Jags to seek revenge on Braves

BATON ROUGE — A win Saturday for Southern will be an appropriate birthday gift for starting quarterback Quincy Richard when the Jags play Alcorn State at 7 p.m. at A.W. Mumford Stadium.
Richard will celebrate his 22nd birthday on the gridiron in his attempt to help the Jags’ extend their undefeated record in the first of a three-game home stretch.
“That’s a way to go out,” Richard said. “To celebrate your birthday on the game night in a season like this. This is really special because this is my last season. A win for the team would be a really good present.”
Last week, Southern (7-0, 4-0 Southwestern Athletic Conference) went to Jackson State and defeated the Tigers 30-20 before a crowd of nearly 50,000.
Richard completed five of 19 passes for 85 yards as the backup to Anthony Fisher in the loss to ASU last season. As this season’s starting quarterback, Richard has passed 1800 yards with a 68.7 passing percentage, the highest in the SWAC. He has thrown 18 touchdowns and averages just over 257 passing yards per game.
The Alcorn State defense will have to step up in order to prevent the Jags from scoring.
The Southern offensive line has allowed only one sack on Richard this season and provided ample protection for the Jags when inside the red zone. Southern has scored every time they have entered the red zone.
A 72-yard punt return by Alcorn State’s Kris Peters in the second quarter gave the Braves (2-5, 1-2 SWAC) the lift needed to defeat Southern 22-20 last season.
“We’ve been watching film,” said Richard. “But if we come out and execute as we’ve been doing, we’ll be safe.”
Despite the fact that ASU quarterback Donnie Carrie’s 1381 passing yards ranks fourth in the conference, he has been intercepted at least once in every game this season and Braves’ wider receiver Corvin Johnson averages over 16 yards per catch.
After last season’s close-scoring game, Jags defensive back Lenny Williams is paying close attention.
“We are just going to have to come out there and play hard defense,” said Williams. “We’re going to have to prevent them from scoring.”
The Jags’ defense have held opponents to a average of only 4 yards per play and in seven games, a conference low of ten touchdowns have been scored against Southern.