The Southern Miss Golden Eagles were favorites to contend for a Conference USA championship in 2016. Instead, they had to battle to win their last two contests just to get to .500 on the season. Now, head coach Jay Hopson will be starting a new quarterback. He also only gets four starters back from the nation’s 15th ranked defense.
Don’t throw in the towel yet, there is still a lot of talented performers returning to the Golden Eagles. Especially, one of the top offensive weapons in the college football. The other skill positions are more encouraging. almost every single player who touched the ball last year is back. It may take some work, but Southern Miss could still be in the hunt for the Conference USA title once again.
Offense
Southern Miss’ offensive output plummeted in 2016 by a full seven points per game. Add to that the departure of the school’s most prolific passer Nick Mullins, and things don’t look too good.
Replacing QB Nick Mullens is a problem. Last season, Mullins threw for almost 3,300 yards with 24 scores. This year, the combination of Keon Howard and Kwadra Griggs have to replace the kid averaged close to 300 yards per game.
One of them has to take charge and become the main man. Backup Keon Howard, started two games in place of an injured Mullens as a true freshman. In those games, the youngster struggled. He only completed 44 percent of his passes with four interceptions in losses to the Monarchs and North Texas.
Whoever does, the receiving corps should Allezae Staggars leading a veteran group. Last year, Staggers was Mullins Favorite wide out. He brought in 63 passes for 1,165 yards and seven scores.
If either quarterback takes hold of the job, both will be looking to Running back Ito Smith as their first option. The All-Conference USA running back is the only active FBS player with 3,000 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving in his career. How’s that for a dual threat out of the back field.
In 2016, Smith darted for 1,459 yards on 265 carries and 17 touchdowns. He also caught 43 balls for over 450 yards and two more end zone appearances. Smith will certainly see plenty of touches this season as well.
The Southern Miss offensive line loses three of their starters. The Golden Eagles will have to rely on a combination of redshirt freshmen and incoming transfers to fill the holes for the running game to still be successful.
Defense
The Southern Miss defensive side of the football was solid on paper last season. They managed to finish first in C-USA in total defense and fourth in scoring. At times during the year, they were even down right dominant. Heck, at one point they harnessed Louisiana Tech’s maniac offense to its worst showing of the season. That single-handed performance was in a bowl-clinching upset win.
At times, the same prolific defense seemed to go to sleep against some of the league’s worst offenses. They surrendered 55 points to UTSA, 38 to Charlotte and 51 to Old Dominion. In all of those contests, Southern Miss was favored to win. As a result, they lost all three by double digits.
Only four starters are back from that squad. The good news is that virtually everyone that will be taking the field for the Southern Miss Golden Eagles’ defense is either a junior or a senior. Furthermore, they are led by an all-senior secondary. Last year, the group led the conference in passing yards and touchdowns allowed.
Unfortunately, the 2017 squad no longer has the services of last year’s leading tackler, safety D’Nerius Antoine. They also will be minus the talent of the league’s top pass rusher, Dylan Bradley. both Golden Eagles were voted first-team all-conference by league coaches.
Replacing them are Tarvarius Moore and Xavier “PawPaw” Thigpen. Thigpen recorded 9.5 sacks over the last two campaigns and Moore is a next-level prospect. We’ll have to see how the two shake out before we can get the cart to ahead of the horse.
Prediction
The Golden Eagles opened last year as the heavy favorites to win the Conference USA title. It’s hard to imagine that their 7-6 record and a salvaging of their season in the final game was anything but disappointing.
Prior to that, the Southern Miss program looked to be on the rise once again. They looked like they finally climbed out of the depths of a 23 game losing streak through 2012-13 seasons. To most peoples surprise, the promised breakthrough in NickMullens’ senior year never came to fruition.
That being said, the talent level in Hattiesburg is arguably one of the best in the conference. Now, this year’s lineup just so happens to be dominated by upperclassmen again. Even with average play from the quarterback spot, the Golden Eagles could remain competitive in every game. The real question, again, is which team will show up from one week to the next.
Las Vegas has the Golden Eagles’ team total at seven with a -130 tag. The -130 is too expensive for me to play with a team that is too hard to predict. Odds makers also have Southern Miss at 10 to 1 to accomplish what they couldn’t last year, a Conference USA title. I wouldn’t go anywhere near that +1000 bet either.
Schedule
Sept. 2: Kentucky
Sept. 9: Southern
Sept. 16: Louisiana-Monroe
Sept. 23: OPEN DATE
Sept. 30: North Texas
Oct. 7: at UTSA
Oct. 14: UTEP
Oct. 21: at Louisiana Tech
Oct. 28: UAB
Nov. 4: at Tennessee
Nov. 11: at Rice
Nov. 18: Charlotte
Nov. 25: at Marshall
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will be discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this edition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Keeping with tradition, EJ the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun will give their predictions for the contests. On top of that, we will be providing our dog play of the podcast as well as cash money plays for the week. Join us for all three opening episodes and improve your college football knowledge while increasing the size of your sports book betting account. Come join us and help everyone make it rain. #moneytreesgrow Also, feel free to download the
Join us for all three opening episodes and improve your college football knowledge while increasing the size of your sports book betting account. Come join us and help everyone make it rain. #moneytreesgrow Also, feel free to download the getmoresports app from the Google Play Store. It makes finding all your sporting information easy and available with just a touch of an icon on your mobile device.
