University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Concludes Second Week of Practice With Scrimmage
8/20/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Southern Miss Concludes Second Week of Practice With Scrimmage HATTIESBURG, Miss.
The scrimmage saw the first, second, and third team offenses square off against their defensive counterparts. The Golden Eagles also put in a variety of situational work, including third-down situations, the two-minute offense, goal line situations and all phases of special teams.
Southern Miss Head Football Coach Jeff Bower said he saw some good things out of the scrimmage, which was an improvement from the scrimmage earlier in the week.
"The scrimmage went well," Bower said. "We got a lot of situational work done, as far as goal line and third-down situations. We did some overtime work and hit all four phases in the kicking game. We got a lot done today."
Bower was especially pleased with the improvement of the offensive unit, which fared better than it did in the previous scrimmage.
"The offense made a lot of improvement this week," Bower said. "They had a good day today. I thought Dustin (Almond) was really sharp and made some big plays. We did a better job of protecting the ball, and we moved the ball well.
"All of our wideouts seemed to make some plays," Bower said. "We dropped two or three passes that would have been big plays, but we did well overall."
Dustin Almond finished the day with 171 yards on 6-of-9 passing and two touchdowns -- a 65-yard completion to Tavarres Williams to open the scrimmage and a 50-yard strike to Antwon Courington. Jeremy Young and Travis Clark combined for 41 yards on 5-of-9 passing and two interceptions.
Cody Hull gained 36 yards on five carries with a long of 17, while C.J. Barrows added 31 yards on eight carries with a long of 11. Conrad Chanove rushed for 56 yards on eight carries and had the lone rushing touchdown, a 4-yarder, working primarily against the second and third teams.
Chris Johnson led all receivers with three catches for 28 yards, while Courington added two for 67 yards. Williams added the 65-yard catch, and Chanove added a 24-yard catch.
In the kicking game, Darren McCaleb was 1-2 in field goals, making a 34-yarder. Britt Barefoot missed on a 42-yard attempt.
Defensively, Brandon Sumrall paced all players with five tackles, while Ladarius Webb added four stops. Austin Divinity finished with three tackles. Matt Chatelain, James Denley and Ken Griffith all registered tackles for loss, while Tumbo Abanikanda also had a sack. Webb and John Eubanks each tallied an interception during the primary scrimmage session. Chatelain notched an interception of his own, one that he returned for a touchdown during the overtime period.
Eubanks provided the highlight of the special teams period, returning a kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown. Webb added a 45-yard kick return, and Anthony Perine had a 37-yard return.
Luke Johnson and Barefoot each had three punts on the day, averaging 38.6 and 29.3 yards, respectively.
Bower also has been pleased with the team's conditioning through the second week of practice.
"I think we are in pretty good shape," Bower said. "We came out to work in the heat of the day (today), and it was fine for about an hour. We have worked in some pretty tough heat, and we will continue to do that next week."
Following the scrimmage, the Golden Eagles and Head Coach Jeff Bower stayed and signed autographs for area youth football players and parents as part of the annual "Meet the Eagles" day. The youth players from the Mississippi Youth Football Association also were on campus for their league's weigh-in.
"This is always great," Bower said of the chance for the team's fans to meet the players and coaches. "I really enjoy getting around our fans. There's also nothing better than these kids getting the chance to be around some of our players -- that's the neat thing, and our guys also like it. It gives us a chance to thank our fans for their support."
Southern Miss opens its season Sunday, Sept. 4, in a 3 p.m., nationally televised ESPN2 contest, in the annual "Battle for the Bell" against Tulane.
