University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Golden Eagles Play Host to Memphis in Black Out Game
10/16/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 16, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss returns home for the first time in a month when they entertain Memphis in a 6 p.m., football contest at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium here Saturday.
The Golden Eagles, which have won their last five home games, look to snap a current three-game slide when they meet the Tigers. The UofM game has been designated the Black Out game for this season and Southern Miss fans are encouraged to wear black for the contest at The Rock.
It is a key Conference USA affair for Southern Miss, who has dropped two straight and four of the last five games to the Tigers, including a 36-30 defeat last season at the Liberty Bowl.
Southern Miss (3-3, 1-1 C-USA) will send redshirt junior quarterback Martevious Young to lead the offensive attack this weekend. Young, who made his first start of the season last week against Louisville in relief of injured Austin Davis, threw for 229 yards on 22-of-30 passing.
Young will have a pair of seniors in the backfield to getting the running game going, including Damion Fletcher and Tory Harrison. Fletcher is the school's all-time leading rusher with 4,744 and he jumped into the Top 30 among all-time FBS rushers last weekend - currently in No. 26th place. Harrison is second on the club in rushing with 312 yards on 37 carries for an 8.4 per rush average.
Six different Golden Eagle receivers have caught at least 10 passes this season, including senior Gerald Baptiste who leads the club with 24 catches for 238 yards. Sophomore DeAndre Brown, despite missing a pair of games, leads the team in reception yards with 252 on 18 catches. Leroy Banks and Quentin Pierce are tied for third in catches with 16 each, while Fletcher has 15 receptions and Freddie Parham has 14.
On defense, sophomore Korey Williams leads the squad in tackles with 55, to go along with team bests of 6.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. Ronnie Thornton ranks next on the squad with 44 tackles, followed by Martez Smith at 38. Senior Eddie Hicks leads the squad in interceptions with two and has more picks than any current C-USA players in their careers with 10.
The Golden Eagles will look to stop Tigers' running back Curtis Steele, who rushed for a career-best 240 yards in a 35-20 victory over UTEP last weekend. Steele has 381 yards rushing on 71 carries.
Memphis (2-4, 1-2) also utilizes the receiver tandem of Duke Calhoun and Curtis Singleton. Calhoun has team-bests of 30 catches and 590 yards to lead the Tigers, while Singleton -at 6-foot-9 - is next with 17 grabs for 284 yards.
Greg Jackson paces the UofM defense with 45 tackles, while, Deante' Lamar and Darius Davis are next at 36 stops apiece.
The game will be broadcast on the Southern Miss ISP Sports Network with affiliates throughout the state of Mississippi. A webcast also will be available through SouthernMiss.com and fans must be a member of All Access to be able to obtain the webcast.
Tickets still remain for the Memphis game and can be purchased by calling 1-800-844-TICK (8425), or going online at SouthernMiss.com as well as visiting the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office, Monday-through-Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The Southern Miss Ticket Office, along with the Eagle Club Office, will be open from 10 a.m. until 2:30 p.m., Saturday, at the Pat Ferlise Center and then move to the stadium ticket office on the northwest and southwest sides beginning at 3 p.m.
