The formula to the Tigers (5-1, 5-0) success was a potent yet simple one, a lot of Frank Walker . all the time. Walker ran roughshod over the Alcorn defense finishing with 29 carries for 202 yards.
Behind stellar offensive line play, the preseason first team All-SWAC selection scored a total of five touchdowns on Saturday afternoon, with four coming on the ground and one by way of a short dump off pass.
The Alcorn defense seemed to have no answer for the Tigers’ overall ground attack, which averaged 5.8 yards an attempt, as the final score was 38-28.
Despite a huge day from Alcorn QB Brandon Bridge who carved up the G-Men secondary and completed 33 out of 47 throws for 404 yards and 4 TDs with 2 INTs; GSU never looked as if they weren’t in control.
An interception by solid linebacker Cliff Exama at the 10:41 mark in the first quarter ended the Braves’ opening drive.
The Braves’ defense got an early dose of Warren as he scored with runs of 25 and 5 yards to give the Tigers an early 14-0 lead.
Alcorn’s first and only score of the first half came from a 44 yard bomb down the sideline from Bridge to WR Christopher Perkins as the Braves had no answer for the G-Men defense up to that point.
The game looked as if it was going to be a blowout after a 10 yard touchdown reception by Warren from backup QB Danny Reyes, who played fair while starter Anthony Carrothers was sidelined briefly with an injury.
Defensive lineman Jomarcus Savage had a first half sack along with an interception from corner Dominic Bell.
At halftime the score was 21-7 G-men.
At the start of the second half, it looked more of the same from the Tigers running game, even pulling out some trickery with some runs from the wildcat formation.
Tiger runningback Rodale Pippen mostly benefited from the play calling out of the wildcat as he had a productive day also with five carries for sixty-one yards, a 12.2 ypc avg. But the day belonged to Frank Warren as he continued on for his second 200+ yards rushing game of the season.
With two second half touchdowns the Tigers and Warren proved why Grambling has arguably the best rushing attack in the conference.
Quarterback Anthony Carrothers would return in the contest to be a game manager for the Tigers as no turnovers were committed throughout the duration of battle.
Whether it was conservative play calling on behalf of GSU or a break down in the secondary, the Alcorn Braves aerial assault put together a modest rally in the second half scoring three TDs making the game appear closer than so.
With the game winding down kicker Zoltan Riazzo put proverbial the icing on the cake with a 27 yard FG with 01:26 left in the fourth quarter giving the G-men a ten point win.
Solid performances go all around to the offense as WRs Mario Louis and Kiare Thompson had 3 catches for 58 yards and 4 catches for 49 yards respectively.
Linebacker Cliff Exama notched a double digit tackle game.
Both offenses combined for a total 875 yards on the day.
The G-men will most likely keep the Warren train going in the upcoming contest against Mississippi Valley this weekend, as he will eclipse the 1000 yard mark on the season with 99 yards.
Warren came in as the No. 2 rusher in the Football Championship Subdivision.
The Alcorn Braves dropped to 3-3 and 2-2 in SWAC play.