LORMAN &045; First it was tendonitis, something that kept him out of most of spring camp and the annual Purple and Gold game.

Then the real problem was discovered &045; Alcorn quarterback Donald Carrie had suffered a torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, something far worse than a mere case of tendonitis.

It kept him from throwing a football most of the summer, something that’s as strange to the New Orleans native as hanging out on Bourbon Street on a Saturday night in September. It wasn’t until mid-July he was cleared to start throwing a football, and he went immediately back to work.

Carrie, as the senior quarterback at Alcorn, will be the man that makes the Braves go this fall as the team was picked on Friday to win the East Division and play Southern in the SWAC Championship this fall.

&uot;More than anything, I should be mentally focused and ready,&uot; said Carrie, who overcame a sophomore slump to throw for career highs in yards (2,833) and touchdowns (24) last season. &uot;I should be ready to step up as a leader and guide everybody on the field and off the field.

&uot;The most important thing I’ve learned is being prepared. You know what to expect, and you go on the field and perform better. You’ve already played the game in your mind.&uot;

Carrie’s junior campaign was plenty smoother and gave coaches plenty more confidence heading into 2004, even though his 18 interceptions led the conference. But his performance down the stretch &045; much like the entire team’s &045; improved as the Braves came up just short of playing for a SWAC Championship.

In the Braves’ 2-5 start last year, Carrie threw eight touchdowns and 13 interceptions. From there the Braves finished 5-0, and Carrie had 16 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

Carrie was voted second team Preseason All-SWAC behind first-teamer Bruce Eugene at Grambling.

&uot;It’s a total different situation than all the previous training camps,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;We’re coming off a very positive second half of a football season, which is good. It’s something you can build on when the team comes back. It seems as if every training camp we start we’d lost to Jackson, you know what I mean? And then it’s an uphill climb.&uot;

That winning streak paved the way for Thomas’ best season in his six years on The Reservation. And although the Braves lost a core group of seniors from last year who started for either three or four years, there is still plenty of optimism for Alcorn football this fall.

And it’s revolving around three areas &045; Carrie back at quarterback, a receiving tandem who exploded on the scene last year as freshmen and perhaps the biggest recruiting class the team has had in the Thomas era.

Players will start reporting Friday with the first day of two-a-days set for Aug. 9.

&uot;It gives us a great deal of enthusiasm and impetus to build on this training camp,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;(The newcomers) are going to have to come in. We lost some people off the offensive side of the ball. They’re going to have to come in and replace them. Our linemen will have to grow up in a hurry.&uot;

The biggest talk may be of sophomore receivers Charlie Spiller and Nate Hughes, who combined for over 1,100 yards and 11 touchdowns last season. Johnson was the short-yardage guy, and Carrie often went to Spiller and Hughes deep fro the big play. Each averaged over 20 yards a catch.

Both were picked second team Preseason All-SWAC along with linebacker Dwan Wilson, offensive lineman Jon Herman, return specialist Lonnie Teagle, defensive end Ross Gordon, cornerback Taurian Parks and punter Shane Phillips. Fullback Ken Williams was named to the first team.

&uot;We’ll see a lot of (double-teams),&uot; Spiller said. &uot;We’ll try to open up and do the best we can do. They’ll be talking about us a lot, but we’ve got different receivers who can come in and help out.

&uot;The biggest thing we’ve been working on is on our short routes. Last year we ran deep routes, and this year we’re trying to shorten it up because people will be keying on us.&uot;

Said Carrie: The main thing we’re going to work on is training and being in better shape than anybody else. That’s one thing we can have an advantage in. When the other teams get tired in the fourth quarter, we keep going.&uot;