Alabama State University's football team knew they had two outstanding runners in Isaiah Crowell and Malcolm Cyrus, and with the talent of Rodney Cross and Andre Kincey, ASU's stable at that position was full and talented.

Those runners along with the offensive line have transformed ASU's rushing offense into the top rushing offense in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC). Their 277.8 yards rushing per game has the Hornets ranked eighth in the Football Championship Series (FCS).

"It starts up front with our offensive line and Coach (Antoino) Bradford has done a good job getting these guys playing at a high level," Head Coach Reggie Barlow said. "We knew we had three good running backs and then our passing game with Duhart and the receivers. Last game was a good indication of what the guys can do and that's the type of production we thought we would get out of the offense."

Crowell leads the conference and is sixth in the FCS in rushing with 562 yards and five touchdowns. He has only carried the ball 72 times, but is averaging 7.8 yards per carry. Cyrus has proved to be a solid back up with 241 yards rushing on 51 carries. He has added three scores along with his 4.7 yards per carry.

The Hornet coaching staff has been looking for different ways to get the ball into the running backs hands this season and has added a Wildcat series to the high-scoring offense with Crowell taking the direct snaps.

"The Wildcat has been very effective for us," Barlow said. "We started doing it in training camp, just to work on it and trying to figure out when we were going to use it. Of course we want to get the ball in Isaiah's hands as much as possible, along with Malcolm Cyrus."

"We did a lot of it against Pine Bluff and, of course, it worked for us. This past game with Isaiah being a tad bit banged up we didn't do as much of it. We went to it when we needed to and he was able to get a touchdown off of it. So it is something we will continue to use and probably add some more options on it because it gives us another opportunity to get the ball in his (Crowell's) hands."

The offense will be presented a challenge by Alcorn State's defense. In their three wins, the Braves are only allowing 19 points per game and are holding the opposition's running game to 4.3 yards per carry and 169 yards per game.

"Alcorn's defense is very good," Barlow added. "They have a strong and physical front line that is playing fast and can disrupt the offense. Our offensive line will have to play at their best to give our backs a chance to get into the secondary to make plays."

Saturday's 5 p.m. kickoff can be viewed on Hornet Vision and can be listened to live on WVAS FM 90.7.