University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss - East Carolina Postgame Notes
10/2/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss - East Carolina Postgame Notes
Southern Miss Postgame Notes
Oct. 1, 2005/Greenville, N.C.
vs.
? With tonight?s 33-7 win, Southern Miss improved its all-time record to 14-2 in series games played in
? Southern Miss set five team and individual highs against East Carolina tonight, including individual passing yards (Almond, 324); individual receiving yards (Courington, 118); individual total offense (Almond, 297); team passing yards (324) and team total offense (493).
? The Golden Eagle defense took to the field in the opening possession of the game for the second-straight contest, and for the second-straight time caused a turnover ? a fumble by ECU?s James Pinkney on the
? The Southern Miss defense caused a fumble on each of
? Quarterback Dustin Almond finished the game with a career-best 324 yards passing and two touchdown tosses. The passing total marks the second 300-plus game of his career, besting his total of 304 yards through the air last season against
? Antwon Courington caught five passes for a career-high 118 yards tonight ? the second 100-yard receiving game of his career. The receiving yardage surpassed his previous mark of 112 set against TCU last season (11/20/04). He has now caught at least one pass in 25 consecutive games and 27-of-28.
? Anthony Perine grabbed a career-high seven catches for 69 yards in the game, besting his previous high of six receptions against UAB last season (11/27/04).
? Tavarres Williams scored on a 13-yard reverse in the second quarter. The rush and ensuing touchdown were the firsts of Williams? career. Williams added a 21-yard catch in the game.
? Cody Hull rushed a career-high 88 yards on eight carries in the game, including a long of 39 yards coming in the third quarter.
? Larry Thomas amassed 80 yards on a career-high 23 carries, besting his 22 attempts against
? Shawn Nelson finished with a career-best three catches for 51 yards, including the first touchdown of his career, a 33-yarder from Almond in the second quarter.
? Southern Miss held a 20-7 lead at halftime tonight, marking the fourth-straight game dating back to last season?s New Orleans Bowl that the Golden Eagles had the lead at the break. The team sports a 3-1 record in those games.
? The Almond-to-Courington 74-yard scoring combination in the third quarter is the longest pass and longest play of the season.
? Darren McCaleb finished the game connecting on a career-high four field goals of 45, 43, 21 and 32 yards, respectively. McCaleb now has made good on each of his last six field goals and 6-of-7 on the season, the only miss being a 45-yard attempt in the season-opener at
? The Golden Eagle defense caused five turnovers in the game (four fumbles, one interception) and turned those turnovers into 13 points (two field goals and a touchdown). The team now has 12 caused turnovers on the season, converting those into 44 points.
? Among the four turnovers was a Brandon Sumrall 31-yard interception return that extended the defenses? streak of consecutive games with a pick to eight games. The interception also was the first of Sumrall?s career.
? Southern Miss finished with over 400 yards of total offense for the second-straight game tonight, finishing with 493 yards. The team gained 456 yards against
? Linebacker James Denley registered his first career start, starting in place of the injured Gerald McRath.
? Trevis and Kevis Coley both paced Southern Miss in total tackles, finishing with 11 apiece in the game. Trevis had a team-best 10 solo stops.
? Southern Miss? captains tonight were Luke Johnson, Neal Mead and Trevis Coley.
