LORMAN &8212; Jeremy McCoy&8217;s career day on the ground to reach the coveted 1,000-yard plateau never felt so bad.

The Alcorn State junior back finished up a season to remember with 199 yards against a solid Grambling defense to become the Braves&8217; first 1,000-yard rusher since Rodney Thomas put up 1,280 during the 1998 season.

But it came on a day when the Braves ended the season looking up at a 46-19 loss to the Tigers &8212; their worst loss at Jack Spinks since last year&8217;s 41-8 defeat at home to Alabama State &8212; and starting quarterback Tony Hobson was transported to the hospital with a neck injury.

&8220;The whole team was going for me &8212; even the defense wanted me to get 1,000 yards,&8221; McCoy said afterward. &8220;But we wanted to also get the win. Unfortunately, we didn&8217;t get that. Without (the line), I wouldn&8217;t have had any yards, and I thank them all the time. They know I really appreciate it.&8221;

Hobson went down in the first quarter on a play just outside the goal line, and an ambulance took him off the field and to a Jackson hospital with a neck injury. That forced the Braves to stay with a mostly ground attack with McCoy and the other backs as the offense finished the day with all five quarterbacks taking a snap in the loss.

And you can&8217;t forget about the turnovers. The Braves lost four fumbles and had a pass picked off, and even McCoy was in on one fumble.

All those reasons were why McCoy had trouble letting off a smile after the game.

&8220;Knowing McCoy, I know he would rather gain 1 yard and win the football game as opposed to getting 1,000 yards and not winning the football game,&8221; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &8220;In this game, we have what-ifs. You take for example at the very beginning of the season we were looking at Nate Hughes and Charlie Spiller being one of the most prolific receiving duos in all of college football.

&8220;Nate was injured. McCoy is going to be back (next year), and we want him to be back. But you can&8217;t say the same thing because anything can happen during spring training or training camp.&8221;Fortunately for Hobson, he was released from the hospital Saturday night. He didn&8217;t get up following a play where he picked up a loose ball on a bad snap and lunged forward to keep from getting tackled in the end zone.

Emergency personnel took about 10 minutes to remove Hobson from the field after the true freshman was placed on a backboard and a stretcher.

From there the Braves used Oliver Bozeman, Milton Green, Chris Walker and Charles Harrington at quarterback before the game ended.

&8220;You don&8217;t have your No. 1 guy in there &8212; the guy you practice and play with,&8221; offensive tackle Jonathan Lowe said. &8220;For me personally, it really bothers me. That&8217;s my quarterback. If there&8217;s one guy I bonded with this year, it&8217;s Tony Hobson. I&8217;m going straight to the hospital. I hate to see him go down with all his talent.&8221;

The offense had trouble executing after that as the Braves subbed quarterbacks and couldn&8217;t find a rhythm in the passing game with Charlie Spiller. The turnovers hurt &8212; the Tigers scored three touchdowns off the five giveaways &8212; while the offense struggled early going into a strong head wind.

By the time the Braves regrouped from Hobson&8217;s departure, the Tigers led 25-0.

&8220;We didn&8217;t play well offensively after Tony went down,&8221; Thomas said. &8220;We turned the ball over. We had a lot of inexperience out there, and that&8217;s not using that as an excuse. I don&8217;t do that. We were asking some inexperienced people to make things happen. We couldn&8217;t put it all together.&8221;

The turnovers continued to plague a team that&8217;s been dogged by it all season. The five giveaways put the Braves at 33 for the season &8212; the worst in the SWAC ahead of Jackson State&8217;s 24 &8212; and put them in a hole each time.

The four fumbles made 13 for the season, a conference-worst mark shared with Texas Southern.

&8220;We always say turnovers get you beat,&8221; McCoy said. &8220;Against a good team like Grambling, who only had one loss and no SWAC losses, you can&8217;t have any turnovers and limit your penalties to be successful and win the game. We&8217;ve just got to hold on to the ball. That&8217;s all it boils down to. I had a fumble today.&8221;

The offense had its moments after that with Green leading the unit on its most productive drives. The little-used backup ran for the first score and later hit Oliver Bozeman on a 29-yard TD pass for the former quarterback&8217;s first career touchdown catch.

But McCoy, who also had a career-high in carries, hit the milestone on a 19-yard carry just before half. He later had runs of 12, 10, 11 and 18 to push his stock up even further past 1,000 yards.

&8220;I&8217;m blessed &8212; that&8217;s all I can say,&8221; McCoy said. &8220;I&8217;m blessed. Not many backs can say they ran for 1,000 yards, and I give God all the glory for what he did for me.&8221;