Buster Mullin (1990) - Southern Miss M-Club Hall of Fame

Buster Mullin

Induction:
1990

As backs go Buster Mullin wasn't a big guy. He wasn't the type of back that had the bulk to always lower his shoulder and try to run over somebody. But what Mullin had when he played for the Southern Miss football team in 1946 and 1947 was a lot of heart.
   It was that heart, that drive for excellence that made Mullin so successful and such a major contributor to the first Southern Miss teams after World War II.
   No one ever played the game any harder than Mullin did, and with a wonderful instinct for the game, he was a combination coach and player on the field, and the sparkplug of the team whenever they needed a boost.
   Ask those that played with Mullin during his tenure and they will tell you that he was one of the most important ingredients on the team, and he was one of the reasons the 1946 and 1947 teams combined to win 14 of 20 games, including eight of the last 11 they played.
   As a back on both offense and defense Mullin saw a great deal of playing time, in addition to being a key factor on the special teams.
   Reed Green coached the 1946 team, the first squad after World War II,, and Mullin figured prominently into his plans. That squad had a bevy of outstanding backs, but Mullin got his share of the workload, while helping Southern Miss to a 7-3 record that year.
   The 1946 offensive football team provided a great deal of fireworks that year scoring 65 points in two games that season and 55 points in another. On defense they were just as spectacular, shutting out six of the ten opponents they played. Of the three losses the team had that season, two were by a single point.
   The 1946 team finished the year with a 55-0 win over the University of Havana at the Cigar Bowl in Cuba.
   Mullin continued to play a key role on the 1947 squad, which after losing a 34-7 opener to Alabama, shocked a lot of the football world with a 19-13 win over Auburn. Although that team wasn't as explosive as the '46 team, this one probably had more weapons. They would go on to finish the year 7-3, finishing strongly by winning four of its last five games. Mullin and the Southern Miss defense was just as strong that year, recording three shutouts and holding three other opponents to a single touchdown.
   Every team has a guy that is a leader. A player that jumps up when the team needs a boost and says what everybody needs to hear and in his own special way motivates the team to do better.
   Mullin was the type of player that not only did that, but on the field he gave his all to the team. Regardless of what Coach Green needed, Mullin was the player he would call on.
   There have been bigger, better and faster backs at Southern Miss over the years, but none that had the heart and love of the game than Mullin.