As you can see, the Fever has been neglected of late (really?  No posts since October?!?).  Once the UAB Know They Enemy got pre-empted, things pretty much went to hell.  As I said I wouldn’t do, my Golden Eagle attention focused elsewhere, mainly the EaglePost message board.  A lackluster end to the football season didn’t exactly help things.

However, after a little live-blogging experiment on EP at the South Alabama basketball game (an unlimited internet package on a mobile phone is a wonderful thing), I was reminded of how underutilized my little soap box here has been.

All that said, the New Orleans Bowl beckons tonight for the second straight year.  Sadly, I am not making the trip as I’ll be driving quite enough this week as it is and I had already planned on attending the basketball Golden Eagles’ Christmas Classic tomorrow night and both would be just too much as the busyness of the rest of the week approaches.

On to the game.  I honestly don’t feel comfortable about this one.  Middle Tennessee will present a lively offense (Top 30 nationally in both yardage and scoring) to our porous defense that has struggled to stop most anyone, especially in the first half.  Worse yet, the Blue Raider offense centers around its dual-threat QB, Dwight Dasher, and while Southern Miss has fared pretty well in sheer number of sacks over the course of the season, anecdotally, it has not fared well in attempting to contain rushing QBs.

Hopefully, there will be enough of a size/talent differential in USM’s favor to overcome MTSU’s strategic advantages, but I’m stopping at “cautiously optimistic”

The two biggest things I’m looking forward to with interest are:

1) How big a game will DeAndre Brown have in his return to the Superdome after last year’s horrific injury?  If I’m Larry Fedora, I’m going to him deep on the first play just to get that out of the way.

2) Will we even bother trying extra points (you gotta scroll WAY down that link), or just go for two every time the situation presents?  According to reports, Fedora is pondering it.  May I humbly suggest NOT “doing the same thing as day one” when you’re dead last in the country at a particular task?

Tune in later for in-game updates.  I am nothing if not entertaining as a spectator.

UPDATE 1: Game underway.  Nearly had the same start as last year with a turnover for a TD.  Offense mixing up the run and pass nicely, but those lateral plays not getting us anything.  Good move putting Harrison in on the 3.  TOUCHDOWN EAGLES!!  Went for 2, which I won’t argue with, but it comes up short.

UPDATE 2 (9:20 left in the 1st): 3 and out for the defense.  Certainly didn’t see that coming.  Not sure if it’s just physical advantage or aggressiveness, but MT looked helpless there.

7:52 left in the 1st: QB sneak for a 1st down.  Did you see that, Pat Hill?

6:35 in the 1st: TOUCHDOWN, DEANDRE BROWN!!!  Another try for 2, this one good, also to Brown.

0:19 in the 1st: Dasher down while trying to make a cut and getting his knee examined on the field.  That did not look good.

14:43 in the 2nd: Never mind.  He’s back and just ran it for 24 yards.  Defense in a red zone situation for the first time tonight.  We’re still struggling to wrap up the QB.  Been a problem since Alcorn.

13:25 in the 2nd: The defense to which we’ve unfortunately become accustomed has reared it’s ugly head.  14-7 Eagles.

10:01 in the 2nd: Offense sputtering now.  Need a stop now, or this game’s gonna get WAY too interesting.  And just like that, Dasher runs for 6.

8:51 in the 2nd: Everybody else in the freakin’ country can get positive yards off the lateral screen.  Getting ready to spew the anti-Bradford venom.

6:45: OK, how do you let your coach challenge that if you’re the MT receiver?

6:30: Hmmm….we can tackle Sun Belt runner-up players 1-on-1.  That kinda backs up my assertion that our biggest problem on defense has been simply being physically weak relative to the competition.  Completely different game when your man in there to make the tackle and can actually do it.

Blocked FG.  Still 14-7.

5:53: Interception on the very next play.  MT ball on the USM 12.  F$%$itty-f$%%-f@#$.  Whew…may be saved by the replay.  Or not.  As I said, F$%$itty-f$%%-f@#$!!!

4:41: WHY!! CAN WE NOT!!! TACKLE!!! THE @#$%ING!!! QUARTERBACK?!?!?!?

3:45: Fletch now ahead of Tomlinson in career yardage.  Next stop: 1000 yard season.

2:09: Vertical passing game looking good.  Let’s have more of it, now.

0:07: FG called back on an offsides call.  Lined up to take a shot before calling time-out.  Here’s where the coach is a genius if it works and a moron if it doesn’t.

0:07: Never mind.  Lining up to kick it now.  Friend in the Dome said DeAndre was not happy with that decision at all.  17-14 Eagles at halftime.

OK, Why the funk is ESPN giving us a preview of the game at HALFTIME?  At least they gave SMU their mustang logo instead of our eagle head.

Second half underway…MTSU’s ball first.  Uh-oh.

14:43 in the 3rd: Amazing how lateral plays work as well for our opponents as they do poorly for us.

13:48: Dasher fumbles while breaking off a long run.  Somebody change that boy’s cleats (uh, or not).

13:20: …and Fletch goes over 1,000.  Congratulations to him.

12:21: Middle Tennessee starting to get that defensive pressure I feared going in.  Also got a text from a friend in the Dome after that last drive: “We look like Bower on Quaaludes.”

10:56: Big sack by Korey Williams.  Can we make it mean something?

10:20: HELL no, we can’t.  First-down pass on the next play, Dasher into the end zone on the next.  21-17 MTSU.

9:17: Once again, the vertical pass working pretty well….

8:06: Dammit, he’s got his yards.  Quit giving the ball to Dancin’ Damion and send it downfield.

7:36: Had to settle for a FG.  Yee-ha.

7:20: There’s that screen again.  How THE FUNK can every team we play run that with success when we get 5 yards a season out of it?  MTSU is just handling us at this point.  We look like that layer of white powder that forms on dog crap right about now.

4:43: Big play to bring up 3rd & 10.  Yippie!  Whoa.  Hold the phones.  We actually stopped them.

0:55: Another text from another friend: “Turf leads us in tackles.”

0:00: The entire defensive staff needs to be left in New Orleans.  Hell, leave the whole program down there for that matter.

13:00: We must lead the nation in false starts on the center.

11:55: Another f@#$ing false start.

11:51:

Fletcher is dealing with a groin strain, Brown a bruised shoulder.  Morris is still recovering from a concussion suffered vs. Virginia via a hit that USM has asked the NCAA to review.

Read more details via the American here.

The team should be OK without the trio, but it’s a shame their injuries will cost Fletcher and Brown some TV time.  Best wishes to Morris as he deals with something that can be especially exasperating.

Hopefully, a positive from this news will be that it will motivate the rest of the team a little more to not take this game for granted since two of its premiere offensive weapons won’t be available.

FWIW, UAB has their own injury problems.

• The DeAndre Brown Welcome Back party went well. You could see a little rust, and he and Austin
  

  Photo credit: Tim Isbell, Sun Herald

  Davis missed on what would have been a TD last season and probably will be again in another week or two, but Brown had a good night (7 catches for 75 yards), wasn’t afraid to take or lay a hit (he knocked a UCF safety halfway back to Orlando while blocking for Damion Fletcher late in the game) , and on a couple of occasions reclaimed his role as the 3rd-down go-to guy.

• The offense did not have a great game. The yards were there, but too much of the ball movement was between the 20s. Too many drives stalled and the big play eluded the team most of the night. To get nearly 400 yards against what the preseason mags had dubbed a pretty top-notch defensive front is good, but as was the case last week, far too many opportunities were squandered.

• It’s hard to make a call on Saturday’s defense. UCF couldn’t get much done (held under 200 total yards), but nor did they vs. Samford. The Eagles D-line stuffed the running game, but the backfield performance was more hit-and-miss. A few times, there were flashbacks of recent defenses that allowed nothing on 1^st and 2^nd down, but allowed a conversion on 3^rd. To have zero interceptions was a disappointment. Still, the bottom line was good, and there was a TD scored off of a fumble, so there’s not much room to complain. One just has to wonder what’ll happen when this D faces a more formidable opponent.

• The special teams performance was downright embarrassing. FOUR mishandled punts?!? Even in the rain, that is unacceptable. As is the inability to hit a 26-yard field goal. There was also a bad snap on a PAT (followed by a hell of an effort to run it in by holder Kane Wommack), which is going to happen every now and then, but it looked more like part of a pattern than an aberration Saturday night. In the wake of UCF’s big return game vs. Samford, the Eagles’ kick coverage was fine up until after the presumptive game-icing touchdown, at which point it allowed an 89-yard return to the 5 which allowed the Knights to cut the lead to 7 with under 2 minutes left. Even a perfectly average performance on special teams would’ve made this game a blowout. If this isn’t fixed, it’s going to start costing USM some wins.

• All in all, Coach Fedora put it best on his twitter: “Great to get our 2nd win. Got to play better next week.”

• Saturday’s win was the 7^th straight for USM dating back to the middle of last season. That’s the team’s longest win streak since 1988.

• On a non-football note, during the drive up Hwy. 49, I saw what had to be the most redneck thing this side of the wedding at the Waffle House. Someone just south of Perkinston was holding a yard sale inside a school bus. I regret not stopping to get a photo.

Via the Hattiesburg American:

“We’re excited obviously,” Fedora said. “We’ve been practicing with that in mind, hoping it was going to happen.”

UCF at Southern Miss

Thursday’s line: USM -14.5

First meeting: 2005 in Hattiesburg

Last meeting: 2008 in Orlando (USM won 17-6)

USM leads the series 3-1

CUSA play starts early for the Golden Eagles as the Knights come to town in Game 2. UCF, which has at times seemed poised for greatness after winning CUSA’s Eastern Division and posting the best record in the conference twice since joining the league in 2005 and claiming a championship in 2007, limped to a 4-8 (3-5) record in 2008, continuing O’Leary’s alternating winning season/losing season streak in Orlando. The Eagles are comfortably favored at The Rock on the heels of their smackdown of Alcorn and the Knights’ struggles against FCS Samford.

Particularly disappointing vs. Samford was UCF’s offense, which only compiled 282 total yards. UCF returned 10 starters from last year, but they only continued the Knights’ struggles from 2008, when they ranked dead last in the nation in total offense as they struggled to settle on a starting QB. That particular issue also continued, as sophomore QB Rob Calabrese started vs. Samford after starting the final 4 games of 2008 only to be replaced in the game by redshirt senior and Wake Forest transfer Brett Hodges, who tossed what turned out to be the game-winning TD to Jamar Newsome with 11 minutes left. Hodges completed 10-of-17 for 129 yards off the bench compared to Calabrese’s 3-for-7 for 28, though Hodges also threw an interception that Samford ran 67 yards the other way for a score. O’Leary is expected to use the same plan on Saturday vs. USM, with Calabrese getting the start but both expected to play. Aside from Hodges’ late heroics, another (the other?) bright spot for UCF’s offense was Brynn Harvey’s 111 yards rushing on 33 carries.

The Knights’ pass defense didn’t fare a whole lot better than the offense, allowing Samford, led by 2008 Southern Conference Freshman of the Year QB Dustin Taliaferro, 208 yards through the air on 60% completions. Taliaferro himself threw for 141 of those yards, nearing his 2008 season average of 158.6, not good considering Samford only played one game vs. an FBS foe in ‘08. Taliaferro was also only sacked once. UCF fared better against the run, only allowing 78 yards on the ground. Leading the defensive effort for the Knights was DB Darin Baldwin, who claimed 7 tackles and 3 pass break-ups, and DE Jarvis Geathers, who recorded the lone sack. Should DeAndre Brown play for Southern Miss on Saturday, expect Baldwin to be the primary back charged with containing him.

Baldwin also played a big role in UCF’s high point of the day: kick returns. The Knights piled up 289 return yards on Samford, 190 on kickoffs and 99 on punts, for their best performance in that category since joining Divison I-A/the FBS. Baldwin returned a kickoff 72 yards to the Samford 11 late in the 3^rd quarter, but UCF squandered the opportunity by stalling and eventually getting a Jamie Boyle FG blocked. Leading the return game for the Knights was WR Rocky Ross, who compiled 91 yards on 6 returns, including a long of 39.

All in all, UCF was much less impressive in their opening game than Southern Miss, even after accounting for the different levels of competition. Given the fact that the Knights’ woes are the same ones they had last year, the safe assumption is that the Samford performance wasn’t just a one-game hiccup. It’s said that teams make their most improvement from Week 1 to Week 2 of a football season, and UCF better hope that’s true in their case and not so much in USM’s. While those kick returns should be of particular concern for the Golden Eagles, nothing much else should scare USM fans as long as the team shows up ready to play.

Just as I was putting the finishing touches on what was to be the first football entry for 2009, the local high school football wrap-up show on WLOX-TV showed and mentioned DeAndre Brown on the sidelines of Ocean Spring’s High’s game tonight.  Brown told WLOX’s Jeff Shepard that he won’t play vs. Alcorn (thus his being in O.S. instead of in Hattiesburg tonight) but will be back next week vs. UCF.

Brown had recently been cleared by his doctor to participate in full-contact practice.

• 70 points. Just wow.
• Attendance was better than expected. It wasn’t great, and obviously, there’s a Homecoming boost, but considering the record, I expected a much bigger dropoff since Boise. I really think a) the majority of fans realize this is a building process and b) win or lose, a lot of folks still want to see what Fletcher, Davis, and Brown are going to do next.
• Speaking of Fletcher, another round of congratulations to him for becoming the first 4,000-yard rusher in USM history as well as the first to go three straight years over 1,000.
• Congrats also to Davis, who broke a school record for rushing TDs in one game (previously held by Chris Windsor, Shelton Gandy, and Doyle Orange) as well as Brett Favre’s school record for TD passes in a season by a freshman. The folks who do the media guide are going to be busy this off-season.
• The defense did a great job, but I wouldn’t read too much into it just yet. Their 5 turnovers–UAB coughed up 6, but one was on a kick return–were great (the interception by Andre Watson was phenomenal), but you’re simply not going to get that every week. Whether or not we can stop a team that protects the ball a little better remains to be seen.
• I was seriously digging the gold-on-gold, even though the blogosphere’s most famous USM alum Dr. Saturday (The Artist Formerly Known as the Sunday Morning Quarterback) disagreed. (C’mon Matt. Don’t hate on your own school like that!) Oddly enough, Wyoming also wore gold-on-gold for the first time ever on Saturday, and California broke out the same color scheme. All three schools won. If those three, West Virginia, and Minnesota are ever all at home on the same day, we should coordinate just to try to crash the UniWatch website.

[As you can see, it's been light blogging (well, non-blogging) for a while here at FTF. There are various reasons for this, including a stomach flu I wouldn't wish on anyone that hit the week of the Memphis game. Hopefully, this entry will mark a return to more regular updates for the rest of the season.]

U.A.B. (2-6, 1-3) at Southern Miss (2-6, 0-4)

Thursday’s line: USM -9

First meeting: 2000 in Birmingham

Last meeting: 2007 in Birmingham (USM won 37-7.)

Southern Miss leads the series 8-0

Last week: Memphis def. Southern Miss 36-30; UAB def. Marshall 23-21

In what doesn’t exactly shape up as a battle of the titans, UAB arrives in Hattiesburg this weekend as the Golden Eagles’ homecoming guest. Both teams come in looking to break significant losing streaks: USM trying to halt a 5-game mid-season skid, and UAB looking to end both an 8-game losing streak—the entirety of the series—to USM and an 18-game losing streak on the road. Coming off their own homecoming win over East-leading Marshall, surely the Blazers can smell the blood as the Golden Eagles look to stop the bleeding.

Unfortunately for Golden Eagle fans, it doesn’t get a whole lot easier for the woeful Southern Miss defense this week. UAB is led on offense by versatile junior QB Joe Webb, who accounted for 352 yards vs. Marshall and set a single-season Conference USA record for rushing yards by a quarterback in the process. Webb enters Saturday having completed 57% of his passes for 1726 yards and having produced 723 yards on the ground for the team lead. Webb’s favorite target when throwing the ball is sophomore WR Frantrell Forrest, who has almost twice as many catches (33) as the next person on UAB’s list, compiling 419 yards and 2 TDs along the way. The aforementioned next person on the list is sophomore TE Jeffery Anderson, but he also leads the Blazers in TD catches with 3. UAB’s second-leading rusher is junior Rashaud Slaughter (who’s actually listed on the roster as a wide receiver) with 332 yards. The UAB offense operates behind a somewhat young but experienced line, personified by RT Terrence Edge who will be starting his 16th game despite being a sophomore.

The story gets a little better when examining the UAB defense, which has been a bit below the median vs. the run (allowing 160 yards and change per game) but 118th (3rd from the bottom) nationally vs. the pass. The latter stat is pretty disappointing to the Blazers, as the secondary was expected to be a strength in 2008. Expect senior Kevin Sanders to be given the assignment of covering DeAndre Brown, and keep your eye on LB Joe Henderson, the team’s leading tackler (with 61) , and FS Will Dunbar, who led the conference in tackles in 2007 and has 43 on the year despite missing a game earlier in the season. On the line, UAB is basically one year removed from the situation USM finds itself in this year: entering the season, 3 of the Blazers’ returning starters at end and tackle were sophomores. One of them is end Turner Bryant, who leads the team with 4 sacks, matching the combined total of the rest of the line.

Once again, Southern Miss faces a team against which it should be able to move the ball, and once again, the million-dollar question is whether or not the Golden Eagle defense will be at all able to slow down the opponent. With Webb under center for UAB, the prospect is not encouraging, especially considering the 146 yards racked up by the last running QB to visit The Rock. Granted, that was also the last victory posted in the friendly confines of Roberts Stadium, but with the additional threat of Webb’s arm, it becomes a scary proposition.

• We beat a solid and significantly more experienced team at their place.
• We did it in only the 3rd game of the season.
• There’s some deserved concern in regard to the defense after once again giving up a ton of yards. Unfortunately, it’s probably not wise to expect a whole lot better any time soon considering our youth on the line. This is a problem area everyone knew about going into the season, and you can’t just magically turn a freshman or sophomore into a grizzled, 30-lbs-heavier senior. Hopefully, the lack of tackling on initial contact can be improved upon, but mostly, it just goes with the territory.
• Far too many dropped passes tonight. I’m more forgiving to DeAndre Brown since he was in high school just a few months ago, but when the ball hits somebody’s hands, a play has to be made
• Is Fletch versatile, or what? 91 yards rushing and 61 passing, including a 24-yard TD.
• Also, another great game from Shawn Nelson (7 receptions for 110).
• All of the good football coaches I’ve ever been around had certain things in common, and Larry Fedora has displayed every one of them so far:
  • they stay positive
  • they don’t just direct players, they teach the game
  • they preach the fact that the outcome of every game comes down to just a handful of plays, and there’s no way of knowing which plays those will be, so you’d better bust your ass on every one just in case
  • While they obviously care about wins and losses, their larger concern–win or lose–is always their own team’s performance and improvement.
• With the first of our “toss-up” games in the books on the good side of the ledger, there is no way in Hades we’re going to lose 6 or more games this year as some have predicted.