photo by Marcus Frazier

Alcorn State defensive lineman Randy Carter and another Alcorn player take down Southeastern Louisiana wide receiver Simmie Yarborough on Aug. 30 in their first game of the season. The Braves lost that game, 34-28, and are hoping their first win of the season will come against Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday in a nationally-televised primetime contest.

Braves face UA-Pine Bluff

Both teams hoping for first win on national TV

By Jeff Edwards (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Thursday, September 18, 2008

LORMAN — Ernest Jones is ready to get his first win as an Alcorn State head coach.

So what better way to get it than under the lights at Jack Spinks Stadium with a television audience watching?

That’s exactly the scenario Jones hopes plays out when the Braves (0-3) take on Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-3) in a primetime matchup at 6:30 p.m.

The game will take place on ESPNU, which is available to subscribers of Dish Network and DirecTV.

“It’s great to have an ESPN football game right here at our own stadium in front of our alumni and fans,” Jones said. “It will be a great atmosphere with both teams looking for their first win. I’m looking for my first win as a coach and to get it on ESPN live for all our recruits is going to be awesome.”

After a promising first game that saw them drop a close 34-28 decision to Southeastern Louisiana, the Braves have fallen on hard times the past two games — a 29-0 loss to Grambling (which did not count in the SWAC standings) followed by a 65-0 thrashing against Troy.

However, Jones said his players are not daunted by the previous two games. Instead, it has refocused his team as they head into SWAC play.

“After three losses, it’s getting to them,” Jones said. “They know they can do some things well and have been beating themselves. We’ve been locked in on fixing those mistakes. “They are fired up and excited to play.”

The mistakes that Jones is talking about include dropped passes by the receivers and numerous penalties.

“We’ve got to catch some balls,” Jones said. “Our quarterbacks are putting it right on our receivers and they are either dropping it or tipping it up in the air to be intercepted. We are also killing ourselves with penalties. We need to play a nice, clean game.”

Jones said the mistakes seem to breed other mistakes and that comes from a culture of losing football.

“We have to change the entire culture,” Jones said. “That’s the problem. These guys have been losing for so long that when something negative happens, they divert back to what they’re used to.

“We’re trying to change that and let them know that’s adversity they have to get through. Once we let the guys know not to let negative outcomes affect them, we’ll be a better team.”

Jones hopes to start that culture of winning tonight against Pine Bluff, but says in order to do that, the Braves must stop the running duo of Mickey Dean and Hezekiah Smith.

“They are the two-headed monster,” Jones said. “They’re two of the best running backs in the SWAC. Dean is a very dynamic, explosive back while Smith is more sturdy and will run you ever.”

And with those two players in the backfield, Jones looks for the Golden Lions to run the ball quite a bit.

“They want to run it right down your throat,” Jones said. “We’re going to load the box and stop the run and make them beat us in the air. We’ve got to force them to throw the football and not let those two running backs beat us.”