University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Travels West, Set To Face California
8/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Southern Miss Game Notes at California
Southern Miss Travels West, Set To Face California
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - It's time.
After three weeks of preseason practice, the Southern Miss football team is primed and ready for its season opener against California.
The Golden Eagles (0-0) travel west to take on the host Golden Bears (0-1), Saturday, at Memorial Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m., CT.
The Southern Miss ISP Sports Network will broadcast the game live, with John Cox handling play-by-play duties and former Eagle quarterback Vic Purvis on color analysis. Lance Pittman will be the sideline reporter.
The game also will be aired live nationally on HDNet, as part of Direct TV's high definition football package.
It's the first-ever meeting between the two programs, and it is Southern Miss' first trip to the state since a 1970 game at San Diego State.
While the game is the Golden Eagles' season opener, it is the second contest of the year for Cal. Last week, the Golden Bears fell to nationally-ranked Kansas St., 42-28.
But despite the opening loss, Southern Miss Head Coach Jeff Bower knows that his Eagles have a challenge in Cal.
"I was real impressed with (Cal)," Bower said. "They played a good football team (on Saturday), and they moved the football. We are going to have to play well in the game, there is no question about it."
For Southern Miss, the Cal game offers a first look at the new offensive scheme installed by first-year offensive coordinator Rip Scherer.
Not only will the offense this season be a new one, but there also will be several new faces on that side of the ball. Only a handful of starters return from last season's offense, including receiver Marvin Young and offensive lineman Jim Hicks. Quarterbacks Micky D'Angelo and Dustin Almond both started a number of games last season.
One of the losses from last season's team was All-Conference USA running back Derrick Nix. Nix, who is at or near the top of a number of school rushing categories, leaves a void that hopefuls James Walley and Tim Blackwell seek to fill.
D'Angelo is slated to get the starting nod at quarterback for the season opener, but Bower isn't completely against using both quarterbacks in the game.
"Right now, (Micky) will start the game," Bower said. "But it is never out of the question that we will play two quarterbacks in the game."
While the offense is relatively inexperienced, that is far from the truth for the Golden Eagle defense.
Led by consensus All-American linebacker Rod Davis, the defense returns eight starters from the 2002 crew, making the defense the strength in the 2003 campaign.
Davis led the Eagles with 168 total tackles -- including 122 solo stops -- last season. He is joined by both senior safety Etric Pruitt and junior linebacker Michael Boley as the top three returning tacklers from 2002. In all, the eight returning starters on defense all ranked in the top 10 in team tackles.
Like the Southern Miss offense, California will be counting on new faces as well.
Gone is all-star quarterback Kyle Boller , but junior Reggie Robertson and sophomore Aaron Rodgers combine to fill the void. Robertson threw for more than 250 yards and three touchdowns in the opener against Kansas State, while Rodgers passed for 121 yards and one score.
Receiver Geoff McArthur paced the Golden Bears offense with eight receptions for 169 yards and one touchdown. The Cal offense couldn't get much going on the ground, however, managing just 62 yards in the opener.
Defensively, the Golden Bears gave up 500-plus yards against the potent Kansas State offense, but they will still pose a challenge.
"Cal had a difficult time handling the option," Bower said. "But the thing that impressed me was the fact that Cal kept battling back and never quit. They played extremely hard, and made a game out of it."
Following the California game, the Golden Eagles open Conference USA play just five days later, traveling to UAB on Thursday, Sept. 4.
