HAMMOND, La. &045; A year later, a new player here and there, a little more experience &045; it all adds up nicely for Hal Mumme’s Southeastern Lions, and not necessarily on offense.

The Lions’ passing game is still putting up numbers that would make an odometer jealous, but the biggest difference in Year 2 of the program may be the team’s defense. The unit has one linebacker leading the nation in sacks in Damien Huren and another ranked fifth in the nation in solo tackles in Marvin Jones.

Then there’s the quarterback, Hattiesburg native Martin Hankins, who is also the top passer in I-AA. Things have gone well for the Lions in recent weeks, and they host Alcorn Saturday in a rematch of last year’s 27-24 win at Lorman.

&uot;Ever since the Mississippi Valley game (Oct. 2) they’re really turned it on and played well,&uot; Mumme said. &uot;The Mississippi Valley game was after Sam Houston, and that was the first time we really had a big game on our campus and we kind of laid an egg on both sides of the ball. The Mississippi Valley game we came out kind of in a funk, but in the second half of that game we kind of came on as a team.&uot;

The Lions are 5-2 in their second season of playing as an independent before joining the Southland Conference and are winners of three straight dating back to the win over the Delta Devils. Defense has been a big part of that as the Lions have allowed no more than 20 points in those three games.

All but one of the four teams before that game scored at least 30 points, including Sam Houston State’s 45-17 win over SLU at Hammond.

&uot;I’m real proud of those kids &045; Felton Huggins, Put Huren, Marvin Jones and Martin Hankins. All of those guys are really playing pretty well,&uot; Mumme said. &uot;I’m really proud of them. They just did a great job in the off-season of training. Marvin was 240 last year, and now he’s 230. Our weight coach really did a good job with them.&uot;

The Braves are all too familiar with the Lions after last year’s come-from-behind victory. While the game means nothing in the race in the SWAC, it’s billed as a rematch of two teams who may mirror one another and a game that should test both teams on a number of areas.

&uot;They have outstanding coaches, and they’re very proficient in the passing game,&uot; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &uot;They’re very sound on defense. They do a lot of things on special teams you really have to prepare for. They’ll throw the football 80-90 percent of the time, and they’ve got an outstanding defense. They put a lot of pressure on you and do a lot of things.&uot;

The presence of the Lions’ linebacking corps against Alcorn’s youthful front line may be a key to the game. The Lions love to blitz, and Huren is leading the nation in sacks with 10 after recording six in a win over Northern Colorado two weeks ago.

Jones, initially a LSU signee who instead played two years at Southwest Mississippi Community College, is fifth in the nation in solo tackles at 48.

&uot;(UNC’s) offense is kind of geared around sitting back and throwing to that one receiver,&uot; Mumme said. &uot;Putt (Huren) really came through when he had to.&uot;

Then there’s Hankins and the passing game, a unit that is averaging 372 yards per game. Hankins is well out in front as the best passer in I-AA with 2,605 yards passing and 20 touchdown to only six interceptions, and top receiver Felton Huggins may break the 1,000-yard mark on Saturday with 57 catches for 931 yards so far this season.

But the Braves have a steady quarterback of their own in Donald Carrie, who threw for 314 yards last week and threw for 302 yards against Southeastern last year.

&uot;It’s the biggest game we’ve played this year,&uot; Mumme said. &uot;We think Alcorn is a great club. They really should have beaten Southern. They out-played them all over the field, but they just had some unfortunate turnovers.

&uot;This will be a fun game to watch. Carrie is a great quarterback, someone who finds the open receiver and has a great arm. We’ll try to hang in there and find a way to win instead of losing it.&uot;

The loss to Southern may be a bigger worry for the Braves than anything the Lions can draw up. The heartbreaking loss may be one that’s tough to get over, and Alcorn must erase that and prepare for a non-conference game this week.

It sure won’t be easy, but the coaching staff went to work immediately.

&uot;We’ve just going to have to be ready to play,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;I’m concerned about my players’ mental state of mind. We as a coaching staff have to get them back ready to play like we did for Southern. If we do that and don’t turn the football over, I think we can fare well.&uot;