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LORMAN, Miss. – In a SWAC Championship rematch, the Alcorn State University football program will take on Southern at 3 p.m. Saturday at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium.
The 2019 Cricket Wireless SWAC Football Championship will be nationally televised on ESPNU.
The Braves (8-3, 6-1 SWAC) are playing for their 17th conference championship in school history and the fourth in the last six years. Last season, they defeated Southern (8-4, 6-1 SWAC) in the SWAC Championship 37-28 after outscoring the Jaguars 10-0 in the fourth quarter.
In the regular season meeting between the two teams this year, the Braves trailed the Jaguars at half, 6-3. Alcorn responded with 24 unanswered points in the second half to win 27-13. Junior Felix "Triggerman" Harper was 19-of-26 passing for 277 yards and two touchdowns. Senior
Chris Blair was his leading receiver with 108 yards, including a 69-yard reception.
The Braves are on a nine-game home winning-streak, which is the fifth longest active streak in FCS. They are looking to go undefeated at Jack Spinks-Marino Casem Stadium for the fifth time in school history, and the first time since 2002.
Harper, the SWAC Offensive Player of the Year, has thrown for 2,387 yards, 29 touchdowns and just five interceptions this season. He ranks top-five in the nation in both offensive efficiency (167.9) and points responsible for (20.0 ppg). He's top-10 in the country in both passing TDs (29) and yards per completion (14.3).
Blair ranks fourth in the nation in yards per reception (21.6). He's the team's leading receiver with 776 yards on the year and has hauled in six touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver
LeCharles Pringle is having a huge season at the wide receiver position. He's recorded 617 receiving yards and 13 touchdowns, which leads the SWAC and ranks fourth in the country. It came after he finished with 128 receiving yards and two touchdowns all of last year. Pringle is one TD catch away from matching the school record of 14, set by Tim McNair Sr. in 1994.
Freshman
Niko Duffey is the team's leading rusher with 758 yards and six touchdowns. He and senior
De'Shawn Waller have flip-flopped in the starting running back role due to injuries to both student-athletes.
On defense, senior
Solomon Muhammad is the team's leading tackler with 77 on the year. He also has 8.5 tackles for a loss, 2.0 sacks and a pair of interceptions.
Junior
Qwynnterrio Cole leads the defense with five interceptions, and his 0.5 interception per game average ranks top-10 in the country. Cole is also third on the team in tackles with 68.
As a team, Alcorn leads the FCS in fourth down conversion percentage (.889). The team also ranks third in interceptions (18) and sixth in both red zone defense (.686) and turnovers gained (28).
In addition to those national categories, the Braves rank first in the SWAC in scoring defense (19.3 ppg), total defense (38.5 ypg), rushing defense (127.5 ypg) and offensive efficiency (154.3).
Southern is riding a four-game winning-streak. Its last loss was the regular season meeting at Alcorn on Oct. 26. The Jaguars defeated Grambling State last weekend to clinch the SWAC West Division, as they blocked a last-second field goal attempt to win 30-28.
Ladarius Skelton is a dual-threat quarterback that leads SU in both throwing and rushing. He's passed for 1,483 yards and 13 touchdowns, and has rushed for 824 yards and 12 touchdowns. Hunter Register has caught 11 touchdowns passes and 608 receiving yards.
As a team, the Jaguars lead the league with 226.8 rushing yards per game. However, the Braves rank first in rushing defense, limiting the opposition to 127.5 yards per game. In the first meeting this year, SU rushed for 75 yards.
The winner of the SWAC Championship will advance to the 2019 Celebration Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 21 at 11 a.m. (CT) in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The game will be nationally televised on ABC.
NOTES
- Alcorn is the only institution to ever host a SWAC Championship, and will do so for the second year in a row. The Braves are the six-time reigning SWAC East Division champions.
- Alcorn has won 9 of the last 10 matches against SU. It includes wins in the 2014 & 2018 SWAC Championships. The Braves are 39-27-2 all-time against the Jaguars.
- The Braves are seeking their first 7-0 season in stadium history. Alcorn is 85-53 all-time at the stadium in 28 seasons.
- Alcorn is ranked No. 1 in the national HBCU Coaches Poll, by BOXTOROW.
- The Braves have won seven of the last eight games against SWAC West Division opponents.
-
Fred McNair, the two-time 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 four years under McNair. He carries a 22-8 SWAC record.
- The Braves are 20-0 when leading at halftime since 2017.
- Alcorn has outscored the opposition 76-44 in the fourth quarter this year. It came after it outscored the opposition 102-42 in the fourth quarter in 2018.
- The Braves are 18-2 against the SWAC East Division over the last five seasons and were a perfect 4-0 this year.
- As a team, Alcorn has won 12 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, junior
Juwan Taylor once and junior
Malik Holbert once. Duffey won SWAC Newcomer of the Week twice.
- 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.
- The Braves announced their 2020 schedule. It includes non-conference games against Auburn, Fort Valley State and Virginia-Lynchburg. The SWAC will play an eight-game conference schedule.
Quoting SWAC Coach of the Year Fred McNair
Opening Statement
"It's been a very competitive year for us, even coming down to the last game against Jackson where we had to win to host the SWAC Championship. Over the course of the year, these guys have been fighting very hard to get to this point so we're excited about it, the players are excited, we had great practice this week and our young men are ready to play. I think that Coach [Dawson] Odums is doing a great job down with the Jaguars and preparing themselves. Since we played them in October, they've been on a four-game winning streak, scoring a lot of points and doing a lot of good things. It's going to be a very competitive Saturday. We've got two great teams that are going to battle and fight hard for a championship and we're excited to be showcased on ESPNU."
On the last meeting against Southern in October
"Southern did some great things on defense that I thought gave us issues but we made some mistakes and we didn't capitalize in the red zone. We always talk about what we need to do as a team in preparation for our next ballgame, I think what our coaching staff did at halftime was made some adjustments and did everything we had to do to come out and score points. It was a very competitive ballgame and Southern's a good football team. They play well, they play sound football and that's what we expect this weekend. We're just preparing ourselves for a tough battle."
On De'Shawn Waller's status
"He worked out with us this week so hopefully everything's in line with him in preparation for this ballgame. He's been on the field and looked pretty good to me, but it's all about how he feels so we'll see Saturday. He has a groin injury, a strained groin that's been bothering him for a while."
On Southern quarterback Ladarius Skelton
"He's an amazing kid and I think what they're doing with him is outstanding. Coach Odums has done a great job in preparing him for ballgames. He's a strong kid and very physical, and he does a really good job with his legs and he puts the ball up in the air as well. He's a dual-threat so we got to prepare in all aspects for him. [Devon] Benn's going to run the ball as well, and they've got some weapons in the backfield especially in the running game that we have to prepare for."
On Felix Harper's development over the course of the season
"When you talk about expectations as a head coach and a position coach, your expectations are very high going into the season for any guy, even the freshmen. You expect big things out of them and I thought what we had in Felix when he came to Alcorn was a very special. Just getting him here on campus and realizing the things he can do with his arms and his legs, he's very unique and just the opportunity presented itself. He got his chance to do that at McNeese State, he came in and did a great job to bring us back in that game but the things that he's doing now are very special. Coach [Pat] White is doing an outstanding job with him in preparation of ballgames. He's done an excellent job of taking the helm over, running the offense the way it should be ran, throwing to the open guy, reading coverages and knowing where the ball is supposed to go. He also doesn't hold the ball in his hand long. He's very humble, he takes coaching well, and if he does something wrong he wants to correct it."
On Solomon Muhammad stepping up his game this season
"In some cases I think he has but I don't think he's played up to his potential yet. I talked to him over the course of practice this week and I think he's one of the guys that could've made more plays. Solomon is one of those guys we talk about all the time during the course of practice of how great he can be. He's got the prototype body, he's got the mindset and it's all about him wanting to play his perfect game that he can play. We haven't seen that out of him yet and hopefully this ballgame we'll see the best of him when he steps up on Saturday."
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