NORMAL, Ala. &045; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas learned quickly two things about playing on the road against Alabama A&M.;

The Bulldogs will definitely have a solid defense.

Folks there take about as kindly to visiting teams as the Republican Party to Michael Moore.

Thomas noted Monday he’s yet to have a team leave A&M a winner in his tenure at Alcorn, now in its seventh year, but hopes to do that Saturday when his club plays there. The Bulldogs own the series in those six seasons with four wins, but they Braves had the upper hand last year in a win in Lorman that put the Bulldogs out of the SWAC Championship race.

This year, however, Alabama State has basically done that on its own. But there’s still a matter of Alcorn going to A&M Saturday that’s got Thomas definitely concerned.

&uot;We’ve never beaten A&M in Huntsville since I’ve been the head coach at Alcorn,&uot; Thomas said. &uot;We’ve got to put Valley behind us and get ready for A&M.;

It doesn’t get any easier. A&M has an outstanding defense, a ball-control, possession-type offense and pretty good special teams. We’ll have our hands full.&uot;

The game will be for the race to finish as co-champs in the East, a spot the Braves finished in last year despite losing out a bid to play in the SWAC Championship after losing to Alabama State.

This year the Hornets have beaten both Alcorn and A&M and need to beat Mississippi Valley State Saturday in order to claim the title outright.

&uot;What we’re trying to do is validate our season,&uot; said A&M head coach Anthony Jones, now in his fourth season after leading the Bulldogs to the SWAC Championship in 2002. &uot;It’s going to be tough. They’re coming in with a good football team. If it weren’t for a few breaks, they’d be in the championship game.

&uot;They’re the kind of team you want to play and not because they’re easy &045; you want to play a team like that because it validates your season playing a good football team. They’re going to come out here and try to beat us, and we’re going to do something about that.&uot;

Both team come into Saturday’s fresh off wins, although the Bulldogs haven’t had the success they would have liked to at this point. In their last six games they’ve alternated wins and losses with wins over Texas Southern, Savannah State and Jackson State and losses to Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Southern and Alabama State.

But the win over Jackson State Saturday was a noteworthy one. The Tigers finally had some confidence with a two-game winning streak heading into their homecoming game, but the Bulldogs claimed a 22-6 win thanks to a solid defense that kept plugging away despite five turnovers.

&uot;We’ve been kind of struggling with our quarterback play,&uot; Jones said. &uot;We were having success moving the football, but we’d do something to shoot ourselves in the foot &045; turn it over or something along those lines. We gave up a touchdown on an ill-advised pitch. We weren’t struggling moving the football. What we’re struggling with is holding on to the ball.&uot;

That’s been a sore spot with an offense that has been productive for most of the season. The Bulldogs are tied with Grambling for the most fumbles lost in the conference with 16 and are at minus-5 in turnover margin.

The offense rotated quarterbacks but kept steady with running back Lanier Bush, who had 137 yards on the Tigers.

Yet the Braves are focused on the Bulldogs’ defense, a unit that is holding steady again as the conference’s best defense at 266.8 yards total offense allowed per game and the best rushing defense at 89.9 yards allowed per game.

It’s a nice matchup for the Braves’ high-powered offensive attack, one that is also leading the conference in yards passing per game at 258.2 thanks to quarterback Donald Carrie and receivers Nate Hughes and Charlie Spiller.