Southern Miss Seeks Sixth Win in East Carolina Game
11/19/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Southern Miss Seeks Sixth Win in East Carolina Game
The Southern Miss football team is on the verge of becoming bowl eligible. With 5-3 overall record, 3-2 in Conference USA action, the Golden Eagles can consider themselves available for postseason action if they claim a win at East Carolina (6-4, 5-1) on Friday, Nov. 23, at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium (43,000) in Greenville, N.C., at 10 a.m., central. The game will be aired on ESPN.
This is the 27th meeting between the two schools. Southern Miss leads the series, 19-7. the Golden Eagles won the first four matchups of the series, which dates back to 1951. Southern Miss had won four in a row between 1996 and 1999 before East Carolina won the 2000 meeting, 13-9, to stop the skid.
The Southern Miss offense has shown impressive numbers in the last three games. The combined average against Houston, Penn State and Tulane reveals the Eagles averaged 461.3 yards of total offense, 324.0 on passing and 137.3 on rushing.
Jeff Kelly became the first Southern Miss quarterback to pass for 400 yards in a game, passing for exactly 400 yards against Tulane. The senior completed 23-of-31 passes and threw three touchdowns. He also ran three times for 15 yards and scored another touchdown, breaking the school record for total offense in a game with 415, surpassing Coach Jeff Bower?s 1973 record of 376 yards against Texas - Arlington.
On the season, Kelly is 153-of-264 (.580) for 1,983 passing yards. He has thrown for 11 touchdowns and surrendered seven interceptions.
Dawayne Woods is the Eagles leading rusher with 397 yards on 101 carries. In the past two games, the senior has scored seven touchdowns, six rushing and one receiving. He has scored 10 touchdowns on the year, ranking 38th in the nation.
LeRoy Handy leads the team with 44 receptions for 633 yards, averaging 14.4 yards a catch. He has collected two-straight 100-yard receiving performances, with 101 against Penn State and 100 against Tulane.
Rod Davis is USM?s leading tackler with 69 tackles, 45 solos and 24 assists. Terrell Paul holds the team?s sack title with six on the year, and Greg Brooks claims three interceptions and 14 pass breakups for a team best.
The Pirate offense features quarterback David Garrard and running back Leonard Henry. Garrard is now C-USA second-best career passer with 8,830 yards after recording 284 passing yards against Louisville. Henry is averaging 8.45 yards per carry, which ranks him third in the country. Overall, Henry is the eighth-best rusher in the nation, averaging 135.2 yards a game.
Senior linebacker Pernell Griffin is second in the nation in tackles per game. He is currently averaging 14.5 tackles per game and became Conference USA?s career tackles leader earlier this season, now holding 452 total stops.
John Williamson leads the team in sacks with 5.5, and Christshawn Gilliam is the Pirates? interception leader with two.