University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Suffer Another Injury
8/15/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Golden Eagles Suffer Another Injury
Hattiesburg, Miss. - With the first major scrimmage of fall practice out of the way, Southern Miss Head Coach Jeff Bower sees plenty of positives to build on as his Golden Eagles continue to prepare for a Sept. 1, season-opener at home against Oklahoma State.
On the negative side, starting defensive tackle Carlos Crusoe (6-3, 277, r-Jr., Columbus, Miss.) suffered a broken foot early in the scrimmage, was scheduled for surgery tonight and will miss the upcoming season. "That's a place where we really don't need to lose people, and we'll look at the possibility of moving some people around after watching tapes from today's scrimmage, from a depth standpoint, especially," Bower said. "(Offensive lineman Jim) Hicks (Philadelphia, Miss.) is OK. His MRI was negative, we held him out today, he'll be a little sore, but will be OK. That's good news for him and our team."
Despite the injury loss, Bower, overall, was pleased with the scrimmage. "I think we got after each other and the effort was good," Bower said. "But we were a little inconsistent on offense, the defense gave up some big plays that we can't give up, it was a little bit 'up-and-down' on both sides of the ball, but you almost expect that from a first scrimmage.
"We've got to protect the football better than we did today, but I really liked the effort and thought that it was a good scrimmage. We've just got to become more consistent on both sides of the ball. I was impressed with our defense during the goal-line work. The offense had it in there tight and couldn't get it in in two snaps. I think all good football teams are great on the goal line on both offense and defense. The defense won today.
"We had some good plays on offense, but we didn't put them together with any consistency. I think we had some mental errors out there. I'd expect a little of that from the second unit, but we don't need to be making those mistakes on the first unit."
Looking at the numbers, returning starter Jeff Kelly (Deerpark, Ala.) completed 5-of-14 passes for 82 yards and a pair of touchdowns, a 35-yarder to LeRoy Handy (Beaumont, Miss.) and a 26-yarder to Dannye Fowler (Hueytown, Ala.).
Four different quarterbacks took snaps during the scrimmage, including Zac White (Gardendale, Ala.) who completed four-of-six passes for 35 yards and scrambled 14 yards for the workouts only other touchdown; Micky D'Angelo (Gulfport, Miss.) was two of five for 18 yards and freshman Dustin Almond (Orange Park, Fla.) was one of eight for 24 yards.
Handy led the receivers with three catches for 42 yards, Fowler and Rocky Harrison (Tampa, Fla.) each had two catches. Tim Blackwell (Mt. Olive, Miss.) topped the rushers with 50 yards on eight carries, including a long of 14. Returning starter Dawayne Woods (Slidell, La.) picked up 16 yards on four carries.
The defense recorded nine sacks, including two each by linebacker Michael Boley (Athens, Ala.) and defensive end Terrell Paul (Troy, Ala.). Defensive backs Greg Brooks (New Orleans, La.) and Corey Hosey (Bay Springs, Miss.) each picked up an interception.
For the special teams, the Eagles attempted four field goals and made three of them. Brant Hanna (Natalbaly, La.) missed from 35 and made a 47-yarder, while teammate Curtis Jones (Greenwood, Miss.) hit from 44 and 46 yards out.
Southern Miss will return to two-a-day workouts Thursday and Friday and are scheduled for a morning scrimmage Saturday, before starting classes Aug. 20, and returning to single workouts daily.
