Southern Miss wins wild shootout over Tulsa

Southern Miss Golden Eagles 2009 ... Head Coach: Larry Fedora

2009 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 7-5
2009 Record: 7-4

9/5 Alcorn St W 52-0
9/12 UCF W 26-19
9/19 Virginia W 37-34
9/26 at Kansas L 35-28
10/1 at UAB L 30-17
10/10 at Louisville L 25-23
10/17 Memphis W 36-16
10/24 Tulane W 43-6
10/31 at Houston L 50-43
11/7 OPEN DATE
11/14 at Marshall W 27-20
11/21 Tulsa W 44-34
11/28 at East Carolina

2008 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 8-4
2008 Record: 7-6

Aug. 30 UL Lafayette W 51-21
Sept. 6 at Auburn L 27-13
Sept. 13 at Arkansas St W 27-24
Sept. 20 Marshall L 34-27
Sept. 27 OPEN DATE
Oct. 4 UTEP L 40-37 2OT
Oct. 11 Boise State L 24-7
Oct. 18 at Rice L 45-40
Oct. 25 at Memphis L 36-30
Nov. 1 UAB W 70-14
Nov. 8 at UCF W 17-6
Nov. 15 East Carolina W 21-3
Nov. 22 OPEN DATE
Nov. 29 at SMU W 28-12
New Orleans Bowl
Dec. 21 Troy 30-27 OT

Southern Miss Golden Eagles

Nov. 21
at Southern Miss 44 …. Tulsa 34
Southern Miss overcame a lightning delay and 589 yards of Tulsa offense highlighted by a 95-yard DeAndre Brown touchdown catch in the third quarter and a 60-yard touchdown catch from Johdrick Morris as part of Martevious Young’s four touchdown passes. Tulsa rolled up yards at will with G.J. Kinne running for a 55-yard score and connecting with Damaris Johnson 17 times. Charles Clay scored four times for the Golden Hurricane including a six-yard catch late in the fourth, but USM held on. Tulsa turned it over three times which helped the Golden Eagles keep pace.
Player of the Game: In a losing cause, Tulsa WR Damaris Johnson caught 17 passes for 196 yards, and he ran two times for 18 yards
Tulsa: Passing: G.J. Kinne, 32-46, 396 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: G.J. Kinne, 19-88, 1 TD, Receiving: Damaris Johnson, 17-196
Southern Miss: Passing: Martevious Young, 12-21, 276 yds, 4 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 22-88, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 3-135, 2 TD 
What It All Means: The defense didn’t show up against Tulsa, but the offense came up big when it had to, highlighted by the huge touchdowns from DeAndre Brown, to stay alive for the Conference USA title. Winning four of its last five games, USM can get a second crack against Houston (the likely West winner) by beating East Carolina next week. That’s not going to be a walk in the park, but if the offense can be explosive, it has a shot. ECU is good, but it isn’t the killer of last year. USM can win this, and it can beat Houston (or SMU, if it miraculously gets in).

Nov. 14
Southern Miss 27 … at Marshall 20
Martevious Young threw two second half touchdown passes connecting with Damion Fletcher from 39 yards out and DeAndre Brown for a 36-yard score as Southern Miss overcame a sluggish start. The Golden Eagles scored first on a one-yard Tory Harrison run, but the offense fell flat for long stretches, getting helped by a 93-yard Tracey Lampley kickoff return for a score following an Aaron Dobson 29-yard touchdown catch to give Marshall a 10-7 lead. Marshall outgained USM 363 yards to 294, but it turned the ball over three times and didn’t come up with any takeaways.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss QB Martevious Young completed 14-of-25 passes for 191 yards and two scores, and he ran seven times for 16 yards.
Southern Miss: Passing: Martevious Young, 14-25, 191 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 13-55, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 4-58, 1 TD
Marshall: Passing: Brian Anderson, 29-52, 337 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Darius Marshall, 11-22, Receiving: Antavious Wilson, 13-153
What It All Means: Southern Miss was hardly sharp and hardly pretty, but it came through in the fourth quarter when it had to with Martevious Young throwing well late and the defense coming up with the big stops needed. USM is now bowl eligible with Tulsa and East Carolina coming up, and after winning three of its last four games, it’s on a bit of a roll. The team might not be playing at a high level, but it’s winning. 

Oct. 31
at Houston 50 … Southern Miss 43
In a thrilling game with Houston cranking out 750 yards of total offense and Southern Miss ripping off 608, Case Keenum threw for 559 yards and five touchdowns including a 28-yard strike to Patrick Edwards with 21 seconds to play, just 36 seconds after USM took the lead on Gerald Baptise’s third touchdown catch of the game. The Golden Eagles still had one final shot, but the Hail Mary attempt was knocked down. The two teams combined for 38 points in the fourth quarter and 919 passing yards. James Cleveland caught 13 passes for 190 yards and two scores for the Cougars and Tyron Carrier added ten grabs for 88 yards.
Player of the Game: Houston QB Case Keenum completed 44-of-55 passes for 559 yards and five scores with a touchdown
Southern Miss: Passing: Martavious Young, 20-34, 334 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 26-136, 1 TD, Receiving: Gerald Baptiste, 8-186, 3 TD
Houston: Passing: Case Keenum, 44-54, 559 yds, 5 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Charles Sims, 14-95, 1 TD, Receiving: James Cleveland, 13-190, 2 TD 
What It All Means: There’s no reason to look too much into the defensive problems against Houston; the Cougars are going to do that against everyone. On the plus side, USM kept up the pace despite a record-setting day from Case Keenum and the Cougar attack with Martavious Young throwing extremely well. However, as good as Damion Fletcher was, rushing for 136 yards and a score, he was one of the few backs who didn’t go ballistic on the Houston run defense. Even with the loss, USM will win the East if it wins out starting with a road game at Marshall in two weeks.

Oct. 24
at Southern Miss 43 … Tulane 6
Southern Miss dominated from the start with DeAndre Brown touchdown catches from 21 and six yards out, a 16-yard fumble return for a score from Jamie Collins, and a 77-yard Andre Watson blocked field goal return for a score as past ot a 26-0 lead. Tulane got its only points on a one-yard Andre Anderson run, but USM responded with 17 unanswered points in the fourth. Tulane was sacked six times and gained 212 yards of offense.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss QB Martavious Young completed 13-of-15 passes for 127 yards and two touchdowns, and he ran five times for 38 yards.
Tulane: Passing: Ryan Griffin, 21-33, 158 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Andre Anderson, 19-92, 1 TD, Receiving: Casey Robottom, 5-61
Southern Miss: Passing: Martavious Young, 13-15, 127 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Tory Harrison, 12-93, 1 TD, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 4-41, 2 TD
What It All Means: This was a nearly perfect performance on both sides of the ball. Martevious Young was terrific at keeping the chains moving, while the defense, led by six sacks and Korey Williams’ 12 tackles, 11 solo, to come up with the easy win. Three of the final four games are on the road, including games at Houston, Marshall, and East Carolina, so if the Golden Eagles end up playing for the Conference USA title, they’ll have earned it. 

Oct. 17
at Southern Miss 36 … Memphis 16
Southern Miss broke open a tight game with 21 straight points with one-yard touchdown runs from Damion Fletcher and Tory Harrison and a 50-yard Tracey Lampley punt return for a score. A three-yard Fletcher run put the Golden Eagles up 30-9 before Memphis finally got into the end zone on a 12-yard Duke Calhoun catch. The two teams combined for 21 penalties.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss LB Cordarro Law made ten tackles with three tackles for loss
Memphis: Passing: Will Hudgens, 26-42, 255 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Curtis Steele, 24-136, Receiving: Duke Calhoun, 10-76, 1 TD
Southern Miss: Passing: Martevious Young, 10-21, 155 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 17-67, 2 TD, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 5-83, 1 TD
What It All Means: It’s not like Martevious Young has stepped up with Austin Davis out for the year, but he made the throws he needed to come up with on third downs and Damion Fletcher did what he needed to do to help carry the offense. The special teams helped out when needed with Tracey Lampley setting the tone with his punt return for a touchdown early in the second half, and the team will need more of that to stay alive in the Conference USA race. The Tulane game has to be used as an advanced scrimmage to come up with something special to be able to keep up with Houston in two weeks. 

Oct. 10
at Louisville 25 … Southern Miss 23
Ryan Payne nailed a 32-yard field goal in the final minutes to give Louisville the win. Southern Miss held a 16-7 lead after the first half helped by three Justin Estes field goals and a one-yard Damion Fletcher touchdown run, but the Cardinals came back in the third quarter on a 13-yard Bilal Powell touchdown run and a 92-yard Scott Long touchdown catch. The Golden Eagles took the lead with 2:13 to play on a 13-yard Tory Harrison run, but couldn’t hold. This was Louisville’s first win over an FBS team since beating South Florida on October 25th of last year.
Player of the Game: Louisville WR Scott Long caught five passes for 146 yards and a score.
Southern Miss: Passing: Martevious Young, 22-30, 229 yds
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 19-86, 1 TD, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 5-85
Louisville: Passing: Adam Froman, 14-26, 248 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Vic Anderson, 14-90, 1 TD, Receiving: Scott Long, 5-146, 1 TD
What It All Means: With Austin Davis done for the year, USM needed to find out if it could rely on its quarterback. Martavious Young might not have been perfect, but he didn’t make any mistakes and he completed 22-of-30 passes. Damion Fletcher helped, but he wasn’t able to take control of the game despite running for 86 yards. Now on a three-game losing streak, USM has to take advantage of two relatively easy home games against Memphis and Tulane before going to Houston. To win against the better teams, more drives have to go for touchdowns instead of field goals. That proved costly against the Cardinals.

Oct. 1
at UAB 30 … Southern Miss 17
Joe Webb ran for 138 yards including a 31-yard touchdown, and he threw a 21-yard touchdown pass as UAB stunned Southern Miss. The wounded Golden Eagles fought throughout with Austin Davis connecting with Quentin Pierce for touchdowns from 41 and 20 yards away, but UAB scored the final ten points in the span of 22 seconds with Hiram Atwater sealing the deal with a 40-yard interception return for a score. Josh Zahn hit three field goals for the Blazers including a 51-yarder.
Player of the Game: UAB S Hiram Atwater led the team with ten tackles with an interception for a 40-yard score.
Southern Miss: Passing: Austin Davis, 24-32, 234 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Tory Harrison, 11-66, Receiving: Gerald Baptiste, 8-74
UAB: Passing: Joe Webb, 6-13, 23 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Joe Webb, 24-138, 1 TD, Receiving: Rashad Slaughter, 2- -3
What It All Means: Southern Miss has one big clunker per year, and this one hurts. The defense did a great job against the UAB passing game, holding it to 23 yards, but it couldn’t handle the mobility of QB Joe Webb and it couldn’t get its own offense going on a consistent basis. With RB Damion Fletcher out, it was up to Tory Harrison to take over and he was mediocre running for 66 yards on 11 carries, and it didn’t help to not have DeAndre Brown, the star receiver who overcame a broken leg only to suffer a shoulder injury. Now the Golden Eagles are 0-2 on the road with a sate at Louisville up next. The team needs to get healthy and it needs to be far crisper on third downs, and it has to get the pass rush rolling again.

Sept. 26
at Kansas 35 … Southern Miss 28
The Kansas offense rolled up 433 yards of offense, but the team struggled to put away Southern Miss needing a 12-yard Kerry Meier touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to take the lead for good. The Golden Eagles pressured the KU backfield all game long, but Todd Reesing threw three touchdowns passes, with two to Meier including a 62-yarder to open the scoring. Toben Opurum provided the balance with scores from 12 and two yards out, but USM kept coming back with Austin Davis throwing for three scores and running for another. But the KU D stiffened in the fourth quarter to get the win.
Player of the Game: Kansas WR Kerry Meier caught ten passes for 141 yards and two scores.
Southern Miss: Passing: Austin Davis, 28-42, 331 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 10-27, Receiving: Freddie Parham, 7-36
Kansas: Passing: Todd Reesing, 30-41, 331 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Toben Opurum, 28-109, 1 TD, Receiving: Kerry Meier, 10-141, 2 TD 
What It All Means: The Golden Eagles got a big passing day out of Austin Davis, he kept the team alive in the shootout, but the running game was stopped way too often and the defense didn’t come up big when hit needed to. The pass rush was good, but the pressure didn’t produce enough mistakes or misfires and it didn’t throw Todd Reesing off his game. USM has to retool quickly with UAB up on Thursday night.

Sept. 19
at Southern Miss 37 … Virginia 34
Virginia got out to a 13-0 lead helped by a 69-yard Tim Smith touchdown pass, but Southern Miss chipped back with a six-yard Damion Fletcher touchdown run and a two-yard Ryan Hanks scoring catch to keep it close, but Jameel Sewell’s second short rushing score of the day gave the Cavs a 34-17 lead. But Freddie Parham answered with a 100-yard kickoff for a touchdown to spark a run of 21-unanswered point with Fletcher running for a ten-yard score and Tory Harrison giving the Eagles the lead for good on a 57-yard dash.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss RB Damion Fletcher ran 26 times for 115 yards and two touchdowns.
Southern Miss: Passing: Austin Davis, 14-26, 130 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 26-115, 2 TD, Receiving: Tory Harrison, 3-34
Virginia: Passing: Jameel Sewell, 24-46, 312 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Dominique Wallace, 11-35, Receiving: Kris Burd, 6-79, 1 TD
What It All Means: It wasn’t a perfect performance, but it should say something that the Eagles got a spotty performance from QB Austin Davis, and there were three fumbles and nine penalties, and the Eagles still found a way to win. Off to a nice 3-0 start, this was a wake-up call that showed the offense could potentially keep up with Kansas to kick off the three-game road trip. The defense has been good at getting into the backfield, and it’ll have to get to KU QB Todd Reesing on a regular basis to have a shot at the win. 

Sept. 12
Southern Miss 26 ... at UCF 19
Southern Miss got a 22-yard Martez Smith fumble return for a score and a 18-yard Leroy Banks touchdown catch in the first quarter, while the second half was controlled by Damion Fletcher. Held in check early on, Fletcher ran well in the second half and broke open the game with a five-yard scoring run with 1:43 to play. UCF rallied with a five-yard Rocky Ross touchdown grab less than 20 seconds later to pull within seven, but that was as close as the Knights would get.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss RB Damion Fletcher ran 21 times for 103 yards and a score, and he caught six passes for 51 yards.
UCF: Passing: Brett Hodges, 15-26, 158 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Brynn Harvey, 14-37, Receiving: Rocky Ross, 5-56, 1 TD
Southern Miss: Passing: Austin Davis, 23-31, 253 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 21-103, 1 TD, Receiving: DeAndre Brown, 7-75
What It All Means: It might not always be pretty, but Southern Miss is playing well. It took too long to put UCF away, but with a good defensive effort and balance when needed offensively, it was a good win going into what needs to be a layup against a dying Virginia. Austin Davis is playing well and the return of WR DeAndre Brown from a leg injury is a huge boost, but when push comes to shove, the offense revolves around Damion Fletcher. Quietly, the team is off to a nice start and is looking like a true contender for the Conference USA title.

Sept. 5
at Southern Miss 52 ... Alcorn State 0
Southern Miss was never threatened as Austin Davis threw three touchdown passes, with two to Gerald Baptiste, and he ran for another, while Damion Fletcher had a big day running for 126 yards with a three-yard score. ASU was outgained 631 yards to 171 and only gained ten first downs.
Player of the Game: Southern Miss QB Austin Davis completed 19-of-25 passes for 217 yards and three touchdowns and ran for 36 yards and a score.
Alcorn State: Passing: Timothy Buckley, 8-19, 94, 2 INT
Rushing: Arnold Walker, 15-50, Receiving: Edward Johnson, 3-39
Southern Miss: Passing: Austin Davis, 19-25, 217 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 19-126, 1 TD, Receiving: Freddie Parham, 4-51
What It All Means: Southern Miss was able to stretch out its legs and beat up on a far inferior opponents, but the scrimmage against Southern showed that everything was working at a midseason level. Austin Davis was razor sharp, Damion Fletcher ran well, and the defense didn't give up a thing. The next two games at home against UCF and Virginia are very winnable before going to Kansas.