University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Postgame Notes for UAB Game
11/19/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 19, 2006
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes | Photo Gallery 
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - * The Southern Miss game captains were No. 14 Caleb Hendrix, No. 22 James Denley and No. 55 Travis Cooley.
* With the victory, the Golden Eagles secured their 13th-straight winning season. Only four other schools that have been NCAA I-A over that time have achieved this feat, Florida, Florida State, Michigan and Virginia Tech.
* The Golden Eagles improved to 7-0 in the series with UAB, as five of the games have been decided by five points or less.
* The win was Southern Miss Head Coach Jeff Bower's 110th of his career.
* Damion Fletcher became the second Southern Miss freshman to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season with 163 yards on 27 carries. Derrick Nix is the other, rushing for 1,150 yards in 1998. This season, Fletcher has rushed for 1,089 yards.
* The 1,089 yards puts him seventh on the Southern Miss single-season charts for rushing yardage.
* The 163 yards by Fletcher ranks as tied for fifth as the most yards in a game by a Golden Eagle freshman. Derrick Nix also tallied that number during the Army contest (10/17/98). It was Fletcher's sixth 100-plus yard game of the season, also tying him with Nix for the most times rushing for at least 100 yards during their freshman campaigns.
* The Golden Eagles scored their fifth non-offensive touchdown of the year when Jasper Faulk tallied a 48-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter. It was the third touchdown by interception for Southern Miss - the other two coming from Jerome Lyons - a four-yard return at UCF - and Eddie Hicks, who tallied a school-record 87-yard return against East Carolina. The Golden Eagles also have two fumble returns for scores, including a five-yard return by Cornelius McGee against Southeastern Louisiana and a 50-yard return for LeVance Richmond. The most in a season during the Jeff Bower era is six in both the 2000 and 2003 campaigns.
* It was Faulk's second interception of the season and he is averaging 44 yards per return. It was also his second career INT for a touchdown -- the other coming last season against Tulsa (49 yards).
* The Golden Eagles missed their first extra point of the season - after making the first 28 of the season - on a bad snap after their first touchdown.
* Chris Johnson tallied his team-leading fourth TD catch in the second quarter - a 20-yard reception - for the sixth scoring catch of his career. Johnson then added his first career rushing score in the third quarter on an 11-yard reverse.
* Senior offensive lineman George Batiste made his 46th career start.
* The Golden Eagles had a string of seven quarters without surrendering a touchdown, before being snapped early in the fourth quarter.
* Southern Miss notched its first safety since the East Carolina game during the 2004 season, in the final moments of the game when they sacked UAB quarterback Joseph Webb in the end zone.
* Reserve quarterback Stephen Reaves collected his first 100-yard passing game as a Golden Eagle, with 125 yards, and notched his second TD pass of the campaign, a 20-yard pass to Chris Johnson.
* Gerard McRath tallied his third double-digit tackle game in the last four contests with 12 total stops against the Blazers.
