University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Win Big at Houston
11/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Final Statistics - Houston
Eagles Win Big at Houston
Houston, Texas - Southern Miss took advantage of an offense that keeps getting better with each passing game, and a typical Golden Eagle defensive performance to post a convincing 31-10 victory over the Houston Cougars here Saturday. The victory keeps Southern Miss in a first-place tie with TCU in the Conference USA title race.
Houston used a game-opening, 14-play, 80-yard drive to take the early 7-0 lead with 10:41 remaining in the opening period. Southern Miss responded four minutes later with a 7-play, 63-yard drive that ended with a 34-yard pass from Dustin Almond to Marvin Young to tie the score at 7-7. Freshman placekicker Darren McCaleb the gave Southern Miss the lead, at 10-7, with a 24-yard field goal with 3:35 left in the initial period.
Houston then tied the score at 10-all with a 49-yard Dustin Bell field goal with 6:36 remaining in the first half, only to see the Golden Eagles quickly regain the lead with a 2-play, 41-yard drive capped by Almond's second TD pass of the game, a 25-yarder to Antwon Courington to give Southern Miss the lead for keeps, at 17-10 with 1:37 left in the first half.
The Golden Eagles then added single touchdowns in both the third and fourth quarters while the USM defense kept the Cougars off the board for the final 36:36 of the game. The Southern Miss scores in the final 30 minutes came on a 27-yard fumble recovery return by John Eubanks and a 1-yard run by Anthony Harris to cap an 8-play, 61-yard drive.
Almond, the receiving duo of Young and Lawrence and the running of Anthony Harris did much of the offensive damage for the winners. Almond, who had his best game of the season, finished with 17-of-26 passing for 237 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception and was not sacked. Lawrence had six receptions for 85 yards, Young four for 84 yards and a touchdown and Harris rushed for 83 yards on 21 carries, and scored one touchdown.
The defense again was solid, limiting the potent Houston offense to 363 yards, 205 rushing and 158 passing, and kept the Cougars out of the end zone throughout the second half. Linebacker Michael Boley led the Eagles with 16 tackles, including three for losses. Defensive back Etric Pruitt was close behind with 14 tackles, including eight solo stops.
All-American Rod Davis added double-digit tackles with 11, and had both a sack and three tackles for losses. He was returning to action after missing last week's Louisiana-Lafayette game with a sore shoulder, and his numbers today move him to 314 career solo tackles, a Southern Miss record. He also moved to 459 overall tackles, just 51 behind all-time leader Clump Taylor (510). His 459 tackles also is second all-time in Conference USA, just one behind leader Pernell Griffin.
The Golden Eagle defense also came up with a Houston fumble and an interception while the offense played error-free, no fumbles or interceptions. Defensive back Corey Yates got his second interception of the season, returning it 11 yards, and Eubanks turned his fumble recovery into the 27-yard touchdown.
Today's victory gives Southern Miss three-straight C-USA victories, for the first time since beating Tulane, Houston and UAB in the 2000 season. The 5-0 league start also is the first for the Eagles since the 1999 season, and the six victories marks the 10th-consecutive seasons that USM has posted at least six wins.
Following today's game, the Eagles return home for quick back-to-back games. Southern Miss entertains Tulane, Nov. 15, and hosts TCU just five days later in a Thursday night ESPN game. Head Coach Jeff Bower and his Eagles then close the season Nov. 29, at East Carolina.
