MONTGOMERY, Ala. | After opening the season with three non-conference contests against a conference, or divisional champion, Alabama State opens Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on the road against two-time defending conference champion Grambling State Saturday night.
 
Alabama State (1-2) opened the season at home against their rival Tuskegee, before facing a pair of top 10 opponents in Auburn (seventh in FBS) and Kennesaw State (eighth in FCS) and face a Grambling State (0-2) squad that is unranked for the first time in three years after back-to-back losses to open the season.
 
The game against the Tigers will be the third consecutive contest on the road, and the fourth straight week of play for Alabama State before an off week. The Hornets who have had three players awarded by the conference for their play in three consecutive weeks, look to rebound although they put together their best offensive showing of the year against Kennesaw State. In the contest against the Owls, Alabama State recorded 314 yards of total offense and quarterback Darryl Pearson, Jr. threw for a career-high 195 yards in the loss – with 84 of those going Marquez Spencer.
 
Meanwhile, defensively, Alabama State has given up an average of 373 yards rushing in the three games and have allowed their opponents just 164.3 yards through the air on average.  Safeties Kurron Ramsey and Joshua Hill lead the team in tackles, with 25 and 23 respectively. The Hornets lead the conference, and nation, in fumbles recovered with eight and lead the nation in turnovers gained with 10. They are also 15th in the nation in red zone defense (.700) through three games.
 
Grambling State comes into the contest after dropping their first two games of the season on the road to Louisiana-Lafayette and Northwestern State, and they come in off of a bye week. The Tigers, who were predicted to win the conference, are led offensively by Aldon Clark who has thrown for 172 yards and added another 108 on the ground while splitting time with Geremy Hickbottom who has thrown for 128 yards and rushed for another 88.
 
On the defensive side of the ball, De'Arius Christmas has recorded 13 tackles, while seven others have recorded eight or more.
 
The game can be seen on ESPN3, and also can be heard on the Hornet Sports Network beginning at 5:30 pm.

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