University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Stein Recognized as “Star of the Week;” Golden Eagles Eye Florida State for Chance to Stay Unblemished
9/6/2023 3:07:00 PM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Redshirt-junior Golden Eagle place kicker Andrew Stein earned a spot on the Groza Award's "Stars of the Week" team on the heels of his perfect 4-for-4 return to place kicking duties.
The performance also earned Stein Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors earlier this week. Stein, a native of Slidell, La., became the first Southern Miss kicker to drill four field goals in a game since 2017, converting kicks from 23, 25, 41 and a career-long 52 yards out against Alcorn State.
Perhaps Stein's most impressive stat of the week is his triumphant return after four years out of the field goal unit. Prior to Saturday, Stein's last make came in 2019 from just 23 yards out. His 16 points scored were also a career-best for the redshirt-junior.
Most impressively, Stein's first make of the day was his first field goal attempt in almost four years—last converting a kick in the 2019 season.
Southern Miss looks to continue the trend of triumphant returns this Saturday, Sept. 9, as the Golden Eagles meet a familiar foe in Florida State and look to start 2-0 for the first time since 2016. Once regulars on the Black & Gold schedule, Florida State enters the contest having received the fourth-overall ranking from the Associated Press poll.
Much like Stein's return to form, third-year head coach Will Hall and his squad look for Southern Miss' first win over a ranked program since 2011 and first win against Florida State since dashing the Seminoles' hopes for an undefeated season in the 1989 season opener.
Coach Hall acknowledges the resemblance this visit to Tallahassee has to his 2021 trip to Tuscaloosa against No. 2 Alabama; although, this Golden Eagle team exceeds its 2021 counterparts on all counts.
"We're a way better program than [we were] then now," said Hall. "Each team is an entity of itself. It's like having two children: you raise them somewhat the same with the same principles, but they're still different and you've got to handle them different. This team is so much different that the [2021] team in what we can attack each day, what we can accomplish each day."
However, Hall notes this Florida State team's talent and experience exceeds the 2021 Crimson Tide: "They're probably the best team I've ever coached against. [We] played [Alabama], and they played for the national title, and I think this [Florida State] team is a little better than them. They're old, they're experienced, they've got a retuning quarterback—I think they've got 17 starters back."
Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT (8:30 p.m. ET) at Florida State's Doak S. Campbell Stadium. The game can be viewed on the ACC Network and heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network or on the Southern Miss GameDay App.
– @USMGoldenEagles | @SouthernMissFB –
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