Alcorn State entered its annual Purple & Gold Game Saturday with seven defensive starters sidelined due to injury or other reasons.

It didn’t show.

The backup defenders asserted their will on the Alcorn offense, limiting the Braves to 31 yards rushing as the Gold took a 35-21 win over the Purple.

“I hate to sound like I’m driving home the point, but we had two defensive tackles out with injury, two defensive tackles out attending a funeral, a defensive end injured, all three starting linebackers injured and both starting cornerbacks injured,” Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said. “The backups played very hard and forced three fumbles, three sacks and a safety. That’s a positive.”

Thomas said he was pleased with the play of both sides during the game.

“The defense came out and played very aggressively,” Thomas said. “The offense came out and played aggressively, as well. We had a lot of young guys in the backfield, and we’re still looking for a fullback. Both sides played a very competitive game. The defense played very well. I was pleased with the effort.”

The offense was the Purple team, while the defense served as the Gold team with a modified scoring system.

While the running game struggled, starting quarterback Tony Hobson Jr. was sharp, completing 8-of-13 passes for 62 yards and two touchdowns.

“(Hobson and backup Tim Buckley) played well,” Thomas said. “They weren’t as sharp as you’d like for them to be, but the good thing is we’ve got three quality quarterbacks (counting Chris Walker, who is currently playing baseball). If one of them gets hurt, there won’t be a big dropoff.”

Buckley completed 2-of-4 passes for 41 yards with one interception.

Senior wide receiver Nate Hughes hauled in three passes for 44 yards, and junior Emmanuel Arceneaux caught three passes for 27 yards.

The Gold team forced four turnovers, including three fumbles. Senior defensive back Dwayne Taylor picked off a Buckley pass at the goal line on the final play of the game to seal the Gold’s win.