University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Accepts Bid To The 2005 New Orleans Bowl
12/4/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Dec. 4, 2005
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The New Orleans Bowl at Lafayette has extended an invitation to the Southern Miss Football Program to face Arkansas State University on Tuesday, Dec. 20 at 7 p.m., at Cajun Field (36,014) in Lafayette, La. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN.
"I would like to thank the New Orleans Bowl committee for inviting us once again," said Richard Giannini, Southern Miss Director of Athletics. "We are very excited and are looking forward to playing Arkansas State, the Sun Belt Champions, in the game.
"I would like to congratulate the football team and coaching staff for earning its eighth bowl invitation in the last nine years. I am also excited for the football program because of all the adversity they went through due to the hurricanes and other circumstances, and they worked hard to attain bowl eligibility. We would like our fans, who also have been very supportive this year due to all the circumstances, to make the short trip to Lafayette and once again cheer on our Golden Eagles.
"We would like to commend Conference USA Commissioner Britton Banowsky and his staff for getting every bowl eligible team in our conference into a bowl. There were only three conferences in the nation that had more teams invited to a bowl game than did C-USA."
This marks the second-straight appearance in the New Orleans Bowl and eighth bowl appearance in the past nine years for the Golden Eagles. Last season, Southern Miss defeated North Texas, 31-10.
"The players and coaching staff deserve a lot of credit for earning the invitation to the New Orleans Bowl, our fourth-straight bowl invitation and eighth in the past nine years," said Jeff Bower, Southern Miss Head Football Coach. "The players are extremely excited to have another opportunity to play in front of the Golden Eagle fans. We are really looking forward to playing against a very good Arkansas State team in the New Orleans Bowl.
"This has been a difficult season for our coaching staff and players with all the hurricanes, injuries and other circumstances. I am proud of the players and especially our seniors for stepping up and doing what was necessary to earn the bowl invitation.
"This also has been a difficult year for our fans, and I want to personally thank them for supporting us all season because they too had to make sacrifices to attend the games. I hope that they will make the sacrifice one more time and show their support to this team for what they accomplished this season. It also is important for our bowl future for our fans to purchase tickets and come to the bowl game."
Southern Miss finished 6-5 overall and 5-3 in Conference USA, marking the 12th straight winning season for the program. At this time, it boasts being only one of eight teams in the nation to have 12 straight winning seasons.
The Golden Eagles had 10 players selected All-Conference USA, including five on the first team, four on the second team and one on the third. The 10 selections mark the most for Southern Miss since it had 15 selections in 2003.
Kevis Coley was named Conference USA's Defensive Player of the Year, marking the seventh Golden Eagle to be named for that award in the 10-year history of the league. Seven Golden Eagles earned Conference USA honors last season. The Golden Eagles also had an All-Freshman selection, in tight end Shawn Nelson.
This game marks the ninth meeting against the Indians with the Golden Eagles leading the series, 6-2. The two teams played for four-straight years from 1960-63 and again for four-consecutive years from 1977-80. Arkansas State won the first meeting in 1960, 14-13, before Southern Miss reeled off three-straight wins, 20-0 (1961), 20-7 (1962) and 25-0 (1963). The Golden Eagles also won three of the four games played from 1977-80, dropping the first game, 14-10 in 1977 and then winning, 21-6 (1978), 14-6 (1979) and 35-0 (1980).
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.
