Tailgaters and fans were on the reservation early to get a glimpse of what to expect in the fall since Alcorn State head football coach Melvin Spears promised that quarterback Brandon 'Air Canada' Bridge would put on a show in the Purple & Gold game Saturday at Alcorn State, Ms. and he lived up to the hype in front of a well attended crowd of alcornites and fans.
Bridge went 15 for 24, four passes were dropped, for 244 yards and 4 touchdowns as the Purple beat the Gold 35-0.
Jacques Caldwell of Jackson caught two for touchdowns.
Terrence Lewis of Ft. Myers, Florida also caught two touchdown passes.
Heralded transfer from Ole Miss Andrew Harris didn't catch a pay dirt pass but he snagged three total throws for 64 total yards.
Darius Smith didn't do bad at the quarterback spot as he was five for eight for 105 yards.
“Bridge did a great job on offense and if we hadn't dropped four passes he would have gone for over 300 yards. We had them perform in game type situations in the scrimmage and they executed well:” states Spears. “Overall we were impressed with our execution. The offense was making the right checks, we were clicking”
Defensive coordinator Michael Roach, despite the onslaught from Bridge, was satisfied with his defenses: “We stayed with the basic format. There were some let downs, but 75 percent of the guys picked things up well. We made adjustments but you have to keep in mind that we were going against Bridge, whom we consider the best quarterback in college ball.”
Louis Green was very pleased with his special team units: “Arturo Tamayo was perfect kicking for extra points plus he did what we asked him to on kickoffs and punts. He averaged 40.9 yards per punt and we will take that any day”
Green, a Brave alumnus who played for the Denver Broncos, was delighted with his punt return and kickoff return teams and the teams covering punts and kickoffs: “We are well ahead of schedule and what we accomplished in 15 days on all teams has us in a beat Grambling frame of mind.”
The Braves will face Grambling in the season opener September 3rd in Shreveport in the Port City Classic.
