University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Set To Open Season At Florida
8/29/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 29, 2006
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - The Golden Eagle football team begins its 2006 season on Saturday, traveling to Gainesville, Fla., to meet the No. 7/8 Florida Gators. Kickoff is scheduled for 5 p.m., and will be televised live on ESPN Game Plan. To order the broadcast, contact your local cable provider or satellite company, but you must have digital cable to receive the game. The game can be heard on the Southern Miss ISP Network, or by logging onto SouthernMiss.com.
Saturday's game marks the fifth meeting between the two schools, with Florida holding a 4-0 series advantage. It will be the first meeting since the 1997 season, a 21-6 Florida victory. The two teams first met back in 1973, with Florida winning a 14-13 contest in Tampa, Fla. The other two meetings came in the 1992 and 1994 seasons, with Florida winning 24-20 and 55-17 respectively.
Under Head Coach Jeff Bower, Southern Miss has posted a 9-6 record in season-opening games, including a 6-1 mark at home and 3-5 record on the road. In school history, Southern Miss is 59-30 in season-opening games, including a 39-5 record at home and 16-19 mark on the road.
Southern Miss, under the direction of Head Coach Jeff Bower, entering his 16th season, finished 7-5 record in 2005, including a 31-19 victory over Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl. The 2005 season was the program's 12th consecutive winning season. From that team, 49 letterwinners, including 16 starters, return.
Saturday's game will usher in a new era at quarterback, as last year's starter, Dustin Almond, graduated. Redshirt juniors Jeremy Young and Stephen Reaves have been battling for the job during preseason drills. Young played in four games last season, completing 5-9 passes for 62 yards. In his career, Young has completed 23-55 passes for 275 yards, along with one rushing touchdown. Reaves transferred to Southern Miss from Michigan State in the spring of 2005, sitting out last year to meet NCAA transfer requirements. He would've missed the season anyway, as he sustained a season-ending knee injury. At Michigan State in 2004, Reeves played in five games, completing 23-58 passes for 331 yards and two touchdowns.
Redshirt junior Larry Thomas, the team's top rushing leader in 2005, will start Saturday at running back. Thomas started 10 games in 2005, finishing the year with 167 carries for 647 yards and four touchdowns. He posted three 100-yard rushing performances, including a career-best 129-yard performance against UAB.
Also returning is redshirt junior Cody Hull, who started the final two games of 2005. Hull posted a career-high 37 carries for 161 yards against Arkansas State in the New Orleans Bowl. His 37 carries tied for the fourth most all-time.
Redshirt sophomore tight end Shawn Nelson, a 2005 Freshman All-American, returns as the team's leading receiver, with 35 catches for 540 yards and five touchdowns. Nelson, the MVP of the New Orleans Bowl, posted two 100-yard receiving games in 2005, finishing with 113 yards and a 68-yard touchdown against Tulane, and 121 yards and two touchdowns against Arkansas State.
Senior Anthony Perine is back to lead the receiving core. He finished with a career-best 31 catches for 441 yards and two touchdowns last year.
Perine is joined by senior Josh Barnes, who returns a team-best six total touchdowns (five receiving, one rushing). He finished with 32 catches for 421 yards and five touchdowns in 2005. Barnes was one of three returning receivers to post a 100-yard receiving game, finishing with a career-high seven catches for 103 yards and two touchdowns against Houston.
Senior Damion Carter, who finished with 14 catches for 252 yards and two touchdowns last season, also returns. He caught the team's longest offensive play from scrimmage, a 75-yarder against Tulane.
Redshirt junior Chris Johnson caught 20 passes for 303 yards, finishing fifth on the team, also catching two touchdowns. Johnson was one of three receivers to post a 100-yard receiving game in 2005, finishing with eight catches for 113 yards and two touchdowns against UCF.
Senior kicker Darren McCaleb, named to the 2006 Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Preseason Watch list for the third-consecutive season, is the most prolific kicker in school history. Last year, he was named second-team All-Conference USA and was an honorable-mention All-American selection by SI.com.
The Biloxi, Miss., native is the school's all-time leading scorer (255 points), and set the school record with 23 field goals in a season in 2005. Last year, he also set the school record for most extra points in a season (38) and most kick scoring points in a season (107 - 2005), while he also holds the career records in field goals (53) and extra points (96).
McCaleb tied a school record with four field goals against Tulane and East Carolina last season, matching Chris Seroka against Memphis (1988) and Rex Banks against Georgia (1984), while also setting the school record for points by a kicker against East Carolina (15).
Defensively, junior defensive back Brandon Sumrall returns as the team's leading tackles, finishing with 88 (58 solos, 30 assists) last season. Redshirt junior Robert Henderson, Wayne Hardy and Jasper Faulk return a team-best 7.5 tackles for a loss, while Henderson returns at team-high five tackles for loss. Sumrall also returns a team-best four interceptions.
Florida, under the direction of second-year Head Coach Urban Meyer, enters the game with a No.7/8 preseason ranking, as it begins its 100th year on Saturday. The Gators finished 9-3 overall in 2005, including a 31-24 victory over Iowa in the Outback Bowl. Florida returns 41 letterwinners and 12 starters from last year's team.
Chris Leak returns as the team's starting quarterback. Last season, Leak completed 235-374 passes for 20 touchdowns, against six interceptions, averaging 219.9 passing yards per game.
DeShawn Wynn returns as the team's top running back, finishing with 130 attempts for 621 yards and seven touchdowns in 2005.
Dallas Baker returns as the team's top receiver, finishing with 52 catches for 697 yards and five touchdowns.
On defense, Earl Everett returns a team-best 72 tackles (39 solos, 33 assists), along with 2.5 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. Everett and Kyle Jackson both return a team-best two interceptions.
Eric Wilbur returns as the team's punter, finishing last year with 59 punts for 2,459 yards, averaging 41.7 yards per punt.
Following the Florida game, Southern Miss begins a two-game homestand, hosting Southeastern La., in a 6 p.m., contest on Sept. 9, before hosting N.C. State in a 6 p.m., contest on Sept. 16
