University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss
Houston* (Homecoming)
Golden Eagles Hold Off Houston, 31-27
10/14/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Jeremy Young threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another as Southern Miss collected a 31-27 Conference USA victory over Houston here Saturday night in front of 32,317 at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
The Golden Eagles (4-2, 2-1 Conference USA) celebrated homecoming by out dueling one of the more explosive offenses in the league. UH senior quarterback Kevin Kolb, who has been heralded as a Heisman Trophy candidate by his school, did not disappoint by throwing for 339 yards on 22-of-38 passing and two touchdowns.
But it was Young in the end who led the Golden Eagles to the victory.
Young, a redshirt junior from Jackson, Miss., rushed for just 20 yards on six carries, and added 180 yards passing on 17-of-26 attempts.
Young, who hit Josh Barnes for a 22-yard scoring strike with 4:14 left in the second quarter, gave the Golden Eagles the last score of the half for a 14-7 advantage at the break.
Then, Young drove the Golden Eagles to two fourth-quarter scores to hold off the Cougars down the stretch.
With Southern Miss leading 17-14 heading into the fourth, Young engineered a 65-yard drive over 11 plays and 5:52 on the clock, which he capped with a one-yard lunge over the line to go up by 10 with 10:47 remaining.
Kolb then answered for UH with a 74-yard touchdown pass to Jeron Harvey who beat a Golden Eagle defender for the ball and raced for pay dirt and the visitors trailed again by just three.
Again, Young drove his team down the field - this time 73 yards on nine plays - which was capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Shawn Nelson with 3:46 to play.
The Cougars (4-3, 2-1) turned the ball over on downs on their next possession and the Golden Eagles were able to run the clock down to just under 30 seconds to play before giving UH the ball back and one last opportunity to score.
On the last play of the game, Kolb threw for the end zone and Harvey came down with a scoring catch to end the contest. The extra point was not attempted as players and fans came on to the field and the officials ended the game.
In the game's opening quarter, the teams exchanged running scores with Southern Miss' Bobby Weakley tallying a one-yard score, while UH's Jackie Battle countered with a touchdown from five yards.
Golden Eagle kicker Darren McCaleb also added a 39-yard field goal to open the second-half scoring to give Southern Miss an early 17-7 advantage in the third quarter, but UH took advantage of a Damion Fletcher fumble on the Eagles' next possession and Battle scored from one-yard to make the contest 17-14.
Defensively, the Golden Eagle limited UH to just 38 rushing yards - the fewest the Southern Miss has allowed this season.
Fletcher, who rushed for 80 yards on 21 carries, had a string of four straight 100-yard rushing games snapped. Fletcher, along with Nelson, missed the first half due to a suspension regarding a curfew violation.
The Golden Eagles return to action next Saturday when they travel to Blacksburg, Va., to face Virginia Tech. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT and will be broadcast live on ESPN U.
