University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Postgame Notes
1/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Football
Jan. 7, 2007
Recap | Final Stats | Photo Gallery 
MOBILE, Ala. - *The Southern Miss captains were No. 70 George Batiste, No. 35 Conrad Chanove, No. 55 Travis Cooley, No. 21 Jasper Faulk, No. 48 Jonathan Palmer and No. 6 Brandon Sumrall.
*With tonight's win, the Golden Eagles finish the 2006 season with a 9-5 record. It was the first nine-win season for the Golden Eagles since the 2003 campaign when they went to the Liberty Bowl, and fourth of Jeff Bower's 16-year tenure.
*Defeating Ohio University, Southern Miss is the only Conference USA to finish the season with a bowl victory.
*This is the second time the Golden Eagles have played in the GMAC Bowl, defeating No. 13 TCU, 28-21, on Dec. 20, 2000. Southern Miss is the only C-USA team to garner a victory in this bowl.
*Rodney Gray caught a 13-yard pass during the second quarter, recording his first reception since a 4-yard gain against Virginia Tech (Oct. 21).
*Tory Harrison gave Southern Miss a 7-0 lead with a 43 yard touchdown run at the 8:33 mark of the second quarter.
*Damion Fletcher put the Golden Eagles up 14-0 at the 3:03 mark of the second quarter with a two yard rushing touchdown. The score marked Fletcher's 10th rushing touchdown of the season. He added another rushing TD later in the game to finish with 11 for the season. He is the first Golden Eagle to score that many rushing touchdowns since Derrick Nix had 11 in 2003.
*James Denley recorded his first interception and first touchdown (18 yards) of the season, swiping a pass from Ohio quarterback Brad Bower at the 1:13 mark of the second quarter.
*Denley's score marked the seventh non-offensive touchdown of the season and the fourth interception for a touchdown this season. The seven non-offensive touchdowns this season is the most recorded under Jeff Bower. The previous high was six, which was recorded in 2000 and 2003.
*The Golden Eagles recorded their longest drive of the season (9:55) and the most plays in a drive (17 plays) throughout the season with their final touchdown, a 9-yard Damion Fletcher rush, with 5:05 left in the third quarter.
*Senior offensive lineman George Batiste made his 49th consecutive career start and the offensive line has combined for 145 collective starting assignments.
*Tonight's contest marked Bower's 10th bowl game in his career at Southern Miss, including six bowl wins.
*The game was Southern Miss 17th bowl appearance in school history, including eight bowl victories.
*Southern Miss has made five-straight bowl appearances, making them one of 20 schools to accomplish that feat.
*The Golden Eagles are one of 15 schools who have played in bowl games in nine of the last 10 years.
*The Golden Eagles are 3-1 when playing on Sunday all-time, while Bower is 2-1 when playing on Sunday. Including tonight's game, Southern Miss has played in two Sunday meetings during the 2006 season. The other match-up ended with a 42-21 Golden Eagle victory over Memphis, Nov. 5.
*With tonight's game against Ohio University, the Golden Eagles recorded their first 14-game season in school history.
*The contest also marked the first time Southern Miss has played in January since 1958. The Golden Eagles have played in January four times -- the 1953 Sun Bowl, the 1954 Sun Bowl, the 1957 Tangerine Bowl and the 1958 Tangerine Bowl.
*Since 1958, the latest the Golden Eagles have played is December 31 when they played in the Liberty Bowl in 1997, 1999 and 2003.
* Sophomore Gerald McRath tallied his sixth double-digit tackle performance with 13 total stops (eight solos), including three tackles for loss.
* Josh Barnes caught a season-high 59 yards on four catches.
