University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Clinches C-USA Championship, Liberty Bowl Berth
11/29/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Final Statistics - East Carolina
Southern Miss Clinches C-USA Championship, Liberty Bowl Berth
GREENVILLE, N.C. -- Southern Miss put in the final piece to its Conference USA championship puzzle and has a New Year's Eve date in Memphis, Tenn.
With Saturday's 38-21 win over
Southern Miss (9-3, 8-0 in Conference
With the win, Southern Miss also set a new Conference
The nine victories also mark the most regular-season wins ever under Head Coach Jeff Bower and the most in the regular season since 1988. It's also the most wins since 1999, when the Eagles went 9-3, including a bowl win over
The Golden Eagles put forth a solid effort in the season-ending win over the Pirates, scoring in all four quarters en route to the win.
Quarterback Dustin Almond threw for 208 yards and one touchdown on 11-of-24 passing and added two more touchdown runs to lead Southern Miss to the win. Running back Anthony Harris also had a big day, rushing for 119 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries.
Southern Miss opened the scoring when Darren McCaleb connected on a 19-yard field goal in the first quarter, putting the Golden Eagles ahead, 3-0.
The Eagles didn't push the score further until midway through the second quarter, but when they did, they did it in a hurry.
Almond scored his first touchdown -- a 14-yard option run -- with 4:24 remaining in the first half, capping off a six-play, 70-yard drive. Southern Miss then took advantage of an
The Pirates (1-11, 1-7) answered just as quickly though, when Troth connected with Damarcus Fox on a 65-yard catch-and-run, cutting the lead to 17-7.
But Southern Miss responded with another score, benefiting from Harris' 2-yard run in the closing seconds of the first half, the culmination of an eight-play, 61-yard drive.
East Carolina chipped away at the lead some more in the early stages of the third quarter when Erode Jean intercepted an Almond pass and returned it 31 yards for the touchdown.
The score remained until the later minutes of the third period, when Southern Miss regained its 17-point advantage on Almond's 26-yard scoring strike to Marvin Young.
The Pirates threatened with a 1-yard score in the last minute of play and had the ball again in Southern Miss' territory. But Southern Miss defensive back John Eubanks ended the threat and put the final nail in the proverbial coffin with an 80-yard interception return to ice the game, 38-21.
Wide receiver DaRon Lawrence led the Golden Eagles with 104 yards on four catches in the game, setting a career-high for yards receiving in the process. Young and Antwon Courington both followed with 39 yards catching.
Boley finished the game with 10 tackles and three sacks, while defensive back Etric Pruitt also had 10 tackles, including nine solos. Trevis Coley had eight tackles in the game, while Rod Davis -- Conference
