University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Hosts UAB This Weekend at The Rock
11/15/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 15, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Southern Miss football team, who is still in the race for the Conference USA East Division title, will host UAB on Saturday, Nov. 18, at 7 p.m., at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
The game will be broadcast nationally on CSTV. Fans in the Hattiesburg area can listen to the game on the flagship station, WXRR, 104.5 FM, one of the affiliates around the state or by logging onto SouthernMiss.com.
This will be the seventh meeting between Southern Miss (6-4 overall, 4-2 C-USA) and UAB (3-7 overall, 2-4 C-USA), with the Golden Eagles winning all six previous meetings, including a 37-28 decision last season in Birmingham. The series dates back to the 2000 season when the Eagles captured a 33-30 double overtime victory at Legion Field in Birmingham. Each game in the series have been close, as all six have been decided by nine or fewer points, including four by five or fewer points.
Southern Miss is coming off a 31-3 victory at Tulane last week on Saturday.
Junior quarterback Jeremy Young will make his 11th career start for the Golden Eagles, as he has thrown for 1,285 yards this season on 115-of-204 passing, a 56.4 percentage. His numbers include nine touchdown passes with only five interceptions thrown. On the ground, Young has rushed for 187 yards on 61 carries and two touchdowns.
Freshman Damion Fletcher makes his eighth start of the season as the Golden Eagles' leading running back. Fletcher leads the team in rushing with 926 yards on 189 carries, an average of 4.9 yards per rush and has scored eight touchdowns. Freshman Tory Harrison is second on the team with 223 yards on 33 carries, an average of 6.8 yards per rush. He had a career performance against Memphis on Nov. 5, when he accumulated 138 yards on 12 carries. Conrad Chanove has 181 yards on 39 carries this season, adding depth in the backfield.
Sophomore tight end Shawn Nelson leads the Golden Eagle receivers with team highs in both catches (25) and yardage (318). Seven different Golden Eagles have caught at least 10 passes in 2006, including 18 by senior Damion Carter, 16 by redshirt junior Chris Johnson, 15 each by seniors Josh Barnes and Anthony Perine and freshman Rodney Gray, and 14 from Fletcher.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles have been led by junior Brandon Sumrall, who has 62 total tackles (44 solos), three forced fumbles, a pair of sacks, and two interceptions. Redshirt freshman Gerald McRath follows with 59 stops, while sophomore Ladarius Webb has 46. Webb also has five pass breakups and three tackles for loss, while McRath has recorded two sacks, 4.5 tackles for loss, a pass breakup and a forced fumble. Redshirt junior Robert Henderson has stepped up recently, recording 47 total tackles, 3.5 sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss, while Caleb Hendrix has 36 tackles, four for loss, one sack, 10 pass breakups and is leading the team with three interceptions. Jerome Lyons has 35 tackles, one interception and three pass breakups, and junior Martavius Prince has 35 stops for the Golden Eagle defense, including 11 for loss, which ranks him third in Conference USA and tied for 48th in the nation.
The Blazers, led by Head Coach Watson Brown, enter the game coming off a 36-17 loss at home to UTEP on Friday, Nov. 10. The team is led by junior quarterback Sam Hunt, who has thrown for 637 yards this season on 47-for76 passing, a 61.8 percentage. His numbers include two touchdowns with only three interceptions. Hunt has rushed for 127 yards on 60 carries and one touchdown.
UAB's leading receivers include junior Willie Edwards, who has 31 receptions for 539 yards and two touchdowns, and sophomore Sylvester Mencer, who has 27 receptions for 347 yards and two touchdowns.
The Blazers' backfield is led by senior running backs Dan Burks and Cory White. Burks has rushed for a total of 362 yards on 90 carries, an average of 4.0 yards per rush and one touchdown, while White has been accounted for 346 yards on 86 carries, an average of 3.8 yards per rush and five touchdowns.
On defense, UAB is led by senior linebacker Mastaki Smith, who has recorded 58 total tackles, including 24 solos, 2.5 for loss, one pass breakup, one sack and a fumble recovery. Also standing out this season are sophomore linebackers Joe Henderson and Kris Guyton. Henderson is currently leading the team with 58 tackles, including 36 solos, 8.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two pass breakups, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. Guyton has accounted for 46 tackles, including 30 solos, 2.5 for loss, one interception, three pass breakups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
Following Saturday's game, the Golden Eagles remain at home on Nov. 25 to host Marshall at 6:30 p.m., CT, nationally televised by CSTV. Fans can purchase tickets to the game by call the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK or by logging on to SouthernMiss.com.
