[4/9/04]LORMAN Alcorn State discovered a future star and a few flaws on the defensive side of the ball at its annual Purple and Gold spring game Thursday.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Oliver Bozeman completed 10 of 21 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns, and led the first-team offense to scores on four of its first five possessions.

Robert Lester added 70 yards rushing on eight carries in the 60-play scrimmage at Jack Spinks Stadium, which concluded the Braves’ spring drills.

“I rate my team in terms of enthusiasm, in terms of commitment to excellence … an A-plus. But in terms of having everything we need at this point to vie for the SWAC championship, we’re still a few pieces away,” Alcorn head coach Johnny Thomas said.

Bozeman is the third quarterback on the depth chart, but got the majority of the snaps this spring because of injuries to starter Donald Carrie (shoulder) and backup Melvin Green (broken index finger).

He made the most of his chance, impressing the Alcorn coaching staff and capping off a solid string of practices with a solid performance in the spring game.

Bozeman completed a 38-yard touchdown pass to fellow redshirt freshman Charlie Spiller on the offense’s third drive, then threw another 11-yard TD to Spiller three possessions later.

Bozeman was sacked seven times, thanks largely to the scrimmage’s two-hand touch rule on the quarterback, but did a good job eluding the rush.

“If you didn’t know he was a redshirt freshman, you’d think he had played two or three years,” Thomas said. “That’s the way he played today, and that’s the way he’s been playing all through spring.”

While the offense was clicking, the Alcorn defense stumbled through the scrimmage.

The defense surrendered 224 yards in the first 34 plays and allowed three plays of longer than 35 yards, including a spectacular 59-yard run by Vernardus Cooper that set up Bozeman’s second touchdown pass to Spiller.

Cooper took a pitch to the right side and was hit near the sideline, but spun away and ran upfield. He was finally brought down at the 6-yard line, and Bozeman hit Spiller for the TD three plays later.

The defense clamped down after Cooper’s run. The Braves’ defense allowed only two first downs, registered four sacks and forced one turnover during the second half of the scrimmage. Unfortunately, the dominance came against the second- and third-team offenses.

Thomas said the offense and defense had taken turns dominating each other throughout the spring, and Alcorn linebacker Dwan Wilson added that the Braves would be ready by the fall.

“The defense did good through the spring, but we didn’t do too good today,” Wilson said. “The offense got the better hand today.”