University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Five Bowl Teams, 12 Saturday Games Highlight 2008 Football Schedule
2/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Feb. 26, 2008
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss plays six home games for the third-straight season and faces five bowl teams from a season ago as the school ushers in both the Larry Fedora era, as well as the opening of its new south end zone complex at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium.
"This is a nicely balanced schedule," said Southern Miss Director of Athletics Richard Giannini. "Our non-conference schedule is early in the season and we are excited about opening a new era in Golden Eagle football at home against one of our longest-standing rivals, Louisiana-Lafayette, as well as playing Boise State at home in a Saturday contest.
"We also were extremely excited about the number of season tickets we have already sold. We encourage fans to purchase their season tickets early as we look for record sales and attendance this fall."
Giannini also iterated that all 12 games were scheduled to be played on Saturday at this point and he did not for see any date changes on the schedule.
The Golden Eagles open the season at home with UL Lafayette, Aug. 30, and also face Marshall (Sept. 20), UTEP (Oct. 4), non-conference foe Boise State (Oct. 11), UAB (Oct. 25) and East Carolina (Nov. 15) at "The Rock" in 2008. The UTEP game has been designated as homecoming.
Southern Miss also plays both of its non-conference road tilts against Auburn (Sept. 6) and Arkansas State (Sept. 13), before facing Rice (Oct. 18), Memphis (Nov. 1), UCF (Nov. 8) and SMU (Nov. 29) in Conference USA tilts away from home.
"It looks like we will have a challenging non-conference schedule ahead of us this fall," Fedora said. "We also look forward to competing with a strong schedule in our Conference USA games as well."
The five bowl teams from a year ago include East Carolina and Boise State, who met in the Sheraton Hawai'i Bowl, Memphis, who played in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, UCF, who played in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl, and Auburn, who played in the Chic-Fil-A Bowl.
It will be the 50th meeting between the Golden Eagles and Ragin' Cajuns in the season opener with Southern Miss holding a 37-11-1 advantage in the series. Southern Miss, which holds a 126-62-2 overall cumulative record against its 2008 opponents, has seen winning marks against eight foes.
The Golden Eagles, which enter their 13th-season of Conference USA action, have won four league championships and have never finished below .500 in conference play. The school has also garnered 14-straight winning seasons.
Other promotional dates have not been set, and the game days are still subject to change. Game times will be announced at a later date as soon the school's television schedule has been set.
For season tickets, please call the Southern Miss Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or go online to SouthernMiss.com.
The debut of the Fedora era happens under the Saturday Night Lights with the annual spring game which will take place at 6 p.m., April 12, at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium. Tickets for that event are $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
2008 Southern Miss Football Schedule
| Date (Day) | Opponent | Site |
| Aug. 30 (Sat.) | Louisiana-Lafayette | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Sept. 6 (Sat.) | at Auburn | Auburn, Ala. |
| Sept. 13 (Sat.) | at Arkansas State | Jonesboro, Ark. |
| Sept. 20 (Sat.) | Marshall* | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Sept. 27 (Sat.) | Open | |
| Oct. 4 (Sat.) | UTEP* (Homecoming) | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Oct. 11 (Sat.) | Boise State | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Oct. 18 (Sat.) | at Rice* | Houston, Texas |
| Oct. 25 (Sat.) | UAB* | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Nov. 1 (Sat.) | at Memphis* | Memphis, Tenn. |
| Nov. 8 (Sat.) | at UCF* | Orlando, Fla. |
| Nov. 15 (Sat.) | East Carolina* | Hattiesburg, Miss. |
| Nov. 22 (Sat.) | Open | |
| Nov. 29 (Sat.) | at SMU* | Dallas, Texas |
