LORMAN – Defenses may win championships, but offenses win football games.

The winless Alcorn State Braves were given a first-hand reminder of this Saturday when a stagnant offensive effort resulted in a 16-13 homecoming loss to the Texas Southern Tigers.

The Braves (0-7, 0-3) managed only 66 yards in the first three quarters before a fourth-quarter rally that brought Alcorn within three points of its first win of the season.

The Braves’ first score came after TSU kicker J.B. LaCombe missed a 39-yard field goal attempt, giving Alcorn the ball on their own 22.

Freshman running back Cletis Walker ran for 13 yards on the first play, and quarterback Damion Ford then hit Marcus Holbert for a 9-yard pick-up.

After two short runs, Ford went for broke, firing a bomb to Ronald Gilmore. Gilmore made the catch in the middle of the field and split the safeties for the 55-yard touchdown.

The attempt for two failed when Ford’s pass fell incomplete between two possible receivers, leaving the score 16-6.

The Alcorn defense – which held the Tigers to eight points in the third quarter despite four consecutive TSU dives starting in Alcorn territory – held in the fourth quarter as well, giving the Braves the ball back with 2:16 left on the clock.

Ford again looked for Gilmore, connecting with his favorite target of the day for receptions of 42, 28, 13 and 8 yards before hitting Kris Peters for an 8-yard touchdown.

The extra point made the score 16-13, but with only 51 seconds left in the game and Alcorn out of time outs, TSU kneeled the ball twice for the win.

&uot;Our defense played an outstanding game,&uot; Alcorn coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;They were on the field quite a bit, and they responded well.&uot;

The Tigers’ two touchdowns, both runs by quarterback Adam Lamb, came on virtually identical plays.

On both runs, Lamb faked a hand-off to lone set back Waymon Steed and bootlegged around the end for scoring runs of 10 and 15 yards.

&uot;It was something we saw,&uot; Lamb said. &uot;The outside backer was crashing down and it gave me a seam. I took advantage of it.&uot;

The Tigers stayed unbeaten at 6-0 for the season with the win.

&uot;We’ve been in every game we played,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;One day we’re going to put together four quarters of football.&uot;

The Braves host Southern University Saturday for their last home game of the season.