University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Alabama Downs Southern Miss, 20-7
9/22/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Alabama Downs Southern Miss, 20-7
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- (9/14/02) - A total of seven fumbles, four recovered by Alabama, and an interception, presented obstacles Southern Miss was not able to overcome as the Crimson Tide rolled to a 20-7 victory over the Golden Eagles, here, Saturday night, in a continuation of the long-running series between the two teams.
Alabama, now 3-1, used an effective running game and a stifling defense to hand Head Coach Jeff Bower and his team their first loss, 3-1, of the 2002 season. That defense limited the Golden Eagles to 35 net rushing yards, while the Tide rushed the ball 64 times for a net of 351 yards, by far the most any of Southern Miss? four opponents have managed this season. In fact, the last team to rush for over 300 yards in a game was Northern Illinois, in a 1992 game that saw the Huskies put up 303 yards.
Shaud Williams led all rushers with 135 yards for Alabama. Teammates Amaad Galloway and Santonio Beard added 89 and 53 yards, respectively, as nine different Alabama players recorded positive rushing yardage.
Those Crimson Tide numbers were surprising, considering that, going into the Alabama game, Southern Miss had given up an average of just 296.7 yards a game through three games, totals that included just under 150 yards a game rushing. Alabama?s 64 rushing attempts were 20 more than previous opponents? season high against the Eagles, the 44 attempts that netted Jackson State just 72 yards.
While the Crimson Tide running game was effective, Alabama?s passing game netted just 21 yards on 5-of-17 passing, and the Golden Eagles picked off a pair of errant Crimson Tide throws, returning one of them for a touchdown. The interceptions marked the eighth-straight game that the Southern Miss defense has recorded at least one interception. Michael Boley returned his pick 54 yards for the Eagles? only touchdown of the game, and Rod Davis collected the other, returning it 27 yards.
The Alabama defense, while limiting Southern Miss to just 35 rushing yards, also intercepted one Micky D?Angelo pass, and harried Golden Eagle quarterbacks and receivers throughout the game. Southern Miss completed just 8-of-27 passes for 110 yards. Marvin Young, Leroy Handy and Chris Johnson each had two receptions for the Golden Eagles, who, for the first time this season did now have a passing touchdown.
Alabama used its ground game to effectively control the clock, putting together three scoring drives of 11-or-more plays, drives that took a total of 16-minutes, and seven seconds off the clock. The time of possession numbers reflected those drives, as Alabama finished with a 39:11-to-20:49 advantage in that department.
While Alabama was putting up numbers, the Southern Miss defense never quit. Three different Golden Eagles finished with double-digit tackles, led by junior defensive back Etric Pruitt, who recorded two forced fumbles, one tackle for a loss and finished the game with a game-high 18 tackles.
Sophomore linebacker Michael Boley recorded 13 tackles, including a tackle for a loss, had an interception and a pass deflection, and junior linebacker Rod Davis also had 13 tackles, including a sack, an interception and a pass breakup.
