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Eagles make their second flight to Boise
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The University of Southern Mississippi football program has played once in Boise, but never against the Boise State Broncos. In 1998 the Golden Eagles traveled to Bronco Stadium for a match-up against the University of Idaho in the Humanitarian Bowl. Head Coach Jeff Bower certainly hopes this trip goes better for his team. In ’98 the Eagles fell to the Vandals 42-35.
Thursday night marks the first time Southern Miss will be pitted against a current Western Athletic Conference member school. Idaho was still a part of the Big Sky Conference at the time of the H-bowl meeting. The Golden Eagles hold a current record of 36-16 over WAC schools, having played Louisiana Tech, Utah State, Nevada, Hawaii and Idaho.
The first contest against the Broncos is expected to be exciting. Both teams enter Thursday’s game with a 2-1 record.
Both teams have played on the road against a major conference team this year and lost. Southern Miss fell 39-19 at the University of Tennessee on Sept. 8.
The Golden Eagles bounced back to pull off a week-three win at East Carolina University, 28-21. USM was able to hold off a 21-point third quarter surge by ECU and rally late with a one yard touchdown run by quarterback Jeremy Young with 00:32 left in the game.
The win improved the defending Conference USA champion’s record back to over .500, which is critical for USM hitting the road to BSU before beginning a tough conference schedule.
The Golden Eagle offense has been effective this year, averaging 27.3 points per game with an average of 389.7 yards of total offense. Young, a senior, is the cornerstone of the USM attack. He enters his 18th consecutive start for the Golden Eagles, which is currently the 12th most by any active quarterback in the country.
Coach Bower is currently in his 17th season in charge of the program and has compiled an impressive 114-78-1 record as head coach. He has also led the Golden Eagles to 13 consecutive winning seasons. The only other programs in the country that have achieved this feat are Florida, Florida State, Michigan and Virginia Tech.
“To be that consistent for that long, the coaches, they know how impressive that is,” Boise State Head Coach Chris Petersen said. “That’s why we have a lot of respect for this program.”
Offense
The Golden Eagle offense balances a nice combination of experience under center and youth in the backfield, which will be crucial to maintain if they are going to have any success against the rock solid defense BSU will put on the field Thursday evening.
Young continues to be a double-threat quarterback, while sophomore running back Damion Fletcher rounds out the explosive rushing attack. This season Young has rushed for 41 yards per game to compliment 202 yards per game in the air. Young’s completion percentage is his most glaring statistic to date, having only completed 53.3 percent of his passes this season.
Fletcher is quickly moving his way into the USM record books after a stellar freshman campaign. In 2006 Fletcher rushed for 1,388 yards, which is the second best rushing season by any Golden Eagle running back ever. He topped Ben Garry’s 1,236 yards for the No. 2 spot, which was set in 1976.
“He’s an impressive player,” Coach Petersen said. “To do what he did as a true freshman and come back, you know he’s got some talent.”
So far in 2007, Fletcher has averaged 101.3 yards per game with two touchdowns. He is averaging 5.3 yards per carry and has only been tackled for seven negative yards in the first three games. He and Young have combined for five of the seven USM rushing touchdowns this season and 142.3 of the team’s 182 rushing yards per game.
Defense
The Golden Eagle defense hasn’t exactly been stingy this season, but they have been opportunistic enough to take pressure off the offensive unit so far. The USM defense has forced four turnovers and sacked the opposing quarterback five times.
Sophomore safety Eddie Hicks has been sensational thus far with the only two interceptions for the defensive unit and 23 tackles. He is currently tied for second place on the team in tackles with senior defensive back LeVance Richmond.
Leading the team in tackles this season is sophomore linebacker Gerald McRath (6-3, 220). Despite being the youngest member of the starting line backing corps, McRath has already made 39 tackles this season, 3.5 tackles for a loss and .5 sacks.
For perspective, in the same amount of games McRath has 20 more tackles than anyone on the BSU roster.
As a unit the USM defense has allowed 24.3 points per game, which will have to drop if the Golden Eagles want to have a chance to pick up road wins. USM has given up 342.0 yards of total offense per game and are allowing over 120 rushing yards per game as well.
USM has managed to make a couple of stops in the red-zone, but have still allowed eight touchdowns on 12 trips inside the Golden Eagle’s 20-yard line. Similar to the BSU program, USM relies on slightly undersized players to make plays with their speed and athleticism.
“Each week there’s just a new challenge and we kind of knew that going in,” Coach Petersen said. “But to put on that tape and see all that speed is definitely scary.”
Players to watch
Jeremy Young
Senior
Quarterback
6-3, 215
The eagle eye: Young is in his second season as the Golden Eagles starting quarterback. He played all 14 games of the 2006 season and provides toughness and good decision-making under center.
Eddie Hicks
Sophomore
Defensive Back
6-2, 185
The eagle eye: Hicks plays with a lot of passion and enthusiasm and is known for his good instincts and natural ability. He has tremendous play-making ability and already has two interceptions in ‘07.
Gerald McRath
Sophomore
Linebacker
6-3, 212
The eagle eye: McRath is without question the leader in the linebacker corps and has an ability to be wherever the play is. He can make big plays and coordinates the defense on the field.
Damion Fletcher
Sophomore
Running Back
5-10, 175
The eagle eye: Fletcher compiled the best single season rushing mark by a freshman at Southern Miss or in Conference USA last season. He ranks No. 13 all-time in NCAA history.
Jake Garcin
