played and made the kick at the end to win it. I'm proud of the way the guys competed and the way that they stood toe-to-toe with a great football team at Grambling."
 
Previewing Alabama A&M
"I think it's going to be another big matchup as all of them have, every game we play is pretty big for us, this team and this coaching staff. Connell Maynor is going to bring a good, hard, solid football team in here and they've got a great quarterback in [Aqeel] Glass, great running back in [Jordan] Bentley, two outstanding receivers with [Zabrian] Moore and [Abdul-Fatai] Ibrahim. We've got our work cut out for us on defense. On the other side of the ball, the linebacker [Armoni] Holloway has a lot of talent, and they've got a big, long, rangy defensive end in [Marquise] Price. So, they got a lot of weapons on both sides of the ball. We just got to prepare ourselves for another tough one, like I tell the guys 'every game we play is a championship game for us', it is what it is this weekend."
 
On improving third down efficiency
"All of it is key, I stress that more than anything. It wasn't that good this past weekend on third downs and it showed, not finishing drives and those kinds of things where third down efficiency is the result of winning and losing, moving the ball and scoring in the red zone. We didn't do a real good job of that so hopefully this weekend coming up we'll be able to execute a whole lot better. We can't overcome third-and-long, we can't get into those situations. We have to make sure that third-and-short or third-and-medium is the goal where it should always be. Getting those downs like that, the playbook is pretty much open for you."
 
Did Felix Harper's performance from Saturday concern him
"Every throw that Felix made, he understood the mistake that he made. That's one thing about this kid, he knew the mistakes he made as soon as the ball left his hand and whether it was going to be good or bad. He came to the sideline, I looked him in his eyes and he said, 'Coach I know'. He knows the things he's supposed to do and the reads he has to stay away from and was just pressing himself that game, that's what he did. He made some ill-advised throws and it cost him with turnovers. On one of the routes, the receiver slipped down on a bender which caused an interception. The other one he threw it straight to the safety so that's not supposed to happen with him so he knows it's not hard to fix that and the biggest thing about it is that he knows his mistakes and he stood up for them. That's one thing about this young man, he's a good kid, plays hard and he's coachable. He'll get it fixed with his coach Pat White."
 
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