2011 Southern Miss Football Predictions

Written by Jack Jones

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are coming off a season of near misses that cost them a chance to win Conference USA’s East division. USM handed East champion UCF their lone conference defeat last year, but two 1-point losses to East Carolina and UAB, along with a 50-56 setback at Tulsa allowed the Knights to win the East. They finished 8-5 overall, including 5-3 in CUSA play. This team featured the most explosive offense in the conference, but their defense let them down.

Southern Miss is in good shape heading into 2011 with 14 returning starters. They have most of their key pieces back on offense, and their top players back on defense. If the Eagles were going to make a run at winning the East, this would be the year. Larry Fedora enters his fourth season as head coach at USM, and this is easily the most talented team he’s had yet. Will the Eagles finally be able to live up to expectations in 2011? Find out below with my predictions on this team, as well as a preview of their offense and defense.

Offense:

The Eagles’ offense exploded for 36.8 points and 453 total yards/game last season. They put up a ridiculous 45.0 points/game in conference play, which was tops in CUSA. They return seven starters on offense and are primed to match or exceed those gaudy numbers in 2011. Senior QB Austen Davis returns after throwing for 3,103 yards and 20 touchdowns to 6 interceptions last year. Davis has already passed Brett Favre and Lee Roberts for career passing TD’s (53) and is only 299 yards shy of becoming the school’s all-time leader in passing yards. He was also third on the team in rushing (452 yards, 10 TD) last season.

USM brings back their top three rushers from last season. Sophomore RB Kendrick Hardy had a tremendous rookie campaign, leading the way with 903 rushing yards on 6.5/carry and 7 touchdowns. Junior Desmond Johnson (611, 5.3, 8) was second and junior Tracy Lampley (387, 5.9, 1) was fourth. Lampley moves to WR to add depth at the position because there is already so much talent in the backfield. Redshirt freshman Jamal Woodward has tremendous explosion and will challenge Hardy for carries in the near future.

The Eagles lose their #2 and #4 wideouts from last season in Johdrick Morris and DeAndre Brown, but bring back three of their top five. Senior Kelvin Bolden led the way with 46 catches for 722 yards and 6 touchdowns. Junior Quentin Pierce (38, 454, 4) is a returning starter, while sophomore Dominique Sullivan steps in at the other vacant receiver spot. Senior William Spight (25, 219, 0) has starting experience, and he adds depth along with sophomore Justin Simms and Lampley. Junior TE Ryan Hanks steps into a starting role this year.

The offensive line only had one returning starter last year, but posted tremendous numbers. They paved the way for 201 rushing yards/game on 4.7/carry while allowing just 17 sacks all season. They lose first-team All-USA C Cameron Zipp and RG Alex Michael, but bring back three starters in 2011. They have 39 career starts returning, and JUCO transfer Jason Weaver makes this unit even more experienced after taking a medical redshirt last season. He is expected to take the place of senior Thomas Edenfield at right tackle, who gives the bench some experience after making seven starts there last year.

Defense:

Southern Miss was sub-par last season defensively, giving up 29.5 points and 356 total yards/game overall. Where they really struggled was in conference play, yielding 34.6 points and 387 yards against CUSA foes. They certainly have a great chance of improving this season with seven returning starters, including their top four tacklers from last season. Their run D was not the problem last year. The Eagles gave up 113 rushing yards/game (best mark since 2001) on 3.6/carry in 2010.

Three starters return along the defensive line. The only starter they lose is second-team All-CUSA DT Anthony Gray, who had 44 tackles and 6 for loss last season. Senior DE Jamie Collins (76 tackles, 2.5 for loss) and junior DE Cordarro Law (48, 11.5) return to get after the opposing QB. Senior DT Terrance Pope (22, 6.5) is also back. Law earned second-team All-CUSA honors last season and Collins was honorable mention all-conference at linebacker.

Senior Korey Williams returns at MLB after leading the team in tackles (92) last season. He also had 14.5 tackles for loss, and was certainly a snub by only earning honorable mention all-conference. Also back is WLB Ronnie Thornton, who finished fourth on the team in tackles (61) with 6 of those coming for a loss. Sophomore Jerrion Johnson figures to take over the starting SPUR LB spot after seeing limited action last season. He’ll be taking the place of Jamie Collins, who moves to the BAN DE position. This still figures to be one of the best units in CUSA.

The Eagles’ secondary was their biggest weakness a year ago. This unit surrendered 243 passing yards/game on 57.4% completions. They simply gave up too many big plays, and must not gamble as much if they want to improve upon the numbers. This year they lose second-team All-CUSA FS Justin Wilson (41 tackles, 4 INT), a four-year starter at CB in CJ Bailey, and honorable mention all-conference NB Chico Hunter. They do return two solid starters in second-team All-USA sophomore CB Deron Wilson (12 pass break-ups, 3 INT) and senior SS Kendrick Pressley (63 tackles, 4 for loss, 4 passes defensed). They add 2 JUCO transfers to the secondary, including FS Martez Thompson who had 10 tackles in the spring game and should start right away.

Conference USA Predictions: 1st Place East Division – The Eagles were the best team in the conference last season statistically as they outgained opponents by 94.1 total yards/game. With 14 returning starters, I like their chances to win the East division this season. The two best teams from the West division in Houston and Tulsa drop off their schedule, meaning they will only have to face two of the top five teams in the conference. The two toughest teams they will have to play are UCF and SMU and they get both opponents at home. This schedule could not set up any better, and I cannot possibly see a team with this much talent messing it up.

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