LORMAN — As Jay Hopson winds down his first season at Alcorn State, one unit that has made strides has been the offensive line.

Saturday against Texas Southern, the Braves (4-6, 4-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference) started two freshmen, two sophomores and one senior. The young line has had to grow up and it is one of the reasons the Braves have ranked in the bottom of the conference in total offense and scoring.

Alcorn State was able to move up a spot in the SWAC rankings, at least in total offense, after Saturday’s 34-24 win over Texas Southern. The offense enjoyed its best day of the season, piling up 492 yards. That’s better than 213 yards over the team’s season average of 279 coming into the game.

The Braves displayed great balance with 240 rushing yards and 252 passing.

“I’ve talked a lot about precision and execution and, today, we executed,” Hopson said. “We left a score or two out there, but for the most part, we played well. We made some big plays.”

The success begins with the rebuilt offensive line.

“They’ve gotten to mature some this last few weeks, especially after Brandon (McDowell) went down,” Hopson said.

McDowell was replaced by true freshman Isaac Sampsonat right tackle. Mike Minton has started the last nine games at center. Sophomore guard Iskeli Ongosia has started all 10 games while sophomore Johnathan Scott joined the unit after the sixth week. The lone senior is right tackle Cornelius Brown.

Redshirt freshman quarterback John Gibbs has progressed right along with his line. Against Texas Southern, Gibbs completed 19 of 39 passes for 243 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for another 80 yards.

“Most definitely, those guys came together as a unit,” Gibbs said. “We ran the ball well at times.”

Senior running back Arnold Walker came alive on a third-quarter drive that helped Alcorn go up 21-17. He had 35 of 67 yards on the march.

In the fourth quarter with the Braves protecting a 27-24 lead, Gibbs was able to fake a handoff to Walker as Texas Southern crashed the box. He found Tollette George wide open against an unprotected secondary.

“We caught them in a run blitz and it was just a simple pitch and catch,” Gibbs said of the 41-yard touchdown toss that iced the game for the Braves at 34-24 with 1:46 left.

Senior wide receiver

Terrance Lewis, who is second in the SWAC in all-purpose yards, had another good game with six catches for 51 yards and another 29 rushing.

“We now have a lot more confidence going into the last game,” Lewis said.

That last game will be against rival Jackson State in the first Magnolia Heritage Classic.

Jackson State (6-4, 6-2) has a chance to win the SWAC Eastern Division with a win, but the Braves are expecting a sellout crowd of 25,000. Additional seating was already set up in the east end zone Saturday.

“We are going to be a part of history,” Lewis said. “You couldn’t ask for much more for a last game.”