Southern Miss Opens Conference USA Play with Louisiana Tech Saturday

Saturday, September 19

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6:30 p.m.

Southern Miss

Louisiana Tech

Photo by: Joe Harper

Southern Miss Opens Conference USA Play with Louisiana Tech Saturday

9/18/2020 9:57:00 AM | Football

Game 2 | Southern Miss (0-1, 0-0) vs. Louisiana Tech (0-0, 0-0)
Hattiesburg, Miss. |The Rock (36,000) | Sept. 19, 2020 | 6:30 pm CT | ESPN2

TV - ESPN2 | Play-By-Play - Dave Pasch; Analyst - Mike Golic; Sidelines - Lauren Sisler

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)

Live Stats - www.SouthernMiss.com

Series Record - Southern Miss leads 35-16 (current streak is one loss)

Golden Eagle Overview
• Southern Miss continues its 104th football season this week, having first fielded a team in 1912. The Golden Eagles are 601-432-27, which is 37th best among FBS teams by winning percentage (.580).
• 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.
• The program has posted a 153-68 (.692) record at The Rock. Since the 1976 season, the program has finished at .500 or better in home games for a season 39 times.
• Interim coach Scott Walden makes his Golden Eagle debut against the Bulldogs, marking the first time Southern Miss will have an interim coach in the middle of a season. Walden is 7-3 as a head coach, having led East Texas Baptist 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).

Notes from the South Alabama Game
• The Golden Eagles collected a pair of interceptions, marking the first time since UAB last season (11/9) that they have done that.
• Southern Miss did not turn the ball over in the contest.
• Jack Abraham threw for over 300 yards for the eighth time in his career, finishing with 314 passing yards on 22-of-32 attempts.
• Tim Jones enjoyed his third 100-yard receiving game with 139 yards on six catches with a long of 47.
• Golden Eagles making their first starts included WR Jason Brownlee, TE Naricuss Driver, DE Dominic Quewon, WOLF Averie Habas, Nickel Natrone Brooks and FC Eric Scott, Jr.

In Conference USA Play
The Golden Eagles open their 25th season of C-USA play in 2020. Southern Miss now holds an all-time mark of 112-69 (.619) in Conference USA contests, including a 59-31 mark at home, while compiling a 53-38 ledger on the road. In the previous 24 seasons of C-USA play, Southern Miss has enjoyed 18 seasons of winning marks as well as two years of finishing at .500. The Golden Eagles are 17-7 in C-USA opening games and 10-5 when those games were played in Hattiesburg.

The Louisiana Tech Series
• The Golden Eagles renew what will be the second-longest series in their history this week, tied iwth Louisiana-Lafyette, when they take on Louisiana Tech. The two schools have played 51 times with the Golden Eagles holding a 35-16 record in the series. (series breakdown on page 5 of the notes)
• The two longest series in Southern Miss football history are Memphis (63 games) and UL Lafayette (52 games).
• Southern Miss had a string of four-straight wins in the series snapped last season with a 45-30 setback at Ruston, but have still won 11 of the last 15 meetings between the two schools and are 18-7 against the Bulldogs in Hattiesburg. USM has won the last two here.
• The two schools played each year from 1946 until 1972. The series was renewed in 2010 after going through a 18-year hiatus. After a year off in 2012, LA Tech became a member of C-USA for the 2013 season and the Golden Eagles lead 4-3 in league games.
• The 2018 game was decided by one point in a 21-20 Southern Miss victory and was the 20th time a game in the series had been determined by seven or fewer points. The Golden Eagles are 15-5 in those contests.
• LA Tech outscored the Golden Eagles 21-3 in the final quarter last season to defeat the Eagles in Ruston.
• Former Bulldog, Jack Abraham, who has been the Golden Eagles' quarterback the past two-plus seasons, is 1-1 against his former team, having thrown for 522 yards in the two starts on 50-of-69 passes (.725) with two touchdowns and four interceptions.