University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles, Crimson Tide Meet Again On Saturday
10/7/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Alabama Notes
Golden Eagles, Crimson Tide Meet Again On Saturday
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Fresh off a big Conference USA win over Cincinnati, Southern Miss steps out of the league to revisit a very familiar foe, when the Golden Eagles (3-2, 3-0 in C-USA) take on the Alabama Crimson Tide (2-4, 1-2 in SEC), Saturday, at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Saturday's game, slated for a 2:05 p.m., kickoff, will be televised on a pay-per-view basis. Residents of Mississippi and Alabama may call their local cable operator to order the game. The game also will be available on DISH Network or by calling 1-800-TVSTARS. It also is available as part of the ESPN GamePlan package.
The Southern Miss ISP Sports Network also will broadcast the game live, with John Cox handling play-by-play duties and former Eagle quarterback Vic Purvis on color, and Lance Pittman on the sideline.
The meeting is the 40th overall between the two schools in a series that began in 1947. Alabama has the upper hand in games won, with a 31-6-2 mark over Southern Miss.
Southern Miss enters the game following the come-from-behind win over the Bearcats. The Golden Eagles rallied from 14 points down in the second quarter to take the eventual win on freshman Darren McCaleb's 26-yard field goal in the closing minutes of the game. Alabama will be looking for a rebound after dropping a 37-23 contest to No. 11 Georgia.
While the game doesn't mean much in terms of conference races, it still has a lot of bragging rights at stake.
The game will be a homecoming for a number of Golden Eagle players who hail from the state of Alabama. In all, 15 players have roots in the state, including defensive standouts Michael Boley, Etric Pruitt, Terrell Paul and Eric Scott.
The Southern Miss offense will again be led by a pair of quarterbacks. True freshman Damion Carter makes just his second career start for the Golden Eagles, despite struggling in last week's game against Cincinnati. Carter, who finished with 23 yards, one touchdown and one interception on 3-of-6 passing, was pulled in favor of backup Dustin Almond last week. Almond completed 9-of-18 passes for 133 yards last week. He also is scheduled to play against Alabama.
The two signal callers direct an offense that has averaged 283.4 yards per game. Two running backs have accounted for much of the ground game. Despite missing the Cincinnati game, Tim Blackwell continues to lead the team with 259 yards and three touchdowns on 50 carries. James Walley follows with 170 yards rushing on 77 carries.
DaRon Lawrence leads all Golden Eagle receivers with 17 catches for 164 yards. Marvin Young has a team-high 243 yards on 14 catches, while Antwon Courington has 11 catches for 126 yards.
The Southern Miss offense faces another tough defense in the Crimson Tide. Alabama has allowed slightly more than 100 yards rushing per game but has given up an average of 213 yards passing. Demeco Ryans leads the team with 70 total tackles, including 38 solos. Roman Harper has 61 tackles and a team-high 40 solo stops.
Offensively for Alabama, the name of the game is run, run, run. Shaud Williams has the bulk of the yardage with 652 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries. In addition to Williams, Ray Hudson and Kenneth Darby have 153 and 103 yards rushing, respectively. Alabama also has put the ball in the air, throwing for 1,213 yards and seven touchdowns. Brodie Croyle leads all players with 1,076 yards and six touchdowns in the air and has started five of the six games played. Triandos Luke, Dre Fulgham and Zach Fletcher all have more than 200 yards receiving. Luke leads all players with 293 yards and three touchdowns on 22 catches.
Looking to stop the high-powered Bama offense is a stingy Southern Miss defense. All-American linebacker Rod Davis and Boley have paced the Golden Eagles this season. Davis leads all players with 65 tackles, including a season-high 22 stops against Cincinnati. Boley follows with 62 tackles and has a team-high three sacks. The All-American Pruitt has 46 tackles on the season and eight pass breakups.
Following the Alabama game, Southern Miss enters a bye-week before hosting South Florida on Oct. 25.
