University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Golden Eagles Begin Prep for Conference Home Opener
9/27/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 27, 2011
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss began their preparation for the 2011 conference home opener against Rice on Tuesday afternoon under sunny skies and mild temperatures at the Joe P. Park Practice Facility.
Saturday's matchup will be the annual "BLACKOUT Game," where fans are encouraged to wear all black attire to take The Rock's home field advantage to the next level.
The annual "BLACKOUT" shirt is available at Barnes and Noble on campus as well as at Campus Book Mart, across Hardy Street from campus. As a new change this year, the senior football captains selected the design that they thought best represent what they wanted to see Golden Eagle fans wear.
For fourth year coach Larry Fedora, the two and a half hour practice was as expected for a Tuesday practice where the team primarily installs the gameplan.
"It was a good day," said Fedora. "The guys really got after it. They had great energy out there. There's some thinking for some guys, some new looks. You're always going to have busts but it was a good day."
Fedora added that the team is still constantly improving even amidst their two-game winning streak.
"We've come a long way but we've still got a long way to go," added Fedora. "We haven't approached (our preparation) any differently. Every week is the same for us. Obviously, this is a conference game for us. It's important and we have our backs against the wall. We understand that. We're playing at home so those are a lot of good things. What I told the team Sunday night was that as good as it was to go on the road and win, we've still got a lot of room for improvement as a football team."
This week's game can be viewed on CSS (Comcast channel 25 in Hattiesburg). The game also will be carried on one of the affiliates of the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network with the "Voice of the Golden Eagles" John Cox and analyst Vic Purvis describing all the action.
Kickoff for the game is set for 6:30 p.m. and will be the third meeting all-time between the Eagles and Owls.
