University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Host Louisville in Thursday Night Matchup
11/12/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Golden Eagles Host Louisville in Thursday Night Matchup
Conference title hopes are alive for the Golden Eagles (6-3, 4-1) who host league-rival Louisville (5-4, 3-2) Thursday, Nov. 14, in a nationally-televised contest on ESPN, for a 6:45 p.m. kickoff.
Southern Miss ranks along with TCU (5-1 in C-USA) and East Carolina (3-1) with only one conference loss each, and all three are in contention for the league crown heading down the stretch. The Horned Frogs are off this week, and the Pirates travel to UAB.
Thursday?s contest will be the 27th meeting between the Golden Eagles and the Cardinals. Southern Miss holds an 18-7-1 series advantage. Louisville has won the past two meetings, 24-14, last year in Louisville and 48-29 in 2000 in Hattiesburg.
The Golden Eagles have yet to lose at home this year, 4-0, while the Cardinals are 3-1 on the road. This is Louisville?s first road game in over a month, as the Cardinals won at Memphis, 38-32, on Oct. 8, in their last away contest. Southern Miss will be playing at home for the second time in the last seven games.
Both teams are coming off different results, as Louisville lost to Cincinnati, 24-14, while Southern Miss became bowl-eligible with its 20-13 win at UAB.
Quarterback Micky D?Angelo came off the bench and sparked the Golden Eagle offense in the second half. With Southern Miss behind 13-10, the redshirt sophomore came in the game and helped produce 10 points in the fourth quarter.
D?Angelo is projected to be the starting quarterback Thursday, taking over after redshirt Dustin Almond started the past three contests. D?Angelo leads the Eagles with 1,000 yards on 71-of-136 passes. He has thrown four touchdown passes and three interceptions.
Derrick Nix also is expected to play after sitting out last weekend after having surgery on his right leg. The senior leads the team with 869 rushing yards on 143 carries. He also has rushed for nine touchdowns.
Nix has 3,259 rushing yards on his career, leaving him 336 yards behind all-time leading rusher Ben Garry (3,595) and 377 yards behind Ketrick Sanford (Houston) for the Conference USA career rushing title.
LeRoy Handy and Marvin Young lead the Eagle receiving corps. Handy has 29 catches for 416 yards, averaging 14.3 yards a carry. Young follows with 27 catches, but leads with 445 yards and six touchdowns.
Rod Davis, a Butkus Award semifinalist, remains the leader of the Southern Miss defense. The junior leads with 120 total tackles (88 solos, 32 assists), 16 tackles for loss and eight sacks. He also has recorded two interceptions for 29 yards, one pass breakup and one fumble recovery.
Michael Boley has recorded 100 total tackles (64 solos, 36 assists) with 10 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, one interception, three pass breakups one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. The sophomore has returned one interception for a touchdown, which he collected against Alabama.
Etric Pruitt, a Thorpe Award semifinalist, has made 91 tackles (55 solos, 36 assists) and four tackles for loss from his safety spot. He leads the team with six interceptions, 11 pass breakups, two fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles. He also has blocked a kick.
Louisville has not lost two consecutive regular-season games since the 1999 season, when the Cardinals lost to Illinois and Oklahoma on Sept. 18 and 25, respectively. U of L will try to prevent the feat from happening Thursday, as well as from recording three conference losses, which the Cardinals have not registered since 1997.
Two-time C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Dave Ragone leads the Cardinal offense. The senior has completed 162-of-298 passes for 2,096 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions.
Henry Miller is the Cardinals? leading rusher with 549 yards on 122 carries. He also has rushed for 12 touchdowns.
Damien Dorsey leads Louisville receivers with 38 catches for 605 yards and six touchdowns. Joshua Tinch follows with 24 catches for 349 yards and three touchdowns.
Rod Day is the leading tackler for Louisville with 88 total tackles (46 solos, 42 assists). He also claims 3.5 tackles for loss, one sack and two pass breakups.
Dewayne White leads the squad in sacks with 8.5 and tackles for loss with 13. The defensive end also has returned an interception 55 yards.
Devon Thomas is another defensive end standout. He has 5.5 sacks and 10.5 tackles for loss.
Southern Miss will go back on the road, following Thursday?s game. The Eagles face Tulane in New Orleans, on Saturday, Nov. 23, at 2:30 p.m.
