University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Eagles Working Toward C-USA Opener against Marshall
9/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 28, 2010
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss continued preparations for its Conference USA season opener this Saturday against Marshall with a two and a half hour practice at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility here Tuesday afternoon.
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium this weekend and can be seen nationally on CBS College Sports (735 Comcast Digital and 393 Comcast HD in Hattiesburg) as well as heard on the affiliates of the Southern Miss ISP Sports Network.
It will be the 15th season opener of C-USA play for the team and the Golden Eagles have posted a 12-2 record in league openers.
Heading into the contest, Southern Miss still is nursing several injuries and Monday it was announced that offensive lineman Jason Weaver was lost for the year with a knee injury. Most of the current injuries seem to have come on the offensive side of the football for Southern Miss.
"We are still banged up," said Golden Eagle coach Larry Fedora on the health of the team. "That isn't going to change, but we have a lot of guys fighting through it and pushing hard to get better. Unfortunately, we do not have a lot of time to let them rest. They have to play. We have a lot of young guys playing and it should be a lot of fun for them."
With the injuries on the offensive side of the ball, the third-year mentor said that he was vary of the Thundering Herd's defensive pass rush even if his offense was at 100 percent.
"It is a concern even if we weren't banged up," said Fedora. "First of all, you have this (Vinny) Curry kid who is probably the best defensive end that we have played to this point. When you watch him on film he is explosive and plays hard.
"Then, you have (Mario) Harvey who they put down at defensive end quite a bit to get a pass rush. He has got quickness and was an all-conference player last year."
The Golden Eagles enter the contest with a 3-1 mark, finishing over .500 in non-conference games for the first time since 2000, while the Thundering Herd come to Hattiesburg with a 1-3 mark.
Tickets still remain for this week's game online at SouthernMiss.com, via the telephone at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or by visiting the Pat Ferlise Athletic Ticket Office from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., through Friday.
Please note the ticket office, as well as the Eagle Club office, will be open from 11 a.m., until 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The ticket operation then will move to Carlisle-Faulkner Field at Roberts Stadium at 4 p.m. Both the northwest and southwest ticket booths will be open for those individuals wanting to purchase seats.
The Marshall game will be a part of Parent's Weekend and there will also be a pre-game Junior Cheerleading Clinic on Saturday. For more information on how to acquire discounted tickets through Parent's Weekend, please contact the ticket office. As for the cheerleading clinic, Golden Eagle fans can go online at SouthernMiss.com or call Brian Morrison at 601-266-6866.
