LORMAN &045; Welcome back.

Alcorn State linebackers Dwan Wilson and Omega Logan proved they’re as big parts of the defense as billed to be Saturday night. Playing alongside each other for the first time in a month, the two combined for 20 tackles in Saturday night’s 66-0 win over punchless Prairie View A&M for the team’s first shutout since the 1999 season and just third in the last 10 years.

The win, coincidentally, was the first for the Braves since those two played together.

&uot;You’re talking about a blessing from God,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;Those two guys are catalysts of our defense. That hurt us significantly. Having both of those guys back gave our defense the confidence it needed to play very well and provided the leadership we need during the game.&uot;

Wilson had the bigger night with 11 tackles, 1 1/2 tackles for loss, one forced fumble and half a sack. Logan, however, had a big interception to kill Prairie View’s biggest threat at scoring when the Panthers started out at their own 25 and got down to the Alcorn 12 before a pass from he intercepted a Mark Spivey pass just outside of the end zone.

It was the second career pick for Logan and his first since his sophomore season.

The linebacker duo sparked a defense to finally bottle up the run and pressure the quarterback better than it’s done in a couple games. Prairie View’s quarterback duo of Spivey and Michael Hill were sacked four times, and the defense came up with eight tackles for a loss of yardage.

&uot;The defense played outstanding,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;Coach (LaTraia) Jones, coach (Willie) McGowan (Jr.), Coach (Garry) Lewis and Coach (Eric) Garcia really did an outstanding job of preparing those guys defensively for this particular game. We’re very happy for the defensive unit. We still have to improve what we do, but we have to start somewhere. Prairie View is a start we’re very proud of, and hopefully it can carry over to Texas Southern.&uot;

PASS HAPPY &045; For the first time this season junior quarterback Donald Carrie didn’t throw an interception.

Carrie, who has thrown a SWAC-worst 11 interceptions so far in the Braves’ five games, completed 15 of 21 passes in the first half for 206 yards and one touchdown. Most of the passes were on the money, and the Braves’ 45-0 lead at half enabled them to keep it on the ground in the second half to keep the clock running.

&uot;We watched the film from last week and the other games,&uot; Carrie said. &uot;When I set and threw, my base is too wide. We worked on throwing with my legs instead of just my arm. When I throw it with my arm, that’s where my interceptions were coming from.&uot;

BLOWOUT WIN &045; The 66-0 deficit was the biggest in 36 years for the Braves. The last time an Alcorn team beat someone that bad was back in 1967 when it beat Wiley 69-0.

Saturday’s point total was the most since a 69-14 win over Prairie View in 1994 during Steve McNair’s senior season.

NEW LOGOS &045; The Braves sported the new logos on their all-purple helmets Saturday for the first time all season. The logo features a capital A with the word &uot;Alcorn&uot; stretched along the horizontal break in the letter.