LORMAN &045; A big part of Alcorn’s offensive output in the recent two games can be attributed to quarterback Donald Carrie, Braves head coach Johnny Thomas said Monday.

Thomas credited the four-year starter with solid games Saturday against Texas Southern and the week prior against Prairie View A&M after some shaky outings earlier. The offense is centered around Carrie with its high-powered passing attack with standout receivers Charlie Spiller and Nate Hughes.

Carrie threw for 192 yards Saturday against Texas Southern after connecting for 240 yards against Prairie View &045; his highest total since putting 276 on Grambling in the season opener.

So a hot Carrie going into Saturday’s showdown with Southern is definitely grounds for a feel-good moment.

&uot;Donald can be very, very efficient and very, very explosive,&uot; Thomas said, &uot;if he has a rhythm and if he is able to get off to a good start. Sometimes he’s not able to do that, and he struggles a little bit and gets frustrated because he’s such a competitor and wants to do well. He sometimes forces things that he shouldn’t. He gets down on himself, and that throws his game off.&uot;

The one-time walk-on tight end out of New Orleans played better in the second half Saturday and put two good games together for the first time this season. Part of that, too, is other facets of the offense &045; all three running backs are battling injuries, and the offensive line has three first-time starters.

Yet Thomas and his staff have pulled Carrie at times to settle him down. The most-experienced quarterback in the conference right now sat the entire first quarter in the loss to Alabama State and still ranks second in the SWAC in passing yards with 1,287.

Last season through six games Carrie threw 11 interceptions and six touchdowns. A year later he has six of each through six games.

&uot;Right now we’ve gotten him to the point that everything is not going to go right all of the time and you’ve got to put that behind you and play the next down,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;He’s done that for the last two weeks. Sometimes we’ll take him out just to calm him down and see what the defense is doing. Right now he’s ready to play.

&uot;If he’s hot and reading what the defensive line and secondary is doing, he can be the best quarterback in the SWAC. We hope he can do that against Southern.&uot;

The Braves had better success moving the ball Saturday against the Tigers in the second half, although Carrie and most people on offense would agree they would have liked to execute better.

Carrie hit Hughes on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter for the final score. Carrie’s 15-yard pass to fullback Ken Williams set up a 14-yard touchdown run from Vernardus Cooper for the first score of the second half.

&uot;He (Williams) has been working hard in practice, and we’ve all been working hard in practice,&uot; Carrie said. &uot;Every day we come out we want to get 1 percent better. We want to keep that up. Sometimes things don’t go the way it’s planned. You have to be prepared when things don’t go your way. Overall, I think we did a pretty good job.&uot;

Things went awfully well for Carrie and the offense on the game’s second play. The Braves usually unveil something wild on opening drives of each game, but this time it worked big time.

With Carrie and lined up out wide and Spiller alone in shotgun, the Woodville native took the snap, handed off to return specialist Lonnie Teagle, who handed it to Carrie on the double reverse. Carrie then hit a wide-open Spiller on a deep route for a 70-yard touchdown pass.

&uot;We have plays to call when we need a first down in certain situations,&uot; Carrie said. &uot;Those plays are fun, but they’re not fun if you don’t execute and they don’t work. We don’t do it for fun &045; we do it to win. We work real hard on those plays.&uot;

Carrie and backup quarterback Oliver Bozeman are part of the offense that has opened games with something different. Against North Carolina A&T Bozeman lined up at quarterback with Carrie in the backfield, and Carrie ran

up the left side for a 13-yard gain.

But get one thing straight &045; all that stuff doesn’t come out of a bag of tricks.

&uot;They’re not trick plays,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;That’s what you all call them. They’re specifically designed plays that are part of our offensive schemes. The bottom line is we are moving the football. It’s an integral part of what we do offensively.

&uot;We moved the football and scored a touchdown. What else do you want?&uot;

NOTES &045; Thomas said Monday center Chris Seymour should return for Southern. The first-year starter at center went down in the second quarter Saturday with a MCL strain with Jonathan Lowe filling his spot. Lowe, a starter at tackle, was to sit out with an injury and enter only if Seymour got hurt Š Running back Robert Lester suited up Saturday but was held out as a precaution to get that sore ankle fully healed. He, too, will play against Southern Š Teagle’s signal for a fair catch in the first quarter Saturday was his first in his four-year career. Thomas said the call was necessary since the return team was in position to block the punt instead of providing protection.