GRAMBLING, La. &045; When you deal with veteran starting quarterbacks on a stage like this, there is no proverbial pressure.

It’s all intensity, and the coolest ones now how to handle it.

Saturday’s Alcorn-Grambling matchup was all about the quarterbacks, and the Braves left the field feeling their guy had the upper hand in the 34-23 ASU win at Robinson Stadium. Carrie executed a key scoring drive late, had just one pass picked off and exited early before he could eclipse the 300-yard mark.

Counterpart Bruce Eugene &045; although displaying his playmaking abilities on the run and the pass &045; couldn’t answer against an Alcorn defense that had been preparing for that game for quite some time.

Eugene went down in the third quarter with what coaches feared was an ACL tear on a collision with Alcorn linebacker Dwan Wilson.

&uot;Donald Carrie can throw the football just like Bruce Eugene,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;I try to tell people that. I think Donald was fired up for this game. They’re both from New Orleans and good friends. Bruce had beaten Donald three years in a row. Donald has learned from all the disappointments of playing Grambling.&uot;

It was an effort that may vault Carrie into that upper echelon of quarterbacks in black college football and possibly I-AA football if the senior can continue to play well. He showed poise and resiliency in the pocket and even did what his schoolboy pal is also known for &045; run the football.

No drive was bigger after the Tigers got kickoff return in the fourth quarter that could have really sparked the Tigers despite being down 27-11. Carrie hit Nate Hughes for a 26-yard pass to get pass midfield and two plays later hit Charlie Spiller on that 34-yard touchdown pass just over four minutes later to put the game back out of reach, 34-11.

It was enough for the coaches to rest him and most of the starting unit, and freshman Oliver Bozeman finished it out.

&uot;From Day 1, we knew Donald Carrie was just as good as Bruce Eugene,&uot; senior running back Robert Lester said. &uot;If you took away a few interceptions from earlier in the season, Donald’s stats are just as good as Bruce’s. Donald knows the offense just as good as anybody on the team, including (coordinator) Coach (John) McKenzie.&uot;

As far as Eugene’s night, chalk that up to a defense that knew as much about his tendencies and habits as do the Grambling coaching staff. And give some notable credit to the Alcorn defense &045; with all its question marks and inexperienced players, it stood up and played solid.

The Tigers got two offensive touchdowns, but it came with backup Brandon Landers against some of Alcorn’s reserves.

&uot;I think we played extremely well defensively,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I’m pretty surprised how well we played defensively with the young guys we had on our defensive line and in our linebacking corps. I’ve said all along we have talented people but are inexperienced. Our training camp was designed to grow them up, so to speak, and certainly they grew up quick.&uot;

The defense frustrated Eugene and the Tigers on two key drives in the first half that had touchdowns written all over them. None was bigger, however, than until their first drive of the third quarter when the Tigers drove nine plays &045; all passes &045; down to the Alcorn 29 before a Eugene 7-yard run put GSU at the 22.

Eugene then tried to find a receiver in the end zone, but Taurian Parks picked it off and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown. That put the lead at 24-3 with 8:36 left.

&uot;I saw the blocking, and I took it down the field,&uot; said Parks, who had two picks last year in his first year with ASU. &uot;It was pretty. We needed that. It was a big play of the game.

&uot;He was not going to beat us passing. It worked out &045; exactly what we wanted to happen.&uot;

Early in the game the Tigers moved the ball on the ground, including a 13-play drive that featured just one passing play. The Tigers came up empty on that drive as well as Brian Morgan missed a 27-yard field goal try.

&uot;We anticipated Grambling to throw the football more so than run,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;When they ran the football, we had to make adjustments with that. When we made the adjustments, we settled down. We wanted to force (Eugene) to run the football more so than throw the football.&uot;