Before the 2009 college football season started, there seemed to be no question about which was going to be the state’s best team — Ole Miss.

There also seemed to be not much of a question about which was going to be the state’s worst team — Alcorn State.

But while the jury is out on how good the Rebels really are, the Braves of Alcorn are turning heads all over the SWAC with their play this season.

After all, this is a team that went 2-10 last season before firing its entire coaching staff sans head coach Ernest Jones, then hiring the assistant coaches back and firing Jones.

Then they gave the head-coaching job to defensive coordinator Earnest Collins, who had been fired and rehired weeks before.

All of this happened right around national signing day, and it doesn’t bode well for recruiting when a school doesn’t have a coach.

If that wasn’t enough, the Braves’ 2009 schedule featured season-opening trips to Southern Miss and Central Michigan and a ridiculous three home games out of 10 total games.

It is one of the worst schedules for a college team I have ever seen.

Add all of that together and it looked like it might come out to 0. As in the number of games Alcorn would win this season.

But someone forgot to tell Collins and the Alcorn State players that.

Collins, who is working on a one-year contract, is working some magic on the Reservation that hasn’t been seen in quite some time.

After taking their expected beatings from Southern Miss and Central Michigan, Alcorn found itself down 21 points in the fourth quarter at Southern University.

The Braves could have thrown in the towel, but clawed back into the game before losing by just six points.

That might have been the turning point of their season.

Since then, Alcorn has outscored its opponents 66-26 in winning back-to-back SWAC games for the first time in four years.

And in doing so, Alcorn moved into sole possession of first place in the SWAC East Division.

If you told someone that Alcorn would be in first place — ahead of teams like Jackson State and Alabama A&M — halfway through the conference schedule, they would probably have thought you were crazy.

But Collins has his team believing in what he is selling.

“I tell them all the time, if you keep doing the same old thing, you get the same old results,” Collins said. “You’ve got to start with the little things. Show up on time, go to class, practice hard. If you change the little things, it leads to big things.”

The players are mostly the same as the ones who have gone a combined 4-18 the past two years.

They are also battle-tested, having played under three different head coaches in three years.

They have taken that will, and along with a strong head coach, taken the lead in the SWAC East.

“Ordinary players can make an extraordinary team,” Collins said. “It’s been a blessing for me to be a part of what these young men are doing this year.”

Jeff Edwards is the sports editor for The Democrat. He can be reached at sports@natchezdemocrat.com.