LORMAN &8212; For once this season, a change in the starting lineup may not cause a blink of an eye for the Alcorn State Braves.

For a squad that&8217;s had its share of season-ending injuries &8212; four so far along with others who have missed games here and there &8212; the Braves may not have outside linebacker Lee Robinson today out of a linebacking corps that has emerged as leaders on a young defensive unit.

No one likes to have a starter missing on either side of the ball against a team like Mississippi Valley, but this position may be the best-suited. Coaches, however, will still make a decision today if Robinson can go prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff at Jack Spinks Stadium.

The others &8212; Antonio Cooper at middle and Lester Mosley at strongside, the team&8217;s top two tacklers &8212; will continue doing what they&8217;ve been doing.

&8220;It&8217;s been a total team effort,&8221; Mosley said.

&8220;Everybody has been trying to get to the ball. You keep doing what you&8217;re doing when you have success. Everybody is getting to the ball better. (Robinson) is a loss, but we feel with the players we&8217;ve got they can fill right in.&8221;

Robinson went down in the Southern game with a strained MCL, and he had been right in there with Cooper and Mosley on defense as the top tacklers in each of the last three games. Coaches named each of the three Defensive MVPs in those contests &8212; Mosley for Prairie View, Robinson for Texas Southern and Cooper for Southern &8212; after registering double-digit tackles in each.

And it hasn&8217;t been just them. The Braves have improved each week containing the run, including 65 yards allowed against Southern for the best mark this season.

&8220;We&8217;ve been working on it a lot and working on tackling after practice,&8221; said Cooper, whose 50 tackles leads the team. &8220;We&8217;re practicing harder and with more intensity. When people stay longer at practice, it makes you better. We&8217;re really getting more tackles because the defensive line is playing a lot better.&8221;

If Robinson can&8217;t go today, Tommy Campbell will step back into the spot he had coming out of spring camp and entering fall two-a-days. That&8217;s why coaches have not worried in the least about chemistry if the freshman from Gloster who has started every game plays or not.

And up against a Valley team that may be the best it&8217;s fielded in recent seasons under head coach Willie Totten, the Braves will need linebackers to step up and make more plays.

&8220;When you win football games, you&8217;ve got things going in the right direction,&8221; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &8220;He&8217;s got an experienced ball club. They have a sound defense and throw the ball very well. They&8217;ve got a good group of wide receivers, and they can run the football effectively.

&8220;Even if that wasn&8217;t the case, you&8217;re in an in-state rivalry game. You can throw the records out the window and line up and play the football game.&8221;

Much of the Valley attack centers around quarterback Aries Nelson, and that&8217;s who Cooper, Mosley and everyone else will center their attention on today. He&8217;s the quarterback who has put up numbers not named Bruce Eugene or Tarvaris Jackson, and Nelson is right behind them with 260.5 yards passing a game.

&8220;He&8217;s very explosive,&8221; Cooper said. &8220;We&8217;re working on that in practice now &8212; staying back in our zone and breaking to the ball. We&8217;ve always got to respect the run. They can see we had trouble at the start of the season, and they want to see if we can stop them.&8221;

It&8217;s a matchup for a defense that is second-best in the conference against the pass, although opponents have thrown on Alcorn 183 times this season &8212; the second-lowest mark in the league. Ken Bradford is tied for the conference lead in interceptions with four.

&8220;(Nelson) has improved significantly over last year, and he&8217;s throwing the football very well,&8221; Thomas said. &8220;He&8217;s got a good group of receivers and a good offensive line blocking. Our safeties are playing pretty well. They&8217;re improving game by game, and I see their progression every now and then this year.&8221;

Tyrone Timmons is the Delta Devils&8217; top receiver, and the Braves&8217; defense is preparing for a little bit of everything. Valley ran the ball well in last week&8217;s win over Prairie View against one of the best run defenses in the conference.

&8220;(Nelson) is not looking the throw the ball,&8221; Mosley said. &8220;We&8217;ve got to stay back with our man until he crosses the line of scrimmage.&8221;

You can bet both teams will play hard today on both sides of the ball with each still having goals to play for this season. Valley needs one win to clinch a winning season, and the Braves are still in the race for the SWAC Easter Division.

And factor in last year&8217;s 31-30 Alcorn win at Itta Bena, a game where the Devils had the game in their grasp but couldn&8217;t seal the deal.

&8220;We know Alcorn is much-improved from the beginning of the year,&8221; Totten said. &8220;We know every year is different. You have to prepare regardless of what has happened in the past, but we do feel we are much better than we were last ear. It&8217;s obvious Alcorn is a much better team. It&8217;s a rivalry game. The team that wants it most is probably going to be the team that&8217;s going to win it.&8221;