University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Postgame Notes for the UCF Game
9/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 26, 2006
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UCF Game Notes - *Tonight was the second meeting against UCF. With tonight's 19-14 victory, Southern Miss now leads the all-time series 2-0.
*Southern Miss opened Conference USA play on the road for the fourth straight season tonight. The Golden Eagles are now 10-1 in Conference USA openers, including a 5-1 mark on the road. Southern Miss has now won its past eight league openers.
*Southern Miss, now 3-1 on the season, has won its last three games. It is the best start for the Golden Eagles since opening the 2004 season 4-0. Tonight is also marks the first three-game winning streak since the Golden Eagles opened 2004 with four-straight wins.
*Southern Miss improved to 1-3 all-time in Orlando. The three losses all came in the Tangerine Bowl, a 20-13 loss to West Texas A&M in 1957, a 10-9 defeat to Texas A&M Commerce in 1958 and a 19-17 loss to Missouri in 1981.
* Tonight was the first of two Tuesday night games for Southern Miss. Since 1912, Southern Miss is 5-3 on Tuesday nights, including a 4-1 mark during Bower's tenure.
*Freshman Damion Fletcher finished with 23 carries for 107 yards tonight, his third consecutive 100-yard rushing performance, after posting 177 yards against NC State and 116 yards against Southeastern Louisiana. He became the first Golden Eagle to post three-straight 100-yard games since Derrick Nix did it in the 1998 season, with 129 yards against Houston (11/7/98), 184 against Memphis (11/14/98) and 219 against Nevada (11/21/98).
Jeremy Young completed 15-of-31 passes for 185 yards tonight, finishing with a career-high in completions, attempts and passing yards, breaking his previous high of 13 completions against Florida and NC State, 181 passing yards against NC State and 28 attempts against TCU (11/20/04).
*Chris Johnson caught a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jeremy Young in the second quarter, his first of the season and third of his career. The reception was also his career long catch, breaking the previous high of 48 against UCF last season (10/15/05). Johnson finished with a season-high two catches for 61 yards tonight. The play also marked the longest play from scrimmage for the Golden Eagles in 2006.
*Jerome Lyons collected his first career interception tonight, a four-yard return for a touchdown. It was the seventh straight game that Southern Miss has posted an interception and 21 of the last 22 games. It was also Southern Miss' first interception return for a touchdown since Jasper Faulk returned a 49-yarder against Tulsa last season (10/8/05).
*Freshman wide receiver Rodney Gray finished with a career-high night, finishing with five receptions for 75 yards, including a long catch of 39 yards. His previous high came against NC State, as he finishing with four catches for 30 yards.
*Robert Henderson blocked a Aaron Horn punt in the second quarter tonight, which Shadler Manning recovered. It was the first blocked punt since Martavius Prince blocked one against Arkansas State in last year's New Orleans Bowl (12/20/05).
*Vontre Mason made his first career start tonight, finishing with two solo tackles.
*Offensive lineman George Batiste made his 39th straight start tonight.
*Darren McCaleb connected on a 16-yard field goal in the second quarter and a 30-yarder in the fourth quarter. McCaleb now has hit 59 field goals in 72 attempts for his career.
*LeVance Richmond forced a fumble by Kevin Smith at the one-yard line in the third quarter. It was his first forced fumble of his career.
*The Golden Eagle defense forced two turnovers (interception and fumble recovery) tonight, and has now forced nine turnovers on the season, turning those into 47 points.
*The Golden Eagle defense posted three sacks tonight, finishing with at least two sacks for the fourth consecutive game tonight.
*Martavius Prince finished with one tackle for loss tonight and has posted at least one tackle for loss in each game so far this season. He leads the team with seven tackles for loss.
*Southern Miss is now 43-21 on television, including a 36-30 mark on television under Head Coach Jeff Bower. Southern Miss is now 20-16 on televised road games all-time, including a 18-15 mark under Bower.
*Tonight's captains for Southern Miss were Bobby Weakley, Brandon Sumrall and Eddie Hicks.
