University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
TCU Proves To Be Too Much For Golden Eagles
10/31/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
TCU Proves To Be Too Much For Golden Eagles
Ft. Worth, Texas -- TCU collected 345 yards of total offense, but made the most of those yards en route to a convincing 37-7 Conference USA victory over Southern Miss in a rare Wednesday night game, televised nationally by ESPN2.
The Horned Frogs, who won for the seventh- straight time, put a 29-yard field goal on the board midway through the first period and then added a nine-play, 53-yard second quarter drive that was capped by a 15-yard Lonta Hobbs run, giving TCU a 10-0 halftime lead.
Southern Miss countered quickly in the third period with a five-play, 72-yard scoring drive that ended with a 48-yard Dustin Almond-to-Marvin Young pass that cut the Horned Frog margin to just six points with 13:46 left in the third period. TCU added a field goal at the 11:04 mark, and then effectively sealed the eventual outcome when Jared Smitherman stepped in front of an Almond pass and took it 37 yards for a score and a 23-7 lead.
Southern Miss failed to move on its next possession, and Hobbs added his second touchdown on a 53-yard run at the 8:46 mark and with 42-seconds left scored his third TD of the game on a 13-yard run that gave the Horned Frogs 24, third period points, and proved to be the final points either team would score.
Hobbs finished the game with 123 rushing yards and fellow running back Ricky Madison had 91 yards. TCU finished with 208 rushing yards and 345 yards of total offense, compared to just 185 on the part of the Eagles, who rushed for just 75 yards. Senior Derrick Nix got 48 of those on nine carries before leaving with a sprained a ankle.
Almond went most of the way for the Eagles at quarterback, in his second start of the season, though Micky D?Angelo saw action for the first time in two games. The Horned Frog defense made it tough on Almond all night as the redshirt freshman completed just nine of 27 passes for 110 yards, one touchdown and the one interception that also resulted in a score.
In addition to Nix?s 48 yards, Anthony Harris added 42.
Southern Miss? defense kept TCU mostly in check until the fateful third period. Linebackers Michael Boley and Rod Davis did yeoman work with 15 and 13 tackles, respectively. Southern Miss recorded nine tackles for loss, including two by Boley, and had three sacks.
On the other side of the ball, TCU?s senior linebacker, LaMarcus McDonald, was a one-man wrecking crew as he posted 16 tackles, including six tackles for loss, and four of the Horned Frogs? 12 sacks.
The loss was the first of the season in league play for the Golden Eagles, who fell into a group of teams, all with one loss each. TCU now is 4-1, Southern Miss, Louisville and UAB all at 3-1. The victory for the Horned Frogs also was the second straight over the Golden Eagles, after TCU handed Southern Miss a 14-12 loss in the final game of the 2001 regular season.
Following a "short" weekend off, the Golden Eagles will play at UAB, Nov. 9, then host Louisville, Nov. 14, in a Thursday night game that could have major C-USA and bowl implications. That game is scheduled form ESPN and will start at 6:30 p.m.
