For the second year in a row, the Golden Eagle coaching staff reeled in a top-notch group of athletes that Rivals.com tabbed the best in the conference (Scout.com was not as enthused, though I’m not sure

"With each letter, it becomes visibly better...."

how a high school All-American only gets 3 stars and probably even more puzzling, an All-Region guy from one of the toughest JuCo circuts in the county only manages 2 (?!?) stars in their particular system–for the record, Scout has no dedicated Southern Miss affiliate site, whereas Rivals does).

While there is some disappointment at the lack of a DeAndre Brown-like prodigy and USM’s failure to bring in any of the three big names still being courted Wednesday morning, this class is deeper, better off academically, and arguably better on average than last year’s class that got so many people talking, and still blows any class from recent memory out of the water.  That we’ve already reached the point where not getting a consensus 5-star or a possible Pat White-in-waiting from Maryland is a letdown is a testament to just how far things have progressed in Larry Fedora’s brief tenure.  While people “ooh” and “ahh” the most over individual standouts, the most telling fact is how today’s “average” signees are at the same level as the highlights of our past recruiting classes.  Using the Rivals numbers, from 2003-2007, Southern Miss signed a total of one 4-star recruit and an average of six 3-stars per year (never fewer than 3 and never more than 8).  When all the dust settled yesterday, we had signed three 4-stars and 15 3-stars.  That’s a phenomenal leap in talent and depth thereof.

In other signing day news, I attended the Southern Miss party at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi.  Since my group sat in the very front and most of the tables were on a stage behind us, I can’t give an accurate attendance estimate.  I will say, however, that the highlight of the evening had to be Reggie Collier interrupting Dick Vogel during his supposedly inspirational speech about how much better things are at Ole Miss in order to salvage the situation.  I guess some things change around here, and some don’t.

In light of continued rumblings that Southern Miss has heretofore refused to schedule a home-and-home football series with New Orleans Bowl opponent Troy University, some Trojan fans decided to have a little fun with a t-shirt design, initially available at CafePress.com:

Great concept….Horrible execution. Here’s a closer look:

Sadly, I’m told were it not for the Trojans’ stubborn insistence that every game be scheduled for a Troy o’clock kickoff, the two schools may have been able to work something out.

• 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.

• The defense looked unbelievably better in every aspect. Sure, Boise State scored 24 points, but 1) Boise State does that and worse to everyone, and 2) Boise was given too many short fields to work with, which brings us to…
• The 4th-and-1 call early in the 2nd quarter was dumb as a box of rocks on Larry Fedora’s part. Yes, you have to expect to gain one measly yard. Yes, it’s a big boost if you make it. HOWEVER, the coach has to consider the consequences of not making it, which in this case was giving a superior opponent the ball on your own 45 yard line after your defense had put up a yeoman’s effort to kept them off the scoreboard in the opening quarter. That was a game-changing decision, and Fedora blew it, as I’ve seen so many new coaches (including future two-time National Champion coach Steve Campbell back in his first season at Southwest Mississippi CC) do in that situation. The good news is that you never see any of them repeat the mistake.
• The offense was just off. To spend that much time in Boise State territory and only score one TD was awful. How much of that was to Boise’s credit and how much was the proverbial growing pains, who knows? Specifically…
• The game still seems just a little too fast for Austin Davis, which is to be expected when you’re talking about a redshirt freshman (especially one who came to school on a baseball scholarship). His decisions aren’t bad overall, but against a quality team, he has got to make them more quickly. He could potentially become a holy terror for those on our remaining schedule.
• What in the WORLD is up with our FG kicking game? The woes there continued with a block of the potential go-ahead score to start the game.
• All props to the Boise State fans, who may have brought the largest visiting crowd so far this year. The only other possibility is UL-Lafayette. As much as we fuss about CUSA being so spread out as to discourage travel, all those folks in blue and orange Saturday proved its more just a matter of giving a damn.
• Two words on Reggie Collier’s jersey retirement: About time.
• I cried because I had CUSA refs, until I saw the man who had WAC refs.

#15 AP/16 USAT Boise State (4-0, 1-0 WAC) at Southern Miss (2-3, 0-2 CUSA)

Thursday’s line: Boise State -10

First meeting: 2007 in Boise

Last meeting: 2007 in Boise (Boise State won, 38-16)

Boise State leads the series 1-0

Last week: UTEP def. USM 40-37 (2OT); BSU def. Louisiana Tech 38-3

With their season not going very well as it nears its mid-point, the Golden Eagles are presented with a golden opportunity as #15/16 Boise State, the poster child for teams outside the BCS automatic qualifier pool, visit The Rock for an out-of-conference tilt. As a program, the Broncos need little introduction, as they are both the winningest FBS program in the country since 2000 and keepers of college football legend. However, as we do (most) every week here at KTE, we’ll take a look at the specific names to know and trends to watch headed into this week’s contest.

As has always been the case in recent memory, Boise State brings with them an offensive juggernaut. The Broncos are led on the ground by senior Ian Johnson, who in addition to seemingly having been at Boise forever and having made the Marriage Proposal Heard ‘Round the World, entered 2008 as the active FBS leader in both rushing and total touchdowns. Currently, Johnson is having a less-than-stellar year statistically, averaging “only” 66.5 yards per game and 4.84 per carry. This doesn’t bother the Bronco faithful all that much, however, as freshman quarterback Kellen Moore is having a banner year under center, currently 6th in the FBS in passing rating and 8th in yards per game (291.3). As shown above in the game basics, Boise State has played 4 games. Moore has already been the WAC Player of the Week twice. Moore shows little favoritism in where he throws the ball, with 5 of his teammates already over 100 yards receiving and 3 at double-digits in number of receptions. Junior WR Jeremy Childs leads the pack with 14 catches and a 72+ yards per game average, while sophomore WR Titus Young (10 catches for 168 yards) and senior TE Chris O’Neil (10 for 131) round out the triumvirate of players with 10 more receptions. Johnson (6 for 177) and senior WR Vinny Perretta (8 for 132) are the others with over 100 yards receiving.

Boise State also packs a special teams weapon in placekicker/punter sophomore Kyle Brotzman, who was a Lou Groza Award semi-finalist his freshman year. Brotzman is 4 out of 5 in field goal attempts thus far in ’08–2-for-2 from 40 yards or more–and has yet to miss a PAT in 18 chances.

Unfortunately for Southern Miss, the Broncos have not been slouches on defense, either, thus far in 2008, coming into Hattiesburg 12th in the FBS in points allowed–in large part due to a red zone D that allowed only 3 points to Louisiana Tech in 6 visits inside the Broncos’ 20–and 37th in passing yards allowed per game. If there is any consolation, it is that Boise has actually been pretty average vs. the run, ranking 60th in yards allowed per game. Key players to watch include the DE tandem of sophomore Ryan Winterswyk (3 tackles for loss, one-half sack) and senior DE Mike T. Williams; safeties sophomore Jeron Johnson and senior Ellis Powers, who rank 1-2 in tackles; and freshman OLB Aaron Tevis, who leads the team in sacks with 2.

In what may be the hidden stat of the game, it’s interesting to note that the Broncos’ high pass-defense ranking is considerably skewed by a 92-yard performance vs. FCS Big Sky Conference member Idaho State. In fact, 2 of Boise State’s 3 FBS opponents have had above-average passing performances vs. the Broncos: Louisiana Tech passed for 202 yards vs. Boise State while averaging only 173 over the season, and Oregon–despite starting their 3rd-string QB and being forced to go to their 4th–passed for 237 vs. BSU while averaging only 215. Can Southern Miss—#32 nationally in passing yards per game—do the same and expose the Broncos defense? If so, we could be looking at real shootout Saturday night.

That said, the obvious prediction for this game is that it will come down Boise’s defense vs. the Southern Miss offense. The chances of Southern Miss’ young–and awful–D even slowing down the Broncos are slim. USM simply has to be able to answer when–not if–Boise State puts points on the board. If that happens, you can expect the kind of game that’ll make USM’s basketball team jealous, and it could come down to who has the ball last or makes the last mistake. If Boise State can make stops, however, the game could get ugly in a hurry and stay that way.

• Congratulations to Damion Fletcher, the new all-time rushing leader at Southern Miss.
• The box score won’t show it, and there’s still plenty of work to do, but the offensive line probably played its best game yet, and the coverage on defense was much improved. The weak link is still the defensive line. It’s awfully difficult to cover guys when the opposing QB has all night to decide what he wants to do. Overall, the biggest problem is trying to play defense with smoke and mirrors.
• Heartbreaking near-misses are certainly nothing new for USM, but it’s doubly frustrating from the perspective of building as opposed to an individual game here and there.
• I just can’t help but get the feeling that once this worm turns, we’re going to get hot.
• Was I the only one having Louisville 2002 flashbacks with that kicking performance?
• Man, it sure is tough to leave campus when everybody stays until the end of the game. Here’s hoping it only gets tougher.

[P.S. Apologies to both of my fans for there not being a Know Thy Enemy last week. Real life reared its ugly head and interfered with my writing time.]

Marshall (2-1, 0-0) at Southern Miss (2-1, 0-0)

Thursday’s line: Southern Miss -7

First meeting: 2005 in Huntington

Last meeting: 2007 in Huntington (USM won 33-24)

Southern Miss leads the series 3-0

Last week: USM def. Arkansas St. 27-24; MU def. Memphis 17-16

With Marshall falling on hard times right around the time they joined Conference USA, and Southern Miss suffering something of a slide of its own in recent years, some of the anticipated luster has faded on this young conference rivalry between two of the more respected programs outside of the BCS automatic qualifier conference pool. The games themselves, however, have lived up the billing for the most part, as the first meeting resulted in USM hanging on for an overtime win, and last year’s contest featured a furious Marshall comeback that put a scare into the hearts of Golden Eagle fans everywhere. Only the 2006 meeting, a 42-7 thumping of the Herd in Hattiesburg featured a runaway. Will the 2008 edition be another tight one, or will one of these programs—both seemingly on the rise—make a statement? As the teams mirror each other in a lot of ways, it could go any number of directions.

Marshall’s offense, much like Southern Miss’, features a workhorse running back in Darius Marshall, and a go-to tight end in Cody Slate. Marshall (the player), made the CUSA All-Freshman team in 2007 after posting 631 yards and an average of 5.1 per carry. In 2008, he’s picked up right where he left off, currently ranking 23rd in the FBS and 2nd in CUSA (only to Southern Miss’ own Damion Fletcher) in rushing yards per game at a hair under 102. In Slate, Marshall (the school) has a counterpart to Southern Miss’ Shawn Nelson: a tall tight end with speed and good hands. Slate has missed the past two games to a knee injury but will play Saturday. The two players’ stats over the past few years are eerily similar, but it’s worth noting—as Marshall Coach Mark Snyder recently did—that Nelson is a considerably bigger factor in USM’s offense these days than has been in the past.

The pilot of Marshall offense is redshirt freshman quarterback Mark Cann, who delivered an otherwise pretty good effort (20 for 39, 211 yards) marred by 2 interceptions in his second game, a blowout at the hands of Wisconsin and a cleaner one (14 for 28, 224 yards, 1 TD, no INTs) in a close win vs. Memphis. Cann and the rest of the backfield operate behind a fairly experienced (3 returning starters out of 5) but not wholly aged (2 seniors and a sophomore among those 3) line that amazingly has yet to allow a sack in 2008.

The Herd’s defense is centered around junior outside linebacker Albert McClellan, who was named CUSA Defensive Player of the Year in 2006, and is back in ’08 after missing ’07 due to injury. McClellan has 2 sacks in the young season. Other players to watch include senior inside linebacker Maurice Kitchens, who leads the team in total tackles with 26 including 1 sack, and senior free safety C.J. Spillman, who leads the team in solo tackles with 11. As a unit, Marshall’s defense is pretty average (55th in the FBS) against the run, yielding 117 yards per game, but rather atrocious (112th) against the pass, allowing nearly 309 yards per game (and that’s not skewed by the Wisconsin blowout; they gave up a whopping 368 to Memphis). As with most units at this point in the season, it’s tough to read a pattern from the game-by-game sample since, as was alluded to previously, the schedule so far has included not only a 51-14 blowout at the hands of a Top 15 Wisconsin and a low-scoring 17-16 squeaker over Memphis, but also an obligatory alumni-assuring home pounding of a lower-division opponent.

On paper (or an electronic analog thereof), this should be a good one. You’ve got two teams with similar offenses still in the early stages of finding themselves, and on top of that, in many places on the roster, each team has a counterpart to the other’s key player. In the end, though, Southern Miss’ multiple offensive weapons will probably prove too much for Marshall’s heretofore generous defense. The only question is how much can the Golden Eagles’ young defense slow down Marshall (currently the winningest FBS team in West Virginia, by the way, much to the chagrin of my WVU-alum spouse) when they have the ball? There will probably be some scary moments in this one, but I doubt it’ll be quite the nail-biter we saw (or heard, no thanks to our supposed “play-by-play” announcer) last week at Arkansas State.

• 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.

Southern Miss (1-1, 0-0) at Arkansas State (2-0, 0-0)

Tuesday’s line: Arkansas St. –1

First meeting: 1962 in Jonesboro

Last meeting: 2007 in Hattiesburg (USM won 16-10)

Southern Miss leads the series 8-2

Last week: USM def. by Auburn 27-13 ; ASU def. Texas Southern 83-10

In what has suddenly become a more intriguing match-up than anyone expected, the Golden Eagles head to Jonesboro, Arkansas, Saturday to take on the upstart Arkansas State Red Wolves, who are fresh off a stunner at Texas A. & M. and a record-breaking performance vs. Texas Southern.

In the Red Wolves (who, as you probably know, were forced to change their mascot from the “Indians” at the behest of a group of people who make such culturally sensitive decisions on matters of syntax from their offices in INDIANapolis, INDIANa), Southern Miss faces a similar challenge as it did during the first two games of the season. ASU junior running back Reggie Arnold has been a force so far this season, as he has been his entire career. Arkansas State’s version of our own Damion Fletcher, Arnold has run for over 1,000 yards each of the last two seasons and is off to quite the start this year, piling up 145 yards at Texas A & M and 123–on 8 carries!–vs. Texas Southern. Their second-leading rusher, freshman Derek Lawson, was wisely given the bulk of the carries vs. TSU and put up 211 yards in that game. As a team, Arkansas State ranks 2nd in the FBS in rushing yardage. While Texas Southern’s defense certainly contributed to those gaudy stats, it’s important to remember that the Wolves also hung 280 on Texas A & M, which had a wholly average run defense (64th out of 119) in 2007. Clearly, USM’s defense is going to have to bring its “A” game to contain the Wolves on the ground come Saturday.

Through the air, Arkansas State isn’t as scary on paper, but that’s mostly because they just haven’t had a whole lot of reason to throw the ball. Junior QB Corey Leonard has posted an astronomical passer rating of 192.57 so far in 2008, completing 24 out of 38 for 389 yards and 5 TDs and zero INTs. That’s an outstanding performance, but since most QBs get 38 attempts in one game instead of two, Leonard, as well as the rest of ASU’s passing game, has gone largely unnoticed by outsiders. While it can’t be assumed that Leonard can post those types of numbers if he has to throw twice as often, it can also not be assumed that he can’t should USM put all its defensive eggs in the “force them to throw” basket.

Speaking of defense, Arkansas State’s is led by senior LB Ben Owens, who so far has accounted for 14 tackles and a sack. The line, led by senior end Brian Flagg, entered 2008 expected to be among the best in the Sun Belt and has not disappointed, posting 6 sacks already (4 vs. A & M). In the secondary, the Red Wolves entered 2008 without a returning starter, but with plenty of experience nonetheless, as none of the current starting 4 played in fewer than 11 games in ’07. All told, the pass defense has been pretty stout, currently 29th in the FBS (again, skewed by a game with Texas Southern, but they did hold TAMU to 170 yards). The rush defense hasn’t been lacking either, allowing 133 yards on the ground vs. TAMU and 95 vs. Texas Southern.

As I said in the opening, this is going to be a pretty interesting game. On one hand, one would hope Southern Miss would match up favorably player-for-player, but on the other, you’ve got a Golden Eagle team that’s still figuring itself out vs. a Red Wolves team that knows exactly what it wants to do and is feeling pretty good about how it does it after a major upset and thorough stomping of an overmatched opponent. Add to that the fact that ASU (formerly “Indian”) Stadium is an unfamiliar environment for Southern Miss—the Eagles haven’t been to Jonesboro in the current crop of players’ lifetimes—and quite frankly, this one has me concerned. If things aren’t really clicking for the Golden Eagles on Saturday, they will likely find themselves in trouble.