Alcorn State knew it would need a big performance with the defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champions coming to town.

The Braves got one.

Alcorn racked up 682 total yards on offense and held Southern to just 290 yards on the way to a 56-16 win.

“I thought we ran and threw the ball well,” Alcorn State head coach Jay Hopson said. “We executed well on offense. On defense we played fast and physical, which is what we had to do anytime you have the defending SWAC champions. They are an excellent program.”

Both teams found the end zone in the first quarter with Southern striking first on a 55-yard pass from Austin Howard to Justin Morgan.

However, Alcorn would answer right back with a trick play. Wide receiver Zerick Rollins took a pitch on a reverse and then pulled up and threw a deep shot to LaDarrie Davis from 35 yards out to tie the game.

From then on, Alcorn took over.

The Braves scored 21 second half points on a 12-yard run from Darryan Ragsdale, a six yard pass from John Gibbs Jr. to Alondrea Young and a 23-yard run by Gibbs Jr.

Southern would cut into the lead late in the quarter with a field goal and 10-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Willie Quinn and the teams went into halftime with the Braves up 28-16.

The second half, though, belonged to Alcorn as it reeled off 28 unanswered points.

“We came out in the second half and played really well,” Hopson said. “The defense made a big stand early and the offense got moving.”

The Braves scored on four touchdown runs in the second half, two by Anthony Williams III and one each from Jaborian McKenzie and Josh Ivery.

The Braves finished with 410 yards on 59 carries. Williams III led all rushers with 151 yards and Ragsdale finished a close second with 125.

“He ran hard and what about the one where he jumped over the guy?” Hopson said of Ragsdale. “That was a great run. He is a physical running back and I’ve been saying that all year.”

Gibbs also had a solid day finishing 14-of-21 passing for 224 yards and a touchdown.

With the win the Braves improve to 4-1 and 2-0 in SWAC play. Next in line is a Thursday night matchup with Alabama State.

“We’ve got to get better next week,” Hopson said. “I thought we were better this week than last week, but we’ve still got to get better.”

The Braves will continue their homestand Thursday night against the Hornets in the SWAC Game of the Week. The contest will start at 6:30 p.m. and will be televised by ESPNU