Alabama State University's football team is coming off its best defensive performance of the season in a 52-21 win over Grambling State last week. The defense has to be even better this week when a high-scoring Alcorn State team hits the New ASU Stadium Saturday at 5 p.m.

The Hornets held GSU to only 12 yards rushing in route to only allowing 241 total yards. GSU ran 72 plays which averages out to a 3.35 yards per play average.

Alcorn, on the other hand, comes into Montgomery carrying a 31.5 points per game scoring average, third behind only ASU and Prairie View A&M. The Braves average 330.5 yards of total offense. They are fairly even in rushing and passing, averaging 166.2 yards rushing per game and 164.2 yards per game passing.

"Alcorn is really playing some confident football right now," Head Coach Reggie Barlow said. "They have brought in his type of players for his system and it shows. They are very good in both rushing the football and passing so we can't just stop one aspect of their offense; we are going to need to stop both."

This game just happens to feature a few of the top running backs in the conference with ASU's Isaiah Crowell and Malcolm Cyrus, but Alcorn has some runners of their own. Arnold Walker leads a talented threesome averaging over five yards per carry and has already scored six touchdowns.

"They have three real good running backs that are doing a good job for them," Barlow said. "Walker is someone we knew about and recruited. He has played well against us in the past and we have to know where he is at all times."

"It all starts up front," Barlow said. "We knew we had the talent when we started the season and now we have a little depth at that position. They have put a lot of pressure on offenses all year and they are going to be at their best in this game. We have played four teams that have good offenses, but Alcorn's is so even rushing and passing we have to be ready."

The game can be seen live on Hornet Vision at bamastatesports.com. Live audio of the game will be broadcast on WVAS FM 90.7 beginning at 4:45 p.m.

-Hornets-