University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Joe Harper
Southern Miss Travels to UTEP for C-USA West Clash
10/16/2020 8:12:00 AM | Football
Game 5 | Southern Miss (1-3, 1-1 C-USA) at UTEP (3-2, 0-1 C-USA)
El Paso, Texas | Sun Bowl Stadium (8,594/2020 capacity) | Oct. 17, 2020 | 6:30Â pm CT | ESPN2
TVÂ - ESPN2 | Play-By-Play - Roy Philpott; Analyst - Kelly Stouffer; Sidelines - Kris Budden
Radio - Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College - Play-By-Play - John Cox (43rd season); Analyst - Lee Roberts (6th season); Sidelines - Dr. Bo Morgan (11th season); Stats/Spotter - Joe Bryant (13th season)
Series Record - Southern Miss leads 8-4 (Won 5 straight)
Live Stats - UTEPMiners.com
Golden Eagle Overview
•   Southern Miss continues its 104th football season this week, having first fielded a team in 1912. The Golden Eagles are 602-434-27, which is 37th best among FBS teams by winning percentage (.579).
•    Southern Miss has captured five-straight winning seasons and 23 over the last 26. The school established its record for seasonal wins in 2011 with 12.
•   The Golden Eagles are slated to play seven home games this fall, marking only the second time that they have done that in their history. The only other time came in 1920.Â
•   Interim coach Scott Walden made his Golden Eagle debut against LA Tech, marking the first time Southern Miss has had an interim coach in the middle of a season. Walden is 8-5 as a head coach, having led East Texas Baptist (7-3) during the 2016 campaign. He was the youngest head coach in the NCAA that season and is currently the youngest sitting head coach in the FBS (see page two for chart).
Game Postponements
•    The Southern Miss game last weekend against Florida Atlantic was postponed due to COVID-19 for the Owls. It was the first COVID-19 related postponement of a Southern Miss football game. The two teams, in conjunction with Conference USA, are working on rescheduling this contest. It was the first postponement for the Golden Eagles since the 2018 season (Sept. 12) when the squad was supposed to play at Appalachian State but was not played due to Hurricane Florence. That game did not get made up.
   Here is a look at some of those postponements from recent years:
   2005 Hurricane information
•    Scheduled to open the season on Sunday, Sept. 4 against Tulane at home, but was postponed by Hurricane Katrina and moved to Saturday, Nov. 26. USM won 26-7.
•    Scheduled to play at Houston on Saturday, Sept. 24, but was postponed by Hurricane Rita and moved to Sunday Nov. 13. Southern Miss lost that game 27-24.
•    At one point, Southern Miss played three games in 12 days at Marshall (W, 27-24 in OT on Nov. 8), at Houston (L, 27-24 on Nov. 13) and loss versus Memphis at home (L, 24-22 on Nov. 19) and four games in 19 days (Tulane on Nov. 26).
•    The Golden Eagles played a game on five different days of the week that season, except
   for Monday and Sunday, as their last five games of the year (including the bowl game) did not take place on a Saturday.
   2004 Hurricane Information
•    Scheduled to host California on Sept. 16, 2004 but postponed by Hurricane Ivan and moved to Dec. 4 in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles lost the game 26-16, but cost Cal and its quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, a chance to play in the BCS Championship.
The UTEP Series
•    The two teams play for the 13th time in football with Southern Miss holding a 8-4 advantage in a series that dates back to Jan. 1, 1954, and the 1954 Sun Bowl.
•   The Golden Eagles have won the last five games in the series, including a 31-13 victory last season in Hattiesburg. (See page 3 for a recap of last season's game)
•   Over the five-game win streak, the Golden Eagles have averaged 32.4 points to the Miners' 8.0 during that stretch.
•    The 2015 game was played on Halloween and featured the Golden Eagles dressed in all black, while UTEP wore all orange to help celebrate the day's activities.
•    Southern Miss is 4-2 in games played in El Paso, having won two straight and four of the last five contests there.
•    The Golden Eagles are 7-3 over the Miners since they joined Conference USA.
•   Southern Miss has scored 30 or more points in nine of the 12 games in the series history.
•    The two teams have played twice in bowl games, once in the Sun Bowl (1954) and once in the Independence Bowl (1988). James Henry returned two punts for touchdowns in the 1988 game to earn MVP honors on both offense and defense honors in that contest.Â
A Golden Eagles Win over UTEP would...
• give the Golden Eagles their sixth-straight win over UTEP and third consecutive win at the Sun Bowl in El Paso
• be the second-straight victory for the program and coach Scotty Walden in 2020
• allow the team to win its fifth straight regular-season contest in the state of Texas
• improve the Golden Eagles to one game under .500 overall and one game over .500 in league play
Â
El Paso, Texas | Sun Bowl Stadium (8,594/2020 capacity) | Oct. 17, 2020 | 6:30Â pm CT | ESPN2
TVÂ - ESPN2 | Play-By-Play - Roy Philpott; Analyst - Kelly Stouffer; Sidelines - Kris Budden
Radio - Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College - Play-By-Play - John Cox (43rd season); Analyst - Lee Roberts (6th season); Sidelines - Dr. Bo Morgan (11th season); Stats/Spotter - Joe Bryant (13th season)
Series Record - Southern Miss leads 8-4 (Won 5 straight)
Live Stats - UTEPMiners.com
Golden Eagle Overview
•   Southern Miss continues its 104th football season this week, having first fielded a team in 1912. The Golden Eagles are 602-434-27, which is 37th best among FBS teams by winning percentage (.579).
•    Southern Miss has captured five-straight winning seasons and 23 over the last 26. The school established its record for seasonal wins in 2011 with 12.
•   The Golden Eagles are slated to play seven home games this fall, marking only the second time that they have done that in their history. The only other time came in 1920.Â
•   Interim coach Scott Walden made his Golden Eagle debut against LA Tech, marking the first time Southern Miss has had an interim coach in the middle of a season. Walden is 8-5 as a head coach, having led East Texas Baptist (7-3) during the 2016 campaign. He was the youngest head coach in the NCAA that season and is currently the youngest sitting head coach in the FBS (see page two for chart).
Game Postponements
•    The Southern Miss game last weekend against Florida Atlantic was postponed due to COVID-19 for the Owls. It was the first COVID-19 related postponement of a Southern Miss football game. The two teams, in conjunction with Conference USA, are working on rescheduling this contest. It was the first postponement for the Golden Eagles since the 2018 season (Sept. 12) when the squad was supposed to play at Appalachian State but was not played due to Hurricane Florence. That game did not get made up.
   Here is a look at some of those postponements from recent years:
   2005 Hurricane information
•    Scheduled to open the season on Sunday, Sept. 4 against Tulane at home, but was postponed by Hurricane Katrina and moved to Saturday, Nov. 26. USM won 26-7.
•    Scheduled to play at Houston on Saturday, Sept. 24, but was postponed by Hurricane Rita and moved to Sunday Nov. 13. Southern Miss lost that game 27-24.
•    At one point, Southern Miss played three games in 12 days at Marshall (W, 27-24 in OT on Nov. 8), at Houston (L, 27-24 on Nov. 13) and loss versus Memphis at home (L, 24-22 on Nov. 19) and four games in 19 days (Tulane on Nov. 26).
•    The Golden Eagles played a game on five different days of the week that season, except
   for Monday and Sunday, as their last five games of the year (including the bowl game) did not take place on a Saturday.
   2004 Hurricane Information
•    Scheduled to host California on Sept. 16, 2004 but postponed by Hurricane Ivan and moved to Dec. 4 in Hattiesburg. The Golden Eagles lost the game 26-16, but cost Cal and its quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, a chance to play in the BCS Championship.
The UTEP Series
•    The two teams play for the 13th time in football with Southern Miss holding a 8-4 advantage in a series that dates back to Jan. 1, 1954, and the 1954 Sun Bowl.
•   The Golden Eagles have won the last five games in the series, including a 31-13 victory last season in Hattiesburg. (See page 3 for a recap of last season's game)
•   Over the five-game win streak, the Golden Eagles have averaged 32.4 points to the Miners' 8.0 during that stretch.
•    The 2015 game was played on Halloween and featured the Golden Eagles dressed in all black, while UTEP wore all orange to help celebrate the day's activities.
•    Southern Miss is 4-2 in games played in El Paso, having won two straight and four of the last five contests there.
•    The Golden Eagles are 7-3 over the Miners since they joined Conference USA.
•   Southern Miss has scored 30 or more points in nine of the 12 games in the series history.
•    The two teams have played twice in bowl games, once in the Sun Bowl (1954) and once in the Independence Bowl (1988). James Henry returned two punts for touchdowns in the 1988 game to earn MVP honors on both offense and defense honors in that contest.Â
A Golden Eagles Win over UTEP would...
• give the Golden Eagles their sixth-straight win over UTEP and third consecutive win at the Sun Bowl in El Paso
• be the second-straight victory for the program and coach Scotty Walden in 2020
• allow the team to win its fifth straight regular-season contest in the state of Texas
• improve the Golden Eagles to one game under .500 overall and one game over .500 in league play
Â
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