University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
C-USA Opener for Football Set Saturday against UCF
9/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2009
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - After a dominating performance in last week's season opener against in-state foe Alcorn State, Southern Miss looks forward to its Conference USA opener this week against UCF.
Saturday's game starts at 6 p.m., and can be heard on the Southern Miss ISP Sports Network with flagship station WXRR-FM (ROCK 104) 104.5 broadcasting the game locally. A webcast of the game is also available through Southern Miss All-Access. To subscribe to Southern Miss All-Access, log onto SouthernMiss.com and click on the All-Access button on the front page.
The Knights (1-0) will travel to Hattiesburg for the third time in their history to face the Eagles. Southern Miss holds a 3-1 advantage over the Knights whose sole victory came during their last visit to "The Rock" on Oct. 28, 2007.
Like the Eagles, who won by a score of 52-0, the Knights faced a Division I FCS opponent to open their season as well. After a back-and-forth game, in which Samford was able to capitalize on two big plays to gain the lead, the experience and depth of the Knights took over as they rallied for the 28-24 win.
For the Eagles, who extended their winning streak to six games, the season opener was a different story.
Perhaps the most monumental occurrence came off the field as the fans of the Black and Gold rallied around their team to show their support for the upcoming season to the tune of 36,232 fans packing "The Rock", breaking the old mark of 36,152 set in 2003 against Nebraska.
The Eagles also came just three yards shy of setting a new total offense record against Alcorn State. The 631 total offensive yards is the second-highest total in school history. The current record sits at 633 yards, which was set during last year's season opener against UL Lafayette.
Senior running back Damion Fletcher also continued his assault on the Southern Miss record books as he passed Bubba Phillips to become the school's all-time leader in all-purpose yards with 5,112. Phillips, who played from the Golden Eagles from 1947-50, had 4,968 yards.
Southern Miss currently ranks second nationally in total offense and third in rushing offense (398.0).
One of the major keys to victory for Larry Fedora's Eagles will be shutting down the Knights' explosive special teams units. The Knights returned the opening kickoff of the second half 95 yards for a touchdown and returned another kickoff 72 yards. Senior wide receiver Rocky Ross also returned a punt 39 yards into Samford territory which set up an easy four-play scoring drive for UCF.
All totaled, the Knights piled up a school-record 289 total special teams yards with 190 on kickoff returns and 99 more on punt returns.
Defensively, the Eagles will need to key in on UCF sophomore running back Brynn Harvey who pounded the line against Samford. Harvey had 31 rushes for 111 yards and two touchdowns. Harvey led the UCF rushing attack last season as well.
Tickets for the conference opener against UCF, as well as 5-game season and flex plan options, can be purchased directly through the Southern Miss Ticket Office.
To order, call 1-800-844-TICK (8425), go online at SouthernMiss.com or go by the Pat Ferlise Center, Monday-through-Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. The Pat Ferlise Center ticket office, along with the Eagle Club office, will open at 10 a.m. Saturday until 2:30 p.m., before the ticket operations move over to Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium at 3 p.m. Tickets will be available at The Rock at both the Northwest and Southwest ticket booths and will be open until halftime.
