Southern Miss vs. UL Lafayette Notes
12/18/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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vs Louisiana-Lafayette (W 28-21)
December 17, 2016
Southern Miss Captains: 9 -- Nick Mullens (offense), 82 -- Tyler Sarrazin (special teams), 94 Dylan Bradley (defense)
Coin Flip: Southern Miss won the toss and deferred until the second half. The Golden Eagles will defend the south goal.
Bowl Notes:
•The final attendance was 35,061, which is the fourth largest crowd in the history of the New Orleans Bowl.
•The Golden Eagles appeared in their second-consecutive bowl game, 12th in the last 15 years and 24th overall, improving to 11-13. It was the fifth appearance in the New Orleans Bowl and they upped their mark to 4-1.
•Over the last six bowl games played for the Golden Eagles since 2008, the team has played four inside - Mercedes-Benz Superdome (2008, 2009, 2016) and Tropicana Field (2010 -- Beef `O' Brady's St. Petersburg Bowl).
•The Golden Eagles tied Louisiana-Lafayette with the most New Orleans Bowl victories with four in the 16-year history of the game.
Team Notes:
•Southern Miss is 15-5 overall in games played in the Superdome, which includes four New Orleans Bowl appearances there (the 2005 New Orleans Bowl appearance was played in Lafayette, La., due to Hurricane Katrina).
•The Golden Eagles finished their 100th season with their 69th winning season overall, second in a row and 20th in the last 23 seasons.
•Southern Miss improved to 40-11-1 against the Ragin' Cajuns and have now won the last nine games against them.
Offensive Notes:
•Ito Smith capped the Golden Eagles' first drive with an 11-yard rushing score. It was his 16th-rushing touchdown and he has now scored at least one touchdown by either rush or reception in 17 of the last 18 games. His 18 rushing touchdowns were second-most in single-season school history (Sammy Winder, 20 in 1980).
With his first-quarter six-yard touchdown reception, Smith moved into third place at the school for career all-purpose yards, moving ahead of Tracy Lampley (2009-12), who notched 4,498. Heading into his senior campaign, he has 4,629 all-purpose yards.
Smith went over the 100-yard mark for the eighth time this season and the 16th time of his career with 138 yards on 26 carries.
•Nick Mullens finishes as the school's all-time passing leader for yards (11,994) and touchdown passes (87), 200-yard passing games (35) and 300-yard passing games (19). He also became the school's leader in career passing attempts (1,546) in the contest.
•Mullens' 346 yards also set a new Golden Eagle bowl standard, edging Lee Roberts' 342 in the 1998 Humanitarian.
•Allenzae Staggers set a Southern Miss bowl and New Orleans Bowl record for most receiving yards (230). Staggers has two of the five 200+ receiving yard games in Southern Miss history, including a school-record 292 yards against Rice earlier this season. He also set a New Orleans Bowl record for catches 11.
Defensive Notes:
•Southern Miss' six sacks were second-most on the year (seven versus Rice).
•Southern Miss allowed just 95 passing yards, its fewest against an FBS team since UTSA had 66 in 2015.
•The Golden Eagles allowed just 252 yards, marking the fifth time this season it held an opponent to less than 260.
•Ja'Boree Poole had a New Orleans Bowl-record three sacks and tallied a career-best (and team-high) nine tackles against the Ragin' Cajuns.
•Tarvarius Moore registered his second career interception (the other against LSU earlier in the season) in the second quarter.
•Curtis Mikell tallied two of the team's four pass breakups.
Special Team Notes:
•PK Parker Shaunfield attempted his first field goal since the Marshall game (10/29), and missed a 38-yard attempt early in the second quarter.
•Of Tyler Sarrazin's five kickoffs tonight, two were for touchbacks.