University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football To Meet Arkansas State In New Orleans Bowl At Lafayette
12/18/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 18, 2005
LAFAYETTE, La. - The Southern Miss football team will play in its fourth consecutive bowl game, also its eighth in nine years on Tuesday, meeting Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl at Lafayette on Tuesday.
This marks the second consecutive year that Southern Miss will play in the New Orleans Bowl. This year's game has a different venue, Cajun Field in Lafayette, instead of the Superdome in New Orleans, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Katrina.
The 2005 New Orleans Bowl marks the 16th bowl appearance in school history. Southern Miss has a 6-9 record in bowl games.
Tuesday's game will be the ninth meeting between Southern Miss and Arkansas State, with the Golden Eagles holding a 6-2 series advantage. Southern Miss has won the past three meetings, including a 35-0 victory in Hattiesburg in 1980 in the last game. The first meeting was in 1960, with Arkansas State claiming a 14-13 victory. Southern Miss then won the next three games, 20-0 in 1961, 20-7 in 1962 and 25-0 in 1963. Arkansas State won 14-10 in 1977, before the Golden Eagles won 21-6 in 1978, 14-6 in 1979 and 35-0 in 1980.
Southern Miss enters the game with a 6-5 record, its 12th consecutive non-losing season. The Golden Eagles enter the game off a 26-7 victory over Tulane to close out the 2005 regular-season.
The offense scored 324 points in 2005, averaging 29.5 points per game. The team amassed 3,843 yards of total offense (1,144 rushing, 2,699 passing), averaging 349.4 yards of total offense per game (104.0 rushing, 245.4 passing). The 245.4 passing yards were the second most in school history, and ranked No. 5 in Conference USA and No. 35 nationally.
Senior quarterback Dustin Almond had one of the best seasons in school history in 2005. He completed 199-of-362 passes for 2,607 yards and 21 touchdowns, against 12 interceptions. His passing yards are the third most in a single season, while his 21 touchdowns and passing attempts tie for the second most in school history. Almond, who tossed 15 touchdowns in the final six games of the season, finished the season with 23 touchdowns responsible for, the second most in school history. This season, he threw for over 220 yards and for multiple touchdowns in seven games this season. He threw for a career-high 324 yards against East Carolina, and tied a school record with five touchdown passes against UCF.
Redshirt sophomore running back Cody Hull will make his second consecutive start against Arkansas State. Hull finished second on the team with 93 carries for 381 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt sophomore Larry Thomas led the team with 638 yards on 166 carries and four touchdowns. Redshirt freshman fullback Cole Mason ranks second on the team with three rushing touchdowns.
Redshirt freshman Shawn Nelson led the team in receiving yards with 419, as he had the best season by a tight end in school history. He finished second on the team with 29 receptions and third in touchdown receptions with three. Against Tulane, he finished with five receptions for 113 yards and a 63-yard touchdown, becoming the second Golden Eagle tight end in school history to post a 100-yard receiving game. Nelson earned Freshman All-American honors by collegefootballnews.com, and was a third-team All-Conference USA selection this season.
Junior Josh Barnes led the team with 30 receptions, ranking second with 398 receiving yards. Barnes is tied for the team lead in receiving touchdowns (five) and finished as the team's second leading scorer, excluding kickers, with 36 points. In the final games of 2005, Barnes finished with 26 receptions for 356 yards and five touchdowns.
Redshirt sophomore Chris Johnson finished fifth on the team with 20 receptions for 303 yards and two touchdowns, finishing with a career-high 113 yards and two touchdowns against UAB. Junior Anthony Perine also caught two touchdowns on the season, and finished three on the team with 28 receptions and 381 receiving yards.
The Golden Eagle offensive line only allowed one sack in the final five games of the season, and did not allow a sack in five games this season. Junior George Batiste earned Conference USA First Team honors and did not allow a sack, while leading the line with 54 knockdowns and 10 pancakes.
Senior Luke Johnson finished with 50 punts for 2,263 yards, averaging 45.3 yards per punt, which tied for the second highest average in school history. He had 13 punts inside the 20-yard line, eight that were fair caught and 10 for touchbacks. He led Conference USA in punting and finished No. 5 nationally, earning Conference USA First Team honors and honorable mention All-American honors by SI.com and collegefootballnews.com. He helped the punting unit rank No. 2 in Conference USA and No. 10 nationally (37.78).
Junior kicker Darren McCaleb had the best season ever by a Golden Eagle place-kicker, finishing with 22-of-27 in field goals and 34-of-35 in extra points. He earned second team All-Conference USA honors, also earning honorable-mention All-American honors by SI.com and collegefootballnews.com. McCaleb set the school record with 22 field goals, breaking the previous high of 17 set by Steve Clark in 1982. He currently ranks No. 2 nationally and No. 1 in Conference USA in field goals per game (2.0), finishing the season No. 2 in Conference USA and No. 14 nationally in scoring (9.09). McCaleb scored 100 points this season, the second most in school history, behind Sammy Winder's total of 120 in 1980. McCaleb's 100 points were the most ever by a Golden Eagle kicker, breaking Clark's total of 82 he set in 1982.
Senior John Eubanks finished the season with 26 kickoff returns for 632 yards, averaging 24.3 yards per return, the fifth best performance in school history. He finished the season No. 3 in Conference USA and No. 34 nationally per return, earning Conference USA First Team honors. Junior Jasper Faulk finished the season with 20 punt returns for 166 yards, averaging 8.3 yards per return, ranking No. 53 nationally and No. 5 in Conference USA in punt returns.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles finished with 808 total tackles (472 solos, 336 assists), 68 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, 14 interceptions, 39 pass breakups, 13 forced fumbles, 17 fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks.
The defense allowed 23 points per game, ranking No. 2 in Conference USA and No. 40 nationally. The unit has also forced 31 turnovers this season, ranking No. 2 in Conference USA and No. 6 nationally in turnover margin, averaging 1.18 turnovers per game. Southern Miss has turned those turnovers into 112 points on the season. The defense also ranks No. 2 nationally in fumbles recovered.
Senior Kevis Coley led the team with a career-high 144 tackles (78 solos, 66 assists), 13.0 tackles for loss, five sacks, three fumble recoveries and two forced fumbles, in earning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year honors. He was also an honorable-mention All-American selection by SI.com and collegefootballnews.com. His 144 tackles ranks for the ninth best performance in school history. He finished with a career-high 19 tackles against N.C. State and Memphis.
His twin brother Trevis finished the season second on the team with 99 total tackles (60 solos, 39 assists) and two interceptions. He earned Conference USA first team honors.
Sophomore Brandon Sumrall finished as the team's third leading tackler with 81 (54 solos, 27 assists). He led the team with four interceptions, as he earned second team Conference USA honors. He was tabbed a sophomore All-American by collegefootballnews.com.
Arkansas State enters the game with a 6-5 record, and is the champions of the Sun Belt Conference. This will be Arkansas State's first bowl appearance as a Division I-A team, as the Indians posted their first winning record for the first time since 1995.
Arkansas State scored 275 points in 2005, averaging 25 points per game. The Indians amassed 4,109 yards of total offense this season (2,199 rushing, 1,910 passing), averaging 373.5 yards of total offense (199.9 rushing, 173.6 passing).
Quarterback Nick Nooce completed 146-of-263 passes for 1,839 yards and 11 touchdowns, against nine interceptions, averaging 167.2 passing yards per game.
Antonio Warren has a team-high 1,046 rushing yards on 168 attempts. He has scored six touchdowns on the season, averages 116.2 yards per game and 6.3 yards per carry. Shermar Bracey ranks second on the team with 659 rushing yards and 93 carries and five touchdowns. He averages 73.2 rushing yards per game and 7.1 yards per carry. Nooce also has four rushing touchdowns on the season.
Levi Dejohnette has a team-high 42 receptions for 505 yards, averaging 12.0 yards per catch and 45.9 yards per game. Joe Smith has a team-best four receiving touchdowns, while Patrick Higgins has two touchdowns.
Eric Neihouse has connected on 12-of-20 field goals on the season, including a long of 50 yards. Neihouse is also the team's punter, with 32 punts for 1,202 yards for a 37.6-yard average.
Darren Toney has 23 kick returns for 397 yards, averaging 17.3 yards per return. James Johnson has 34 punt returns for 373 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively, the team has 800 (501 solos, 299 assists), 80 tackles for loss, 27 sacks, 13 interceptions, 10 forced fumbles, 11 fumble recoveries and two blocked kicks.
Tyrell Johnson leads the team with 103 total tackles (75 solos, 28 assists). Deverett Wade and Myron Anderson are tied for the team lead with 13 tackles for loss, while Brian Flagg has a team-high five sacks.
Fans are encouraged to purchase tickets from the Southern Miss Ticket Office. Premium sideline tickets are $40 each, Goal line tickets are $20 each and Southern Miss student tickets are $20 each. Priority ticket deadline is Fri., Dec. 9 at 1 p.m., and for ticket information call 1-800-844-TICK, 601-266-5418 or visit www.southernmiss.com.
Game time is set for 7 p.m., on Tuesday.
