LORMAN – The start of fall football practice is less than four weeks away for the Alcorn State University Braves.

Head coach Dr. Johnny Thomas said once the team reports on Aug. 3, two key areas will have to be addressed.

Coming out of the spring, the Braves are still unsettled at both safety positions and at quarterback. Getting those positions filled will be a priority.

“We have to fill both of our safety positions because we lost our starting free safety and our strong safety. We’re really green at safety and it’s left a huge hole in our defense,” said Thomas.

Quarterback is the top concern on offense where last year’s starter, Donald Carrie, has departed. Carrie threw for 2,538 yards and 16 touchdowns in leading the Braves to a 7-4 record, which included a third place finish in the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s East Division.

“We’ve got a lot inexperience vying for our starting quarterback, but I think we’ve got talent there,” Thomas said. “It’s basically a two-man race between (Oliver) Bozeman and (Tony) Hobson.”

Bozeman was Carrie’s backup last season and saw action in eight games, throwing for 125 yards. He finished atop the depth chart after spring practice but will still have to win the job against the Braves’ top freshman recruit in Jackson Jim Hill’s Hobson.

“Hobson is quite a talent and everyone saw what he did at Jim Hill. A lot will depend on how well he transitions himself to the college game,” Thomas said.

Whoever wins the Braves’ quarterback job will have an offensive sparkplug to throw to in returning All-SWAC receiver Charlie Spiller of Woodville. The junior caught 50 passes last season for 1,111 yards and nine touchdowns in 2004.

Thomas says he should have most of his 25 freshmen report, depending if all NCAA eligibility requirements are met. He expects 90 players in all to be at the Reservation when practice starts.

“How a recruiting class goes depends on how well we retain them,” Thomas said. “You hope they can progress enough by the time they are juniors where they can help us vie for the SWAC championship. On paper, though, I think we did a pretty good job.”

Besides quarterback and both safety spots, the Braves must also find new starters at two linebacking spots, a running back and two offensive linemen.

“Both (Leo) Nobles and (Dwan) Wilson are gone, but I think we’re okay at linebacker because the two freshmen backups got to play a lot last year,” Thomas said of rising sophomores Antonio Cooper of Birmingham and Tommy Campbell of Mobile.

Defensive coordinator LaTraia Jones agrees that the Braves are in decent shape at linebacker.

“We’ve got some great young kids who got some playing experience there last year,” Jones said. “At safety, we hope some of the juco recruits can step up.

“I think we’ve got enough talent to do well. But the key for us is going to be our first five games.”

The Braves have a huge opener against Grambling State on Sept. 3 at Jack Spinks Stadium. Five days later, ASU heads to Hammond, La., to battle Southeastern Louisiana in a game that will be televised live on ESPNU. On Sept. 17, the Braves host Langston University in a tune-up for a key SWAC game on the road at Alabama State on Sept. 24.