LORMAN &8212; Every time Jeremy McCoy rushes for 100 yards in a game, he treats his linemen to pizza.

He&8217;s done it five times this year. He&8217;s got five linemen, and he can&8217;t leave out the tight end. Do the math, and it&8217;s little wonder why folks at the pizza place on campus know McCoy on a first-name basis and bring in extra workers each Monday after a good game.

It&8217;s time to take care of the 300-pound people who take care of him, especially if the junior running back can top the 1,000-yard mark before the season is up.

&8220;I&8217;m right there with those big boys,&8221; said tight end Tabari Lott, the smaller guy in the line at only 6-6 and 225 pounds. &8220;I&8217;m in the trenches, too. The line, they want that (1,000 yards). They really want him to get that. He&8217;s giving them their food. That&8217;s the first thing they ask after a game.&8221;

The humble McCoy can&8217;t help but grin and oblige. It&8217;s been a breakout season for the junior from Dallas who was supposed to be one of three backs the Braves would use running the ball along with fullback Ken Williams.

Once Vernardus Cooper went down with a knee injury and Michael Shepherd had fumble problems, McCoy started getting it more and more.

The yards piled up along with free pizza for the lineman. McCoy has 748 yards on the season with Saturday&8217;s Capital City Classic against Jackson State and a Dec. 3 game at home against Grambling left on the schedule.

&8220;I feel we have the best offensive line in Division I-AA football,&8221; said McCoy, who leads the SWAC with 106.9 yards per game. &8220;They always open up the holes, and all I have to do is run through them. Every week I give them pizza for 100 yards, including the fullback and the tight end. It&8217;s well worth it.&8221;

The season has been a combination of the line&8217;s efforts blocking and McCoy&8217;s ability to hit the holes hard. Keep in mind he&8217;s within striking distance of 100 yards despite missing 2 1/2 games after suffering a hamstring injury during the Alabama State game.

He didn&8217;t play against Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Prairie View A&M, but he&8217;s still put himself in position to be the first 1,000-yard rusher at Alcorn since Rodney Thomas went for 1,286 yards in 1998.

He went 1,000 for his career in last week&8217;s win over Alabama A&M.;

&8220;I don&8217;t know &8212; it depends on whether he stays healthy and depending on the situation of the game,&8221; Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. &8220;It&8217;s been a breakout season for him. It&8217;s a true testament to the type of blocking he&8217;s gotten. If it&8217;s at all possible, I hope he gets the 1,000 yards.&8221;

There might have been whispers of 1,000 yards heading into last week&8217;s game against Alabama A&M, which still has the best rush defense in the conference. The Bulldogs hadn&8217;t allowed anyone to get 100 yards in a game against them, and the most anyone had was Jackson State back David Kennebrew&8217;s 67 yards the week prior.

Up against a team that was allowing 67 yards rushing on average, the Braves with their bullish line ran for 210. McCoy accounted for 121 on 22 carries.

&8220;We knew going in they were the best team as far as giving up rushing yards,&8221; McCoy said. &8220;We feel like we can run against good teams. It&8217;s been a blessing to me. I always just thank God and my linemen. You have to when you get over 100 yards.&8221;

Not only was McCoy&8217;s effort against A&M impressive considering, but it was his second-highest total this season after putting up 150 at Texas Southern. He&8217;s done it all behind an offensive line that&8217;s 300 pounds each from tackle to tackle and has allowed a conference-low 11 quarterback sacks.

The offensive line has made everything go offensively this season for the Braves, and McCoy&8217;s ability to hit the holes hard has been the best complement.

&8220;They&8217;re close enough friends, and that&8217;s something they want to do for him,&8221; Thomas said. &8220;That&8217;s the kind of guy (McCoy) is &8212; he&8217;s a humble guy. He&8217;s done what he&8217;s supposed to do.&8221;

Said Lott: &8220;He hits the holes real hard, and he&8217;s a downhill runner. He&8217;s a hard runner and a powerful runner. They don&8217;t want to tackle him.&8221;

McCoy could be in for a big day Saturday as the Braves go from the best rushing defense to the worst when they match up with Jackson State. A&M ran for 394 yards on Jackson two weeks ago.

Still, McCoy advises, this game is a rivalry game and the Tigers will play their hardest. Everyone still will do anything they can for him to have a big game to have a chance at 1,000 heading into the Grambling game.

Especially the offensive linemen.

&8220;It&8217;s kind of like the whole team &8212; they&8217;re behind me,&8221; McCoy said. &8220;They want me to get the 1,000 yards. Even the defense. I don&8217;t know what they&8217;re going to do (if I get it). First of all, I&8217;m going to give thanks to the Lord for the talent and ability.

&8220;Then I&8217;ll do something special for the linemen.&8221;