University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Press on and Face UAB This Saturday
11/6/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Eagles Press on and Face UAB This Saturday
The Southern Miss football team looks to recover from its worst defeat in five years when the 5-3 squad (3-1 in Conference USA) goes to Birmingham, Ala., to face UAB (4-4, 3-1) on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 2 p.m. The game will be televised by Comcast/Charter Sports Southeast (CSS) and ESPN Plus.
This is the third meeting between the two schools. After defeating the Blazers, 3-0, in Hattiesburg last year, Southern Miss holds a 2-0 series lead. The Golden Eagles won the first meeting between the two schools, 33-30 (2OT), in Birmingham, Ala., during the 2000 season.
Southern Miss lost to TCU, 37-7, last Wednesday, Oct. 30, suffering its first conference loss of the season. Only twice in the previous two seasons have the Golden Eagles given up 30 or more points in a game. One performance came against Penn State (a 38-20 loss in 2001), and the other was the previous Birmingham, Ala., meeting against the Blazers.
Derrick Nix leads the Golden Eagle offense with 869 rushing yards on 143 carries and nine rushing touchdowns on the year. Southern Miss is 5-0 this season, when the redshirt senior scores.
Nix needs 337 yards to become the all-time rushing leader at Southern Miss, surpassing Ben Garry (1974-77). He also needs 377 more yards to pass Ketrick Sanford (Houston) as Conference USA?s all-time rusher with 3,636.
Dustin Almond is now 1-1 as the Golden Eagles? starting quarterback. The redshirt freshman has completed 45-of-97 passes for 530 yards and has thrown three touchdowns and one interception.
LeRoy Handy and Marvin Young are the receiving leaders on the squad. Handy holds 27 catches for 366 yards, and Young has made 24 receptions for 385 yards and five touchdowns.
Rod Davis leads the Golden Eagles defense with 108 total tackles (79 solos and 29 assists). He has recorded a team-best 15 tackles for loss and seven sacks, as well as two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Michael Boley has 91 total tackles (58 solos and 33 assists), with nine tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, one interception, three pass breakups, one fumble recovery and one forced fumble. Etric Pruitt is third on the squad with 81 total tackles (53 solos and 28 assists), four tackles for loss, six interceptions (ranking third in the nation), nine pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and one blocked kick.
UAB is coming off an open date after posting its first road win of the season, a 29-26 victory over Army two weeks ago. The Blazers rallied from a 19-7 halftime deficit to beat the Black Knights on Oct. 26.
Redshirt freshman Darrell Hackney has started the past four games for the Blazers at quarterback and has passed for 935 yards and 10 touchdowns in those performances, hitting 74-of-135 passes.
Dan Burks leads the Blazers in rushing with 71 carries for 317 yards and one touchdown. Kendal Gibson follows with 56 carries for 278 yards and two touchdowns.
Willie Quinnie is the Blazers? top receiver with 27 catches for 424 yards and five touchdown catches. In UAB?s last outing, Quinnie made 12 catches for 159 yards and three touchdowns.
Zac Woodfin leads UAB?s defense with 71 tackles (43 solos, 28 assists), 12.5 tackles for loss and three quarterback sacks. Chris Brown leads in interceptions with three and is tied for the team lead in fumble recoveries with two. Dio Hill has made 10 pass breakups this season.
