JACKSON &8212; Jeremy McCoy arrived on the Alcorn campus as a walk-on who really had only one request.

He wanted to be on full scholarship.

Coaches, however, had to ground the starry-eyed back from Dallas and let him know there were others ahead of him on the depth chart. He red-shirted his first season on campus in 2002 and had a handful of carries the next two years.

As he improved, coaches offered a partial scholarship. Now he&8217;s on full scholarship, and everyone&8217;s happy. Of course, when you put up 189 yards rushing Saturday against Jackson State to close in 1,000 yards on the season, you&8217;d better be on full scholarship.

&8220;He always believed he deserved to be on full scholarship,&8221; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &8220;He came in as a walk-on, and he always believed he had to be on full scholarship. At the end of spring training, he believed he needed to be on full scholarship. Then I said, &8216;When you get to come in for training camp, you&8217;ve got to prove it.&8217; Right now he deserves to be on full scholarship.&8221;

That&8217;s the way it ought to be for the Braves&8217; key running back, who stands now at 931 yards on the season with a Dec. 2 game with Grambling as his last shot at a 1,000-yard season. On Saturday, however, he took a giant step toward that a career game.

And that scholarship is well-deserved.

&8220;That motivated me,&8221; said McCoy, the game&8217;s Offensive MVP. &8220;I kept trying hard and working hard during the summer, and here I am. My offensive line is helping me do it.&8221;

Credit McCoy and the running game for coming up big Saturday. As the Braves&8217; offense struggled early with turnovers, they got things together in the second half.

He had a 23-yard run in the fourth quarter to help set up his 8-yard touchdown run for the 31-14 lead.

&8220;That helped me out a lot,&8221; Alcorn quarterback Tony Hobson said. &8220;It took a huge amount of pressure off of me. Those guys on the offensive line open up the holes, and (McCoy), (Michael) Shepherd and Ken Williams do a great job of running the ball. All the credit goes to the offensive line, and we&8217;re just happy to get the win.&8221;

The offense finally found a rhythm in the second half despite finishing the game with five turnovers. Hobson threw two interceptions, and the Braves put the ball on the ground four times and lost three of them.

And it kept the Tigers in the game. When an exchange on a handoff from Hobson to McCoy went awry early in the third quarter, JSU linebacker Maurice Hardnett fell on it to give the Tigers the ball at the ASU 41.

Eight plays later the Tigers got into the end zone on a 2-yard run from David Kennebrew that trimmed the lead to 17-14.

The Braves fumbled on their next drive, but fortunately the defense came up with a turnover of its own when Oren Long recovered a fumble at the JSU 30. Thre plays later Hobson hit Emmanuel Arceneaux in the end zone for a 32-yard touchdown pass.

&8220;If I had known they would have happened, we would have prevented them,&8221; Thomas said. &8220;I don&8217;t know why they happened. You&8217;ve got to be able to have pride when things happen, and the defense has to come in and rise to the occasion as our defense did.&8221;

Credit Jackson State&8217;s defense for holding tight early in the game. The Braves missed a golden opportunity early to score after blocking a punt on JSU&8217;s first possession and had a Hobson pass picked off by Vincent Dancy on the Braves&8217; second possession.

&8220;Things happen,&8221; McCoy said. &8220;We just have to put it behind us and move on. When it started, it took us a while to get going. In the second half, we always do a better job of running the football.&8221;