Football To Host No. 4 California

Football To Host No. 4 California

HATTIESBURG, Miss.? Southern Miss will attempt to keep California out of a BCS bowl Saturday, when the two teams meet for the second time in their respective histories, in a 6:30 p.m., nationally televised contest on ESPN.

The two teams were scheduled to meet Thursday, Sept. 16, in a nationally televised ESPN game, but Hurricane Ivan forced the game to be rescheduled.

Southern Miss (6-4) enters Saturday?s game off a 26-21 victory over UAB, on Nov. 27, as the team gained bowl eligibility, and assured itself of an 11^th-straight non-losing season. The team accepted a bid to play in the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl the following day. The New Orleans Bowl is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 14; in a 6:30 p.m., ESPN televised game, as the team will meet North Texas.

The Bears (9-1) enter Saturday?s game ranked No. 4 nationally, and will be the highest ranked team to visit M.M. Roberts Stadium, and the only Pac-10 team to visit Hattiesburg. The Bears haven?t played since Nov. 20, when they defeated Stanford, 41-6. Its only loss came to No. 1 ranked USC, 23-17 (10/9).

Cal owns a 1-0 series lead, winning 34-2 over the Golden Eagles last year in Berkley, Calif. Southern Miss scored on a safety and had a 2-0 lead after the first quarter, before the Bears scored the remainder of the points.

Southern Miss has scored 262 points this season, and averages 26.2 points a game. The team has amassed 3,185 yards of total offense (1,560 on the ground and 1,625 through the air), while averaging 318.5 yards of total offense a game (156 on the ground and 162.5 passing). The offense also averages 4.6 yards a play. The Golden Eagles have converted on 54-of-150 (36 percent) third down attempts, and 9-of-19 (47 percent) on fourth down on the campaign.

Junior starting quarterback Dustin Almond leads the team in passing yards, with 1,297, and has completed 105-of-202 passes. The Orange Beach, Fla., native has thrown 10 touchdowns against five interceptions, as he averages 162.1 yards a contest. Almond is the team?s fourth-leading rusher, with 86 yards on 48 carries and has scored three rushing touchdowns. Almond has the team?s longest touchdown passes of the season, a 46-yarder to Marvin Young in the team?s season-opening win at Nebraska (9/11), and a 45-yarder to Young against USF (10/2).

Redshirt freshman Jeremy Young and sophomore Damion Carter have each started at quarterback this season, due to a hamstring and back injury to Almond on separate occasions. Carter started the Alabama (10/16) and East Carolina (10/23) games. On the season, Carter has 115 passing yards, on 14-of-34 passing, including three touchdowns against one interception. Young made his first career start against UAB, and ranks second on the team with 213 passing yards, on 18-of-46 passing.

Junior Anthony Harris has a team-best 604 rushing yards, on 154 attempts. He has a team-high five rushing touchdowns on the season, and averages 60.4 yards a contest. Senior Sherron Moore ranks second on the team with 368 rushing yards on 88 attempts, including three scores. Redshirt freshman Larry Thomas is third on the team with 304 yards on the ground, and has the team?s longest offensive play of the season, a 79-yard run against Cincinnati. Sophomore fullback Wayne Hardy ranks second on the team with four rushing touchdowns.

Junior Antwon Courington leads the team with 504 receiving yards on 37 catches, which are career highs. He has a team-best five receiving touchdowns and averages 50.4 yards a game and 13.6 yards a catch. Senior Marvin Young ranks second on the team with 19 catches for 263 yards and three touchdowns, while senior DaRon Lawrence has 18 catches for 239 yards. Sophomore Anthony Perine has had back-to-back career best performances, as he caught six passes for 69 yards against UAB (11/27), bettering his previous high of four catches for 63 yards against TCU (11/20). Freshman Tavarres Williams has nine catches for 146 yards and two touchdowns on the year.

Sophomore kicker Darren McCaleb has connected on all 14 field goals he has attempted this season, including a season-long of 45 yards against UAB (11/27). Junior punter Luke Johnson has punted 56 times for 2,318 yards, and averages 41.4 yards a punt. Johnson recorded a season-best punt of 68 yards against UAB.

Junior John Eubanks, ranked No. 3 in the nation, has a team-high 18 kickoff returns for 540 yards, and averages 30 yards a return. Eubanks set an M.M. Roberts Stadium record, with a 97-yard return against Houston (10/7). Eubanks also is the team leader in punt returns, with 15 for 108 yards, including a long return of 51 yards.    

Defensively, the Golden Eagles have racked up 71 tackles for loss, 25 sacks, 13 interceptions, 34 pass breakups, 15 forced fumbles, six fumble recoveries, a blocked punt and a safety. Southern Miss allows 26.2 points a game, in addition to 375.4 yards of total offense (170 rushing, 205.4 passing) a contest.

Senior linebacker Michael Boley, the current Conference USA Defensive Player of the Week, leads the team with 112 total tackles (63 solos and 49 assists). He has 14 tackles for loss, seven sacks, one interception, five forced fumbles and two pass breakups on the campaign. Senior linebacker Antoine Cash has 85 total tackles on the year, including 14 tackles for loss, four sacks, two fumble recoveries and one forced fumble. Eubanks leads the team with three interceptions, while Trevis Coley, Darrell Bennett and Naton Stewart each have two.

Cal has scored 384 points this season, and averages 38.4 points a contest. The Bears have racked up 4,896 yards of total offense (2,537 rushing, 2,359 passing), and average 489.6 yards of total offense a game (253.7 rushing, 235.9 passing). The Bears average 7.1 yards per play. The team has converted on 58-of-120 (48 percent) on third down, and 4-of-7 (57 percent) on fourth down on the campaign.

Quarterback Aaron Rogers leads the team with 2,097 yards passing, on 170-of-246 attempts. He has tossed 21 touchdowns against six interceptions. Rogers averages 209.7 yards passing a game, and has a long pass of 80 yards on the year.

Running back J.J. Arrington has a team-best 1,584 rushing yards on 233 carries. He has 14 touchdowns, and averages 158.4 yards a game. He has a long run of 89 yards, and averages 6.8 yards a carry. Backup running back Marshawn Lynch has six touchdowns and 562 rushing yards on 61 attempts. He averages 9.2 yards a carry.

Geoff McArthur leads the receivers with 717 yards on 51 catches. He has caught a team-best six touchdowns, and averages 14.1 yards per catch and 71.7 yards a game. Chase Lyman has five touchdowns, and has caught 14 passes for 414 yards.

Kicker Tom Schneider has made 7-of-13 field goals on the year, including a long of 48 yards. David Lonie has 35 punts for 1,393 yards, averaging 39.8 yards a punt.

Tim Mixon leads the team with 23 punt returns for 266 yards, while Lynch has a team-best eight kickoff returns for 218 yards.

Defensively, Ryan Gutierrez leads the team with 63 total tackles (41 solos, 22 assists). He has two tackles for loss, one interception and one fumble recovery. Ryan Riddle has a team-best 17 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks on the campaign. Mixon leads the team with three interceptions.

Following the California game, Southern Miss will play in its third-straight bowl game and seventh in the last eight seasons.

This season, the team will compete in the Wyndham New Orleans Bowl and face the University of North Texas (7-4) on Tuesday, Dec. 14, at 6:30 p.m., at the Louisiana Superdome (69,767). The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.

University of Southern Mississippi Athletics

Football To Host No. 4 California

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