Donald Carrie, a walk-on tight end last year, has emerged as the Braves’ starting quarterback after spring drills. At right, he tries to escape from Purple team defensive end Tommy Thedford. He rushed for a touchdown and passed for another. (The Vicksburg Post/MARK THORNTON)

[04/23/01] LORMAN For years, John McKenzie did his best to beat Alcorn State. Now, as Alcorn’s new offensive coordinator, McKenzie is doing his best to help the Braves crawl from the ashes of last season’s 0-11 nightmare, back to the top of the Southwestern Athletic Conference mountain.

“I wouldn’t use the word weird, but it’s different,” said McKenzie, who was a record-setting quarterback for Jackson State, then offensive coordinator at Alabama State. “In anything you get in, you have 50 percent of the people who are really supportive of you and 50 percent of the people that’s against you.

“I guess I’ve got that on both sides … When it all adds up, it’s 100 percent of the support.”

Alcorn wrapped up spring practice Saturday with the Purple and Gold game at Jack Spinks Stadium. McKenzie’s Gold squad, led by a strong defense and quarterback Donald Carrie, routed the Purple 26-0.

Carrie, a former walk-on from New Orleans who played tight end on the scout team last fall, led the Gold on two scoring drives and a third long drive that ended at the Purple 10 when time ran out in the first half. He rushed for one touchdown, threw for another, and was 5-for-10 for 135 yards.

Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said Carrie was the starter heading into the fall.

“We have found a quarterback and a half. I think Donald Carrie has risen to the top as our starting quarterback at this particular point, and Maurio McKeller is the other half,” Thomas said. “During spring training, (McKeller) had some classes on the days when we had practice and he didn’t get as much work as Donald Carrie. But if he had gotten the work Donald Carrie had gotten, I think they’d be tit-for-tat at this point.”

When he was hired in early April, McKenzie had little time to prepare for spring drills. He didn’t watch any film from last season, and is still learning his players’ names.

But he had heard about last year’s winless team and the 18-game losing streak that dates back to 1999. He blocked out most of it, yet couldn’t help but scratch his head once he started evaluating players.

“I’ve been in black college football for 15 years, and I’ve never been in a situation where you have 18 offensive linemen,” McKenzie said, pointing out depth as one of the Braves’ strong points. “That’s what marvels me about the situation. If you didn’t know this was an 0-11 team, based on the depth and the enthusiasm and the energy and the discipline that these players bring in day in and day out, you’re puzzled. I have seen nothing that resembles an 0-11 football team.”

The Alcorn staff started putting in a new offensive system simpler, with fewer plays but more looks and formations and the players have grasped it well, given the short practice time, McKenzie said.

But getting a new offense in place is easy compared to breaking the losing streak. Six of Alcorn’s 11 losses were by a total of 32 points, and McKenzie said winning the first close game next season will be the Braves’ biggest challenge.

“I think the biggest thing is our mindset. A lot of times when teams go through situations like this, when it’s late in the game, when it’s in the fourth quarter, your mindset will tell you Uh-oh, here we go again,'” McKenzie said. “We’re going to have to break that cycle. We’re going to have to break that curse and win one of those close games.”

Alcorn returns 18 starters, including 10 on defense, and a whopping 66 lettermen from last season’s team, and McKenzie said it’s only a matter of time before the Braves are back in the SWAC title hunt.

“Every team goes through peaks and valleys, and this is one of the valleys. But this isn’t a program that’s going to stay down for long. All teams have gone through this process,” McKenzie said. “That’s why I commend Coach Thomas. From the outside looking in, I guess you don’t know, but being around a man who’s been able to maintain discipline and academically … He has done everything required for winning. It’s just a matter of time.

“This is a young, energetic football team. He started from the ground up, and as these kids get older and next kids come in, he’ll have a very sound program that can go on the peak for a very long time,” McKenzie added. “The valley has been three or four years, but what he’s got in place is a program that can peak out for the next 10 or 15 years.”