University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Head For Tulane
11/21/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Eagles Head For Tulane
Hattiesburg, Miss. -- Southern Miss ended preparation today for Saturday afternoon's "Battle for the Bell" game against Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome. Game time is 2:30.
Despite having to go inside for Wednesday's practice, because of heavy rain and resulting wet practice fields, Head Coach Jeff Bower feels his team has prepared well for the C-USA game. "I think we were really sharp today," he said. "We threw the caught the ball well, and I think we've had a solid week of preparation."
While Southern Miss was losing to Louisville, Tulane was losing to Army. But Bower says convincing his team that the Green Wave is better than the Army game might indicate, has not been a problem. "They can look at the Tulane-Army tape, but they also can look at the Tulane-TCU tape and you see a team that got beat by TCU, 17-10, and TCU did not have an offensive touchdown. TCU beat us a lot worse than that, so it's not hard to get the players' attention in that regard."
The loss to Louisville was a painful one, but Bower says his players have bounced back quickly. "The attitude has been good all week, and I've really been pleased with the way we've practiced," he said. "There's still a lot at stake here, and this game is a really important one for us. We'll play hard."
Tulane last claimed the "Bell" with a 21-7 victory in 1998. Southern Miss has won the last three games, 48-14 in 1999, 56-24 in 2000 and 59-6 last season here in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss leads the series 17-6.
The Golden Eagles are scheduled to depart Hattiesburg late Friday morning and get in a practice session on the 'Dome's artificial surface.
Following the Tulane game, the Eagles end the regular season Nov. 30, in a 2 p.m., game against East Carolina, part of an afternoon-night, football-basketball twinbill. Head Coach James Green and his basketball Golden Eagles will host South Alabama in a 7 p.m., game.
Tickets to both the football game and individual and season tickets to men's basketball remain on sale at the Athletic Ticket Office located in the Ferlise Center, or by calling 601-266-5418 or 1-800-844-TICK.
