University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Set To Open Season At Alabama
9/7/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Alabama Notes
Football Set To Open Season At Alabama
Senior quarterback Dustin Almond will make his first career start against Alabama on Saturday. |
HATTIESBURG,
The Golden Eagles were originally scheduled to open their season on Sept. 4 against Tulane, but Hurricane Katrina forced that contest to be moved to Nov. 26. Southern Miss has been in
Southern Miss and
The Tide won last year?s meeting, 27-3 on Oct. 16, 2004, and holds an 18-2-1 record when the game is played in
Southern Miss finished 2004 with a 7-5 record, including a season-ending 31-10 Wyndham New Orleans Bowl victory over
Senior quarterback Dustin Almond will make his first career start against
Entering the season, Almond ranks first in school history in interception avoidance (.024), fourth in passing yards (4,482); touchdown passes (28) and pass efficiency (115.33). He also ranks fifth in total offense (4,839) and is tied for fifth in touchdowns responsible for (39), while ranking seventh with a pass efficiency rating of 115.33.
Redshirt sophomore Larry Thomas will make his first career start against
Senior Antwon Courington is the team?s lone senior wide receiver. An All-Conference USA third team selection in 2004, Courington had a career year, finishing with 47 catches for 659 yards and five touchdowns, averaging 14 yards per catch. He enters the season with at least one catch in 23 consecutive games, dating back to the
He posted his first 100-yard receiving game against TCU (11/20), finishing with seven catches for 112 yards, and is currently tied for eighth all-time with 86 catches and ranks No. 13 in receiving yards with 1,232 and No. 12 with eight touchdowns.
Junior Anthony Perine closed out the 2004 season on a hot streak, catching 18 passes in the team?s final five games, as he finished as the team?s second leading receiver, 24 receptions and 332 yards and a touchdown, averaging 13.9 yards per catch. He posted his first 100-yard receiving game against
Sophomore Tavaress Williams, who made his career debut at
Junior Darren McCaleb returns as the team?s place-kicker. Tabbed as the No. 8 kicker in the nationally by The Sporting News entering the season tabbed to the Lou Groza Award Preseason Watch list, an award given to the nation?s best collegiate place-kicker, McCaleb had a career year in 2004, connecting on
McCaleb, a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award in 2004, had a career 16-of-19 field goals, including all 15 in the regular season, with a long of 45 yards two times (UAB and North Texas). Last season, he set the school record for highest percentage made in a season (.842). His 16 field goals also tied for the second-best single-season performance in school history, and he leads Southern Miss with the highest percentage of career field goals made (.833). McCaleb also connected on 27-of-31 extra points last season, while leading the team in scoring, with 75 points.
The
Senior Luke Johnson returns as the team?s starting punter for the third straight season. Entering the season, Johnson, a native of
Last season, Johnson finished with 67 punts for 2,799 yards, averaging 41.8 yards a punt. He placed 16 punts inside the 20-yard line, had nine punts of over 50 yards and 17 of his punts resulted in a fair catch. He had a season-long punt of 68 yards against UAB (11/27).
Senior John Eubanks returns as one of the top return specialists in the nation. Last season, Eubanks was Conference
Eubanks has also garnered plenty of preseason publicity as a defensive back entering the season, as he tabbed to the watch lists for the Jim Thorpe Award for the best defensive back in the nation and the Chuck Bednarik and Bronko Nagurski Awards, signifying the top defensive player in the nation. He was named to several preseason All-American teams, including the Sporting News, which named him a first-team selection. In addition, Eubanks was named the nation?s No. 3 ranked defensive back by The Sporting News.
Eubanks finished last season with 47 tackles, including 31 solo tackles, a team-high nine pass breakups and a fumble recovery. He was second on the team in interceptions with three and had five or more tackles in five games and a season-best six tackles against USF.
Defensively last season, the team posted 847 total tackles (490 solos, 357 solos), 96 tackles for loss, 30 sacks, 16 interceptions, 45 pass breakups, seven fumble recoveries and 16 forced fumbles.
Senior Trevis Coley, a second team All-Conference USA selection in 2004, returns as the team?s leading tackler with 104 total tackles, including 66 solo tackles, two tackles for loss, six pass breakups and a team-high four interceptions. Coley finished with double figure tackle performances five times last year, including a career-high 18 tackles against
The Crimson Tide defense held
Following the
