University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Photo by: Danny Rawls, Southern Miss
50 Years of The Rock – Illinois 2002
8/20/2026 10:30:00 AM | Football
Editor's Note: M.M. Roberts Stadium celebrated its first 50 years for the 2025 season since its completion for the 1976 season that opened with a Sept. 25 game against Ole Miss. This summer, we will look back at some of the stadium's best moments over the last half century.
50 Years of The Rock – Illinois 2002
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Week two of the 2002 college football season saw Big 10 foe Illinois coming to Carlisle-Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium for its first and only time to Hattiesburg for football on Saturday, Sept. 7.
After trailing for three quarters, Southern Miss rallied to score a go-ahead touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to hold on to win, 23-20, over the visiting Illini.
Senior running back Derrick Nix led the Golden Eagle offense with 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 27 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run that put Southern Miss ahead, 23-17, with 12:55 remaining in the game.
"This was a good win for us, and I am really proud of our football team," Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said following the game. "We showed a lot of mental toughness in the game. We were very good on defense, and we ran the ball well on offense."
Nix's performance was his highest single-game rushing total since he ran for 217 yards against Nevada in 1998. At the time, it marked the sixth-best performance – now 14th best - by a Southern Miss rusher in school history. It also is one of only 14 200-yard rushing contests in school history.
The win also marked the 75th in Bower's career as his Golden Eagles also won at Illinois 24-7 during the 1997 season.
Illinois opened the scoring with a quick touchdown in the first quarter. Eugene Wilson returned the first Southern Miss punt 70 yards for the score, giving the Illini the early lead.
However, the Southern Miss defense answered two drives later, as it tallied a safety on the Illinois offense, making the score 7-2.
The score remained the same over the next three drives, until Illinois' Mike Hall returned a fumble 30 yards for the touchdown. On the play, the Illini defense forced the Southern Miss quarterback into a fumble. The ball was then picked up by Illinois' Taman Jordan and returned for 25 yards, until it was fumbled and picked up by Hall. After Peter Christofilakos connected on the extra point, Illinois had a commanding 14-2 lead with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Then, Southern Miss offense went to work.
After five drives that ended in four punts and one fumble, the Golden Eagles put together a six-play, 67-yard drive that culminated with Nix's 3-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Illinois extended its lead, 17-9, a few minutes later, aided by Christofilakos' 19-yard field goal.
Southern Miss countered on the next drive, as Marvin Young caught a Micky D'Angelo pass and raced 44 yards untouched for the touchdown, capping a seven-play, 77-yard scoring drive.
Neither team would score until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when Nix scampered for his second score of the afternoon, putting Southern Miss ahead to stay.
Christofilakos inched Illinois a bit closer, connecting on a career-high 41-yard field goal with 9:47 remaining in the game.
Nix led all players in rushing, while Illinois' Antoineo Harris followed with 162 yards rushing on 31 carries.
D'Angelo finished with 171 yards and one touchdown on 14-of-26 passing for Southern Miss, throwing six of the passes to LeRoy Handy.
Illinois combined to throw for 163 yards on 13-of-33 passing, with Dustin Ward leading the way with 87 yards passing on 5-of-10. Jon Beutjer completed 8-of-23 passes for 76 yards
Defensively, Etric Pruitt and Michael Boley led Southern Miss with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Pruitt also had two interceptions in the game, returning them for nine yards.
The victory was the second of three-straight wins to open that season as the Golden Eagles went on to a 7-6 record and a berth in the Houston Bowl against Oklahoma State.
50 Years of The Rock – Illinois 2002
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Week two of the 2002 college football season saw Big 10 foe Illinois coming to Carlisle-Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium for its first and only time to Hattiesburg for football on Saturday, Sept. 7.
After trailing for three quarters, Southern Miss rallied to score a go-ahead touchdown in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter to hold on to win, 23-20, over the visiting Illini.
Senior running back Derrick Nix led the Golden Eagle offense with 201 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 27 carries, including a 50-yard touchdown run that put Southern Miss ahead, 23-17, with 12:55 remaining in the game.
"This was a good win for us, and I am really proud of our football team," Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said following the game. "We showed a lot of mental toughness in the game. We were very good on defense, and we ran the ball well on offense."
Nix's performance was his highest single-game rushing total since he ran for 217 yards against Nevada in 1998. At the time, it marked the sixth-best performance – now 14th best - by a Southern Miss rusher in school history. It also is one of only 14 200-yard rushing contests in school history.
The win also marked the 75th in Bower's career as his Golden Eagles also won at Illinois 24-7 during the 1997 season.
Illinois opened the scoring with a quick touchdown in the first quarter. Eugene Wilson returned the first Southern Miss punt 70 yards for the score, giving the Illini the early lead.
However, the Southern Miss defense answered two drives later, as it tallied a safety on the Illinois offense, making the score 7-2.
The score remained the same over the next three drives, until Illinois' Mike Hall returned a fumble 30 yards for the touchdown. On the play, the Illini defense forced the Southern Miss quarterback into a fumble. The ball was then picked up by Illinois' Taman Jordan and returned for 25 yards, until it was fumbled and picked up by Hall. After Peter Christofilakos connected on the extra point, Illinois had a commanding 14-2 lead with 5:26 remaining in the first quarter.
Then, Southern Miss offense went to work.
After five drives that ended in four punts and one fumble, the Golden Eagles put together a six-play, 67-yard drive that culminated with Nix's 3-yard touchdown run with 46 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Illinois extended its lead, 17-9, a few minutes later, aided by Christofilakos' 19-yard field goal.
Southern Miss countered on the next drive, as Marvin Young caught a Micky D'Angelo pass and raced 44 yards untouched for the touchdown, capping a seven-play, 77-yard scoring drive.
Neither team would score until the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, when Nix scampered for his second score of the afternoon, putting Southern Miss ahead to stay.
Christofilakos inched Illinois a bit closer, connecting on a career-high 41-yard field goal with 9:47 remaining in the game.
Nix led all players in rushing, while Illinois' Antoineo Harris followed with 162 yards rushing on 31 carries.
D'Angelo finished with 171 yards and one touchdown on 14-of-26 passing for Southern Miss, throwing six of the passes to LeRoy Handy.
Illinois combined to throw for 163 yards on 13-of-33 passing, with Dustin Ward leading the way with 87 yards passing on 5-of-10. Jon Beutjer completed 8-of-23 passes for 76 yards
Defensively, Etric Pruitt and Michael Boley led Southern Miss with 12 and 11 tackles, respectively. Pruitt also had two interceptions in the game, returning them for nine yards.
The victory was the second of three-straight wins to open that season as the Golden Eagles went on to a 7-6 record and a berth in the Houston Bowl against Oklahoma State.
Wednesday, August 19
Tuesday, August 18
Monday, August 17
Saturday, August 15