The Story: Last season Southern bygone Mississippi was supossed to be one of those non-BCS teams that really shook the college football universe from the inside out, and after starting the year 3-0 they looked well on their way. That was until their starting quarterback, Austin Davis, broke his foot. Things only went downhill from there. While the Eagles went 6-0 in Hattiesburg, they managed to be as bad on the road as they were good at home, going 1-5. With the majority of the team back, and healthy, the Eagles look towards the Conference-USA title.
The Glaring Stat: 1-5. Most the losses were close, but you hate to see numbers like that.
The Outlook: I came on here last year and really talked up wide receiver Deandre Brown. To me, he is still one of the best, if not the best wideout in college football. Ignore the numbers, his production was curbed by a leg injury and the loss of Davis early in the year. He is the type guy that can easily kill double teams with his 6′6″ frame. With Brown garnering the attention of the opposing defense, look for Jondrick Morris or Quintin Pierce to step up and become pretty solid second and third options. Hard to complain about this unit.
As mentioned previously, Austin Davis is really going to have to battle back after injuring his foot. The kid was a stud his freshman season breaking many of Brett Favre’s school records. Can’t complain about that. Everything to date suggests that after getting time to recover, he should be back at full strength, which is a bad thing if you’re an opponent.
Sourthern Miss has some work to replace their running backs with senior V.J. Floyd likely take over the reigns. While he’s nothing flashy, he’s from Orlando, so it requires his name be mentioned. The only real big hole on the offense? The offensive line is replacing four of last year’s starters. While the talent is there (Thanks to the JUCO ranks), it probably won’t be ready for South Carolina.
Hey! The great news is Southern Miss returns nine of their eleven starters on last year’s defense! They also added a JUCO cornerback to take one of those two spots in Marquese Wheaton. Middle Linebacker Korey Williams is probably the heart of this group. He’s a freakish athlete who totaled 7.5 sacks from his position. While this isn’t the best defense in the country by any means, the continuity of playing together should bode well for the unit.
This front seven really matches up well against UCF, and while ECU is converting from a more run oriented offense to a pass happy Mike Leach system, the Pirates strength will still be their run game as the season moves along. To say it in short, I like the way this defense matches up with other conference contenders.
The Schedule:
9-2-10 at South Carolina (Thur.)
9-11-10 PRAIRIE VIEW A&M
9-17-10 KANSAS (Fri.)
9-25-10 at Louisiana Tech
10-2-10 MARSHALL
10-9-10 EAST CAROLINA
10-16-10 at Memphis
10-30-10 UAB
11-6-10 at Tulane
11-13-10 at UCF
11-20-10 HOUSTON
11-26-10 at Tulsa (Fri.)
The South Carolina game is ESPN’s first televised game of the 2010 season, which gives the team the perfect chance to show the nation what they have in the proverbial gas tank. Outside of that, the schedule is really not all that tough. We know Southern Miss can win at the Rock, but what about on the road? Should be better, as only UCF and South Carolina had winning records last year.
Prediction: 9-3
Southern Miss is the Fresno State of the east coast. They always seem to show up in the big games, then trip up in the games they have no business losing. The Eagles will contend for the C-USA’s east division with ECU and UCF, to me, they’re the favorites and will meet Houston in the Confernce USA Championship game.
Original Story:
