Alcorn State hasn’t received a soccer sport in 318 days.
And amid a 0-4 begin, head coach Cedric Thomas has been making an attempt to diagnose the problems which have led to the Braves being on the backside of the SWAC West standings.
Alcorn State is off to its worst begin to a season since 2008, when the Braves opened the 12 months 1-5 and completed 2-10.
Going through roster challenges forward of this weekend’s matchup in opposition to Prairie View, Thomas made it clear that accountability for the crew’s efficiency falls squarely on his shoulders.
“I’m the captain of the ship. All of it lands on me,” he mentioned on Monday. “It’s not due to an absence of effort. The blokes are preventing arduous, enjoying by the whistle. However we’ve obtained to begin specializing in the little issues, and that begins with me as a coach.”
Acorn State at the moment ranks eleventh out of 12 SWAC groups in complete offense, averaging 13.7 factors per sport, and has solely discovered the endzone 5 occasions in 16 quarters.
The defensive aspect of the ball has additionally underwhelmed, permitting 41.7 factors per sport and a mean of 218 speeding yards. In its 24-20 loss to Arkansas-Pine Bluff on Saturday, the protection was lit up for 323 passing yards on 10.1 yards per try.
Whereas Thomas acknowledged that the roster has suffered from accidents and eligibility restraints, he harassed that there could be no excuses, particularly for a gaggle that has compiled 33 penalties, tied for second most within the convention.
“We’ll make the mandatory changes from a training standpoint,” he mentioned. “We’ve obtained guys entering into greater roles than anticipated, and it’s my job to get them prepared.”
The speedy focus, Thomas defined, is consideration to element and consistency, whether or not in preparation or in execution.
“Some issues simply occur in a sport, however we’ve obtained to proceed honing in on these small particulars on and off the sector,” he mentioned. “That’s the place progress will come from.”
Even whereas talking positively concerning the crew’s sharpness throughout follow, he famous the significance of carrying that self-discipline into video games. “We don’t have miscues throughout the week as a result of we put a premium on it,” he mentioned. “Now it’s about exhibiting the identical execution on Saturday.”
The Braves do have some hope, as their schedule does loosen up after the Prairie View sport. Alcorn State faces a punchless Lincoln, California, on homecoming earlier than dates with struggling Florida A&M (Oct. 18), Mississippi Valley State (Oct. 25), and Texas Southern (Nov. 1) previous to internet hosting Southern on Nov. 8.
Schedule apart, Alcorn State has to play higher, and Thomas is aware of it.
“The buck begins with me,” he mentioned. “We’ll begin once more tomorrow, make the adjustments now we have to make, and be able to compete.”
