SHREVEPORT — “Coach Hopson said…”

That was a common reply from several happy Alcorn State players after they stunned defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion Grambling 22-21 Saturday night.

Vicksburg native Jay Hopson made his head coaching debut in the Port City Classic, and his new team evidently bought in to what the coach stressed in nearly a month of preseason practice.

Quarterback Darius Smith, who directed two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that rallied the Braves (1-0, 1-0 SWAC) from a 21-9 deficit, said it was Hopson’s words in practice that kept resonating and helped fuel the comeback.

“All week coach Hopson said ‘Adversity will strike. How will you handle it?’”

Smith handled it just fine. He made some key plays with his feet and head to keep the Braves afloat. The first of the fourth-quarter drives was nearly 85 yards and got going on a 40-yard reverse by Tavoris Doss.

“We’ve got guys who can make big plays and that was one right there,” Smith said. “We were able to run the ball extremely well after that.”

After converting a short fourth-down run, Smith completed a 21-yard pass to Rodney Whitmore to put the ball at the Grambling 3-yard line. Two plays later, Smith found the end zone. It was a play he ran again in a bigger spot with three minutes left.

The Braves’ defense, which was cut up by Grambling running back Dawrence Roberts, finally got a pair of big plays. Nose tackle Jarvis Turner made an open field tackle on a screen play for a 1-yard loss. On third down from midfield, Jermaine Turner sacked Grambling quarterback D.J. Williams for an 11-yard loss and the Tigers had to punt with six minutes left.

The Braves took over at the 35 and Smith and his troops went to work. He completed a 16-yard toss to Marti’ Shelby for a first down at midfield. At the Grambling 40, they faced another fourth-and-one.

“We had a set play on fourth-and-one, but I saw where they were going to crash the line, so I made an audible call,” Smith said. “I just squeezed it to the outside and got the first down.”

The 3-yard run kept the drive going. Not even a motion penalty could derail the Braves. Arnold Walker, the team’s top returning rusher from last season, lost his starting job to Memphis transfer Joe Price in camp. Walker, though, came up big when called upon. He took a trap 15 yards to the Grambling 26.

Three plays later, Walker took a sweep 5 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 1:23 left.

“This was such a great experience,” Walker said. “The coaches have worked us hard and it paid off. Coach Hopson has turned the program around. We never gave up.”

The no-quit attitude was a key, Alcorn defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro said. His unit forced the Tigers to burn up precious time, and that led to a 42-yard field goal attempt that was missed in the final seconds.

“They kept fighting,” Pecoraro said. “Our defensive line stepped up. They made the two plays late to get us the ball back. All we did different in the second half was to bring a little more pressure. That was a good team we beat. They were the defending conference champions.”

Alcorn State offensive line coach Mark McHale has been a part of a lot of big wins during his career at Southern Miss, Marshall and Florida State. He said there was a reason the Braves finally got going in the final quarter.

“We got them tired,” McHale said. “I only had eight linemen I could go with and I had to play my right guard at tackle and move a second team guard to fill in. We also had two freshmen centers playing for the first time.”

For Hopson, winning in his debut game after three months of preparation was refreshing.

“A great feeling,” he said. “But, we know this is still a long process. I’m just happy for the guys.”

Up next

Saturday. 5 p.m.

Alcorn at James Madison