LORMAN &045; Spring brings about optimism among any college football program, but Alcorn’s version will bring out competition.

The Braves are wrapping up their second week of spring drills this week with another remaining, and perhaps the biggest focus is on the quarterback position.

Sophomore starter Donald Carrie is back to prepare for his junior season, but the Braves have welcomed Ohio State transfer Jermaine Guinyard to camp to develop some depth at the position and spark Carrie after somewhat of a slumpish sophomore campaign.

Guinyard is a 6-1, 180-pound native of San Diego, Calif., who was not a member of the Buckeyes’ national championship team from a year ago but is looking to contribute with the Braves.

&uot;He’s working out, and he’s doing pretty well,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;He’s got to learn the system, but I think he’s going to do very well. He has outstanding leadership, good fundamental skills and a hard worker. Donald is trying to keep from losing his job all together.&uot;

Neither players were made available to the media Wednesday.

Carrie’s numbers were not that far off from those of his freshman campaign, but he spent considerable time on the bench for disciplinary reasons &045; including the entire first half of a 23-6 loss at Mississippi Valley State.

He threw for 2,234 yards and 17 interceptions last season after throwing for 2,743 yards and 14 interceptions as a red-shirt freshman.

The Braves are also in the process of reloading a receiver corps that lost its two main targets from last season in Kris Peters and George Jones, who combined for 85 of the team’s 161 catches last season.

Now the position is up for grabs, but Corvin Johnson, who played last season after transferring from Tuskegee, may be the lead man in that rotation.

Others include Courtney Young and Kevin Clark, both sophomores last season.

&uot;We’re losing some big plays men, but we’re hoping we get some yardage from people we already have here,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I think we’ve got a quality group coming in that could make a difference.&uot;

The running back situation is still a mix with Sidney Dumas and Robert Lester, although Thomas said Andrew Burks &045; who has twice as many carries as Dumas &045; may not return next season.

The backfield may add fullback Chad Warren to the mix along with a red-shirt freshman for a balanced ground game.

Defensively the Braves return several guys up front, including leading tacklers Dwan Wilson and Omega Logan. The emphasis will be on retooling a secondary that has competition at free safety and strong safety.

&uot;We didn’t lose anybody,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;Everybody is competing for a spot, but you’ve got people that have been here and played. They’ve got to get better.&uot;