University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Excited About Houston Bowl
12/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Excited About Houston Bowl
One word that came from the mouths of Southern Mississippi officials today is ?excited??excited about the opportunity to play in the Houston Bowl, excited about a game in the new Reliant Stadium and excited to face a quality team from the Big 12 Conference.
The Houston Bowl hosted members of Southern Miss?s Athletic Department and some local alumni today on a visit to Reliant Stadium, home of the December 27th Bowl game. Southern Miss of Conference USA will play a Big 12 team that will be announced Sunday.
?Our kids are tremendously excited about this opportunity,? Head Coach Jeff Bower told the media. ?This is where they wanted to be. They wanted to come to this great city and enjoy some time over the Christmas holidays and have an opportunity to play an opponent from the Big 12 Conference.?
Although Bower calls the Big 12 arguably the best conference in the country this year, he said it doesn?t matter who the Golden Eagles play.
?We?re coming here to win a football game. That?s the most important thing and that?s our main objective. We?re going to work hard to get ready to play in this ball game and represent our university and our conference. No matter who we play, it?s going to take an outstanding effort to win the football game.?
Athletic Director Richard Giannini said it?s not only the players who are excited, the fans are thrilled as well.
?We?ve got over a thousand alumni in the Houston area,? Giannini said. ?We started last night calling every alumnus in the area to tell them that we?re going to be here and encouraging them to buy tickets and come to the game. We expect that we?re going to have a large turnout because our fans are excited.?
Houston Bowl President and CEO Jerry Ippoliti had nothing but praise for Southern Mississippi and especially Coach Bower.
"His last nine years has been a winning season every year,? Ippoliti said of Bower. ?and I don?t know if you can say that about a lot of coaches that we have in the country today. Coach Bower, we are elated, we are excited and certainly flattered and fortunate to have Southern Mississippi as one of our teams in the Houston Bowl. You?ve done a great job, you?re a credit to your profession and an outstanding individual and we?re very, very happy to have you.?
Southern Miss is 5-3 in Conference USA, 7-5 overall. Bower said the Golden Eagles? strength is their defense. ?We?ve played good defense all year long. We?ve been especially good at giving up few points. At times, we?ve given up some yardage but we?ve kept people out of the end zone and made plays.?
And the coach said he hopes the next three weeks will give running back Derrick Nix time to heal.
?He was really having a tremendous year this year up until the fourth game when he had an ankle injury and he?s really never been the same,? Bower said. ?He played on pure guts and toughness this whole season. He?s been hurt, he?s not 100 per cent but he?s willing to do anything he can do to help this football team win.?
The Houston Bowl will be played at noon Friday, December 27th, at Reliant Stadium. Tickets for the game are on sale at the Southern Miss Ticket Office. Tickets for the game are $57 each and can be purchased by calling either 1-800-844-8425 or 601-266-5418, by faxing an order to 601-266-6529, or via the internet at www.SouthernMiss.com. The priority order deadline for Eagle Club members and football season ticket holders is Friday, Dec. 13.
Southern Miss? revenue for the game will depend, in part, on the number of tickets the Golden Eagles are able to sell. Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets through the Southern Miss Ticket Office to assure their seating within the Southern Miss ticket area.
