University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Southern Miss Notes vs. UTEP
9/24/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Southern Miss Captains: 3 â€" Cornell Armstrong, 5 â€" D. J. Thompson, 17 â€" Elijah Parker
Coin Flip: UTEP wins the toss and defers. Southern Miss set to receive and defend the South goal.
Team Notes:
-The Golden Eagles played for the sixth time at the Sun Bowl in El Paso, improving to 3-3 in game played here. The team lost the 1953 (Pacific, 26-7) and 1954 Sun Bowls (UTEP 37-14) and have now been to this facility four times since the 2007 campaign, improving to 3-2 in those contests.
-Southern Miss now leads the overall series 5-4 over the Miners, having won the last two meetings (34-13 â€" 10/31/15 in Hattiesburg).
-Southern Miss opened a C-USA season with a win for the 15th time in 21 seasons.
-The win marked the fourth consecutive C-USA regular-season road victory.-The Golden Eagles scored 31 points in a row to finish the game. The squad also ended with 34 in a row at Kentucky and posted the 56-0 win over Savannah State in the home opener.
Offensive Notes:
-Southern Miss is 12-2 since the start of the 2015 season when it scores 30 or more points.
-Senior quarterback Nick Mullens threw a touchdown pass for the 20th consecutive game when he hit D.J. Thompson with a six-yard strike in the second quarter.
-Mullens then hit Ito Smith on 28-yard TD pass later in the quarter, marking the third one-play drive for the Golden Eagles this season. The other two â€" Smith 86-yard run vs. Savannah State; Smith 70-yard run versus Troy.
-Ito Smith expanded his season-long streak of rushing for 100 yards or more. He ended the game with 108 yards on 16 carries. He has accomplished the feat seven times in the last eight games dating back to 2015.
-Smith also had a string of seven consecutive games with a rushing TD snapped.
-Cameron Tom started for a current team-best 39th-straight game.
Defensive Notes:
-Southern Miss pitched its third second-half shutout of the year and now leads their opponents 58-13 on the year there.
-The Golden Eagles have allowed just 266 yards through the air in the last three games.
-Junior Curtis Mikell tallied his first career interception with 3:14 to play in the second quarter.
-Mikell then became the first Golden Eagle to pickoff two passes in the same game since Marquese Wheaton collected a pair of interceptions against SMU on Oct. 22, 2011. His second pick went for 100 yards, tying the school record for longest interception (Kendrick Presley vs. Memphis, 11/26/11). His pick for a touchdown was the second for the Golden Eagles this season.
-Deshadrick Truly recorded his first career fumble recovery in the fourth quarter.
-Dylan Bradley, the team's leading tackler entering the game, had six stops with a team-best 2.5 tackles for loss in the contest.
-D'Nerius Antoine's eight tackles led the Golden Eagles. He also had ½ for a loss and broke up a pass.
Special Team Notes:
-Parker Shaunfield started the season by hitting his first six field goals, including a 34-yard attempt with 9:20 to go in the opening quarter and a 46-yarder with 12:01 remaining in the game. Shaunfield has now also converted 21 consecutive extra points to start the season.
-Tyler Sarrazin had the kickoff duties for the second time this season and of his 15 kickoffs, seven went into the endzone for a touchback.
