LORMAN &045; He’s setting up to be the next leader on defense, and linebacker Dwan Wilson admits he’s a quiet guy.

It’s been unusual spring for the Alcorn outside linebacker. He’s having to get used to playing alongside someone else besides Omega Logan, he may be used on the blitz more and he may be the guy coaches turn to as someone who serves as a coach on the field as Logan had the tendency to be.

Wilson, the 6-3, 230-pound senior, didn’t like what he saw during the Braves’ spring scrimmage on the defensive side. The offense scored three touchdowns and tacked on a field goal.

&uot;We beat them all spring, and today they came out and had our number,&uot; Wilson said. &uot;We’ve got to jell with the new people coming in. The older people can tell the young people what to do now. We came a long way, but we’re still a long way from jelling.&uot;

The Alcorn offense moved the ball well earlier in the 60-play scrimmage and broke a couple big plays &045; both run and pass &045; on a defense that’s trying to fill some key spots in the middle.

The unit lost its standout tackles in Eric Roach and Bryan Williams and its middle linebacker in Logan.

&uot;It’s been a learning experience, but we’re going to keep working hard,&uot; ASU defensive coordinator LaTraia Jones said. &uot;We’ve got a lot of junior college (players) and freshmen coming in who are going to be able to help us. We just came out and forgot basic fundamentals. A lot of them, this is their first time to play college football in a Division I-AA program.

&uot;I don’t know, but we stunk up the field. We were just lunging all over the place. But those things are correctable &045; that’s the only thing that’s good about it.&uot;

Wilson is the biggest holdover on a unit that’s mostly new even behind in the tackles up front. There’s Natchez High product Bryan Woods getting some reps at defensive end with Michael Howleit and Ross Gordon, Leo Nobles played well at the outside linebacker with Tavari Hughes of Jefferson County playing some in the middle.

The secondary is still without the services of cornerback Jeremy Stockdale, who went down with an ACL injury in 2003 and has yet to return.

&uot;They still played well,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;I think we’ll be fine defensively. We’ve got to get our middle tackle positions solidified in a position we can compete like we did last year. We think we’ll be able to do that. There’s always going to be something, and this season it’s the middle tackle spots. I think that’s something we can solidify.&uot;

But Wilson as a leader didn’t really want to stand for it on Thursday. The offense got big plays from Robert Lester and newcomer Vernardus Cooper on running plays with Lester breaking a 39-yard run before Cooper breaking around the right side for a 59-yard run down to the 6-yard line.

Both set up touchdowns by the offense, but the defense held tight after for three straight possessions on consecutive occasions. Each time was good for three points for the defense.

Wilson came in more on some blitz packages, something he didn’t do much of last season.

&uot;We need to know where people play and how fast they are &045; things like that,&uot; Wilson said. &uot;We’ve just got to work hard. (Omega) was basically the leader, but now I’ve got to step up and start talking more. I’m pretty quiet. I’ve got no problems with (blitzing). Whatever helps the team.&uot;

Said Thomas: &uot;Omega gave us a lot, but I think Dwan can give us a little more with his physical ability and presence as a linebacker. He’ll blitz a little bit more, put some pressure on people and see what happens.&uot;

On offense, the Braves used Bozeman &045; a backup behind senior starter Donald Carrie, who sat out with tendonitis in his arm. The tall, lanky red-shirt freshman hit Charlie Spiller with a touchdown pass early in the scrimmage before engineering two more touchdown drives.

The Braves kept it on the ground for most of the 60 plays, but Bozeman did hit Johnny Washington on a 13-yard pass and found regular return specialist Lonnie Teagle with a 19-yard pass just before the end of the scrimmage.

&uot;If you wouldn’t have known he was a red-shirt freshman, he looked like he was a junior or senior,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;We’re happy to see him playing that way. That was a pleasant surprise for us. That’s going to make things competitive as far as the quarterback position is concerned.&uot;

The biggest concern on offense during spring was perhaps the offensive line, a unit that lost center Zephaniah Smalley and guard LaDarien Strauss from last season.

&uot;If we get protection, we’ve got big running backs and fullbacks, receivers who can catch and run and a quarterback who can throw and run,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;We’ve got to make sure we can protect them.&uot;