University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Football Starts Second Half of Season at North Texas
10/18/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Fresh off a bye week, the Southern Miss football team returns to the field to kick off the second half of the season with a road game against North Texas. Toe meets leather between the Golden Eagles and the Mean Green at 6:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on the American Sports Network (ASN), including WHLT-TV in the Hattiesburg area, as well as heard on one of the affiliates of the Southern Miss IMG Sports Network.
The Golden Eagles (2-4, 0-2 C-USA) begin the second half of its season this week when they travel to face North Texas (2-4, 0-2 C-USA). The Southern Miss program has improved on its win total in each of the last two seasons. The trip to the Lone Star State will be the first of three trips to the state of Texas over the final half of the regular season.
Southern Miss is coming off its last game in which it scored a season-high 31 points and collected a season-best 537 total offensive yards.
The team has had more success scoring in the red zone in each of the last three games. Southern Miss scored touchdowns twice in two trips to the red zone against Rice and did it two of three times against Appalachian State. Versus Middle Tennessee, Southern Miss reached the red zone a season-best seven times and scored four touchdowns and added two field goals against Middle Tennessee. This season, the Golden Eagles are 81 percent of total scoring in the red zone this season, but 83 percent in the last three games.
The Golden Eagles forced a turnover for the seventh straight game dating back to last season with a fumble recovery against the Blue Raiders. After collecting just 12 takeaways in 2012 and 19 in 2013, the Golden Eagles have forced 12 (six fumbles, six interceptions) through the first six contests of 2014. The Golden Eagles have already picked off six passes this season. The team collected a total of six all of last season.
Southern Miss ranks in the Top 30 nationally in one statistical category - tied for No. 17 in Red Zone Defense at 71.4 percent.
The Golden Eagles and Mean Green meet for the ninth time this weekend in a series that dates back to the 1954 season. Each team has won four meetings in the series. Southern Miss travels to Denton for the first time since a 22-0 victory on Oct. 31, 1981. The program is 1-2 against the Mean Green in Denton.
The two teams met for the first time last season in Hattiesburg as members of Conference USA and the Mean Green collected a 55-14 decision. The loss for the Golden Eagles snapped a three-game winning streak over NT.
The Mean Green are in their second year as a member of Conference USA, while the Golden Eagles are in their 19th season of C-USA play. Southern Miss has posted an all-time 84-51 record in C-USA games and has more championships in the history of the league in football with five. Southern Miss is 41-27 in C-USA games played on the road. This will be the first trip to Denton, Texas, for the Golden Eagles meeting North Texas as a C-USA foe.
