LORMAN &045; Some folks may sit back and bask in the glow of a convincing 30-0 win over Texas Southern.

Not the folks at Alcorn.

The Braves got the win to stay in the race for the SWAC Eastern Division title and did not let the struggling TSU Tigers have much more than a few crumbs of bread, but bigger things lie ahead for a team that’s talking about Birmingham each and every day they get on the practice field.

What was a dark day three weeks ago here at Jack Spinks Stadium in that loss to Alabama State still has an awful lot of light heading into next week’s home game against Southern.

&uot;All of our coaches are telling us we’re better than what we’re playing and the amount of points we’re scoring,&uot; ASU quarterback Donald Carrie said. &uot;We played decent. Next week it’s going to take more than that. Once we get in the red zone, we’re going to work on punching it in a little more. We’ll go to practice and work on that &045; being consistent on offense and moving the ball.&uot;

You hate to be nit-picky in a game like this, but the offense had its moments early but couldn’t get things on track consistently. The Braves finished the game with 406 yards total offense and scored their most amount of points since that 34-23 win over Grambling to start the season.

Since then, the offense has been sporadic behind a youthful offensive line. Saturday’s game was a step in the right direction, but more steps remain.

&uot;We’re still trying to find some consistency in the execution of what we’re trying to do,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;Sometimes you execute well, and sometimes you don’t execute well. That’s something you’ve got to do &045; execute consistently on the offensive side of the ball.

&uot;Sometimes your inconsistencies stem from the young guys we’ve got in there on the offensive line. They’re doing an outstanding job and are coming around pretty good, and we hope they continue to progress as they grow into the position.&uot;

Some of the reasoning behind the inconsistencies could be Texas Southern’s front, a unit that’s been the strong point of a team that has struggled offensively. The Braves held a 14-0 lead for most of the second quarter before the Tigers snapped the ball out of the end zone for a safety.

The Braves got down to the TSU 6 late in the second before David McConnell missed a 23-yard field goal try. Then Carrie fumbled on their opening drive of the third quarter.

&uot;They played an awful lot of snaps,&uot; Texas Southern head coach Steve Wilson said of his defense. &uot;We’re pretty much the same place with the offense. With so much youth, we’re not able to put a drive together. The defense wore down. We’ll go back to the drawing board and get better as the season goes on.&uot;

But then the Braves found their consistency, putting together their biggest drive of the game that may have been to the TSU defense’s undoing. The Braves drove 80 yards on 14 plays with Vernardus Cooper finishing it with a 14-yard run for a score with 5:11 left for a 23-0 ASU lead.

Cooper had 73 yards rushing for a career high after stepping in for the injured Robert Lester, who was out with an ankle despite being suited up on the sideline.

&uot;It’s a matter of being consistent on every play with everybody blocking well on every play instead of certain people doing things right on different plays,&uot; Carrie said. &uot;We ran the ball well. Coop did a good job of running the ball, and the line blocked well for him. When those kinds of things happen, good happen.&uot;

The Braves punched it quickly in just the second play of the game. In another tricky opening drive, the Braves had receiver Charlie Spiller line up in shotgun with Carrie out wide.

Carrie handed it off to Teagle, who handed it off to Carrie, who hit a streaking Spiller downfield for a 70-yard touchdown pass just 29 seconds into the game for the 7-0 lead.

The Braves didn’t get on the board again until late in the quarter when a pass interference call on the Tigers put the Braves at the TSU 6. From there Jen Williams ran it in for a touchdown with 3:23 left for a 14-0 lead.

Yet the Braves’ defense held Texas Southern’s offense to only two first downs, one coming on a penalty when the Braves were flagged for roughing the passer on a third-and-10 situation.

&uot;We’re working to get better on defense,&uot; linebacker Dwan Wilson said. &uot;The whole defense &045; everybody was hustling to the ball.&uot;