University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Win Another Close One Over UAB
11/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Eagles Win Another Close One Over UAB
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. ? UAB?s Blazers and their fans can be forgiven if they feel just a little frustrated, after dropping a 20-13 decision to Southern Miss in Conference USA action here Saturday afternoon.
The loss is the third in as many years, and, while close, the margin in this one more than doubled the Golden Eagles? winning margin for the past two years. In other words, the games have been close, a pair of three-point games, including one overtime contest in the first two meetings and then today?s seven-point game.
Head Coach Jeff Bower?s squad improved to 6-3 overall and 4-1 in the league. TCU continues to top C-USA standings though, with a 5-1 record, after beating Tulane on Saturday. With the victory, Southern Miss becomes bowl eligible, and retains a shot at claiming first place and a spot in the Dec. 31, Liberty Bowl.
Southern Miss made things look easy early in Saturday?s game against UAB, using a 45-yard Curt Jones field goal and a 47-yard pass from wideout Karlin Riley to wideout Marvin Young to take a 10-0 lead midway through the opening period. However, UAB refused to let the game get out of hand, and the Blazers fought back with 10 points of their own to send the two teams into the locker room tied at 10.
Neither team scored in the third period, and the Blazers grabbed their only lead of the game when Nick Hayes booted a 29-yard field goal at the 13:43 mark of the third period to give his team a 13-10 edge. Southern Miss reclaimed the lead with a one-yard run by James Wally, and tacked on a 25-yard Jones field goal with 1:11 remaining in the game to push the final score to 20-13. Those final points came at the end of a 12-play, 80-yard drive that took 5:23 off the clock, and forced UAB to burn timeouts in an effort to conserve time on the clock.
Walley, filling in for Derrick Nix, who had surgery earlier in the week, turned in the first 100-yard game of his career with an even 100 on 27 carries. The Golden Eagles rushed for 101 yards, while limiting UAB to 88.
Dustin Almond started for the Eagles and completed 5-of-11 for 43 yards. He was intercepted twice, though, and was replaced in the second half by Micky D?Angelo, who completed just 4-of-8, but for 133 yards. The Eagles put together 223 yards passing, and finished with 324 yards of total offense, compared to 226 for the Blazers.
Chris Johnson led the Southern Miss receivers with 99 yards on four catches, and Marvin Young added three for 60 yards, and LeRoy Handy two for another 50 yards. Eagle receivers averaged a whopping 22.3 yards a catch.
Following tonight?s victory, the Eagles have a short week to get ready for a 6:30 Thursday night ESPN game against Louisville, in a game that will be important to both teams. Louisville is fresh off an upset, home loss to Cincinnati (24-13), and has dropped to 3-2 in the league and 5-4 overall. Southern Miss needs to win to keep pace with TCU, already at 5-1 in the C-USA race.
Tickets for the Thursday night game remain on sale through the Southern Miss Athletic Ticket Office, located in the Ferlise Center on West Fourth Street, or by calling, 601-266-5418 or 1-800-844-TICK.
