The Golden Eagles enjoyed the best season in their history last year. They won the Conference USA Championship, defeating a very good Houston team. They followed up that victory with a win over Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl, giving them an impressive 12-2 record to end the season. To get expert picks on Southern Miss this season, but sure to join the experts at Sports Free Picks.
The Golden Eagles received quite a blow though as they lose head coach Larry Fedora, who took the head coaching job at North Carolina. Elliot Johnson will be replacing him. Johnson was the defensive coordinator at South Carolina for the last four years. He does have some talent coming back, but only has 10 starters returning in 2012.
Offense
The departure of starting quarterback Austin Davis really puts Johnson in a tough spot as he tries to lead this team moving forward. Before graduating, Davis became the school's all-time leading passer with 10,892 yards, blowing Brett Favre's record of 7,595 out of the water.
Right now, the frontrunner to take over for Davis at quarterback is Anthony Alford. Alford turned down a chance to play in Major League Baseball to come back and lead this team.
Injuries decimated the Golden Eagles at running back last year. At one point, even wide out Tacy Lampley was moved to running back to cover the injuries. Redshirt freshman Jamal Woodyard ended up leading the team with 732 yards, but he won't be available in 2012 due to a medical redshirt. That gives the starting nod to Kendrick Hardy, who was third on the team with 426 yards in 2011. Hardy will be backed up by Desmond Johnson and junior Jeremy Hester.
Southern Miss is looking like it'll have a weak unit at wide receiver this year. They lose two top threats in Ryan Balentine and Kelvin Bolden. The top guy coming back is Lampley, but here is a noticeable drop off in talent from last year.
The Golden Eagles get back four starters on a unit that looks like it'll be the top offensive line in the conference. Right tackle Jason Weaver was granted a sixth year of eligibility and is expected to start over at left tackle. Southern Miss has one of the top centers in C-USA in Austin Quattrochi and two top guards in Joe Duhon and Darius Barnes as well.
Defense
The Golden Eagles' offense wasn't its only strength last year, their defense were excellent as well. Southern Miss held their opponents to just 20.8 points/game, which was the lowest total since allowing 18.6 points way back in 2006. It seems as though they will suffer a major setback on defense in 2012 as they return only four starters from last year's squad.
Southern Miss gets back one of their stars from last year in Jeremy Collins up front on the defensive line. The losses of 1st Team All-C-USA defensive Cordarro Law, 2nd Team All-C-USA defensive tackle Terrance Pope and starting defensive end Deddrick Jones could affect Collins' production, as he will see much more attention in 2012. Collins has junior defensive tackle Khyri Thornton as help, but overall this unit is obviously going to be down a few notches.
This linebacker unit could be the Golden Eagles' downfall on defense as they lose 1st Team All-C-USA weak-side linebacker Ronnie Thorton, and four of their top five from last year's depth chart. Their lone starter coming back is junior Jerrion Johnson, who was just 14th on the team in tackles last year with 31.
Southern Miss also loses 1st Team All-C-USA corner Marquese Wheaton and starting strong safety Kendrick Presley in the secondary. They do have players with experience returning, including 2nd Team All-C-USA corner Deron Wilson as a valuable safety net. The talent in the defensive backfield is on par from what they had last year, but they will likely struggle with a much weaker front seven.
Conference USA Prediction - 3rd East Division
While Alford should definitely excel in this conference, putting the pressure on him to lead the team to a division title with a new head coach is a little much. The team loses key players on both sides of the ball, so they are obviously a weaker team compared to last year. They do avoid both Houston and Tulsa out of the West, so they should finish above.500 in conference play.
The Golden Eagles received quite a blow though as they lose head coach Larry Fedora, who took the head coaching job at North Carolina. Elliot Johnson will be replacing him. Johnson was the defensive coordinator at South Carolina for the last four years. He does have some talent coming back, but only has 10 starters returning in 2012.
Offense
The departure of starting quarterback Austin Davis really puts Johnson in a tough spot as he tries to lead this team moving forward. Before graduating, Davis became the school's all-time leading passer with 10,892 yards, blowing Brett Favre's record of 7,595 out of the water.
Right now, the frontrunner to take over for Davis at quarterback is Anthony Alford. Alford turned down a chance to play in Major League Baseball to come back and lead this team.
Injuries decimated the Golden Eagles at running back last year. At one point, even wide out Tacy Lampley was moved to running back to cover the injuries. Redshirt freshman Jamal Woodyard ended up leading the team with 732 yards, but he won't be available in 2012 due to a medical redshirt. That gives the starting nod to Kendrick Hardy, who was third on the team with 426 yards in 2011. Hardy will be backed up by Desmond Johnson and junior Jeremy Hester.
Southern Miss is looking like it'll have a weak unit at wide receiver this year. They lose two top threats in Ryan Balentine and Kelvin Bolden. The top guy coming back is Lampley, but here is a noticeable drop off in talent from last year.
The Golden Eagles get back four starters on a unit that looks like it'll be the top offensive line in the conference. Right tackle Jason Weaver was granted a sixth year of eligibility and is expected to start over at left tackle. Southern Miss has one of the top centers in C-USA in Austin Quattrochi and two top guards in Joe Duhon and Darius Barnes as well.
Defense
The Golden Eagles' offense wasn't its only strength last year, their defense were excellent as well. Southern Miss held their opponents to just 20.8 points/game, which was the lowest total since allowing 18.6 points way back in 2006. It seems as though they will suffer a major setback on defense in 2012 as they return only four starters from last year's squad.
Southern Miss gets back one of their stars from last year in Jeremy Collins up front on the defensive line. The losses of 1st Team All-C-USA defensive Cordarro Law, 2nd Team All-C-USA defensive tackle Terrance Pope and starting defensive end Deddrick Jones could affect Collins' production, as he will see much more attention in 2012. Collins has junior defensive tackle Khyri Thornton as help, but overall this unit is obviously going to be down a few notches.
This linebacker unit could be the Golden Eagles' downfall on defense as they lose 1st Team All-C-USA weak-side linebacker Ronnie Thorton, and four of their top five from last year's depth chart. Their lone starter coming back is junior Jerrion Johnson, who was just 14th on the team in tackles last year with 31.
Southern Miss also loses 1st Team All-C-USA corner Marquese Wheaton and starting strong safety Kendrick Presley in the secondary. They do have players with experience returning, including 2nd Team All-C-USA corner Deron Wilson as a valuable safety net. The talent in the defensive backfield is on par from what they had last year, but they will likely struggle with a much weaker front seven.
Conference USA Prediction - 3rd East Division
While Alford should definitely excel in this conference, putting the pressure on him to lead the team to a division title with a new head coach is a little much. The team loses key players on both sides of the ball, so they are obviously a weaker team compared to last year. They do avoid both Houston and Tulsa out of the West, so they should finish above.500 in conference play.
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