RICE OWLS NOTES:
INSIDE THE SERIES
• This is the 13th meeting between the two schools, the first not as members of Conference USA.
• The schools split the 12 games overall, with both teams splitting the six games at each home stadium.
• Rice evened the series by winning the last two meetings and snapped a three-game winning streak for USM at Rice Stadium with a 24-19 win at home in 2021.
• Rice’s 30-6 in 2020 in Hattiesburg snapped a five-game winning streak in the series for Southern Miss.
• The 12 games in C-USA ranked second for the Owls vs. any team in the conference since their debut in 2005 (Rice played UTEP 16 times). Four of the meetings were when the schools were in opposite divisions of the conference, the last eight in consecutive years as members of the West Division.
• The teams combined to average 63.2 points during the first 10 games of the series, but only 35.7 in the last three.
• The two teams first met in 2007 in Hattiesburg on a Wednesday thanks to ESPN, as the Owls held on for a 31-29 win for David Bailiff’s first win at Rice. Future NFL draftee and current Bengals TE coach James Casey was called upon to play seven positions for a depleted Rice squad during the game.
BACK TO BOWLING
Rice returns to the postseason for the first time since 2014 and for the 13th time in school history with its appearance in the LendingTree Bowl against Southern Miss. Rice is 7-5 in bowl games (4-3 as a member of the Southwest Conference and 3-2 while playing in Conference USA). This will be the second earliest appearance for the Owls during bowl season as they fell to Kansas 33-7 in the Bluebonnet Bowl (at Rice Stadium) on December 16, 1961. That game came just two weeks after Rice earned a bowl bid with a 26-14 win over Baylor on December 2 at home, one week less that the turnaround this year (three weeks between games). This will mark the third time Rice has played a team from Mississippi in a bowl. Rice fell to #3 Ole Miss in the 1961 Sugar Bowl 14-6 and lost to Mississippi State 44-7 in the 2013 Liberty Bowl. Southern Miss will be the 13th different opponent for Rice in a bowl.
BOWLER
Kicker Tim Horn is the only member of the 2022 Owls with previous playing experience in a bowl. As a freshman at Washington in 2019, he averaged 63.2 yards on five kickoffs in the Mitsubishi Motors Las Vegas Bowl as the Huskies defeated Boise St. 38-7.
PATH TO THE POSTSEASON
Rice’s 12 opponents posted a 76-71 combined record this year and seven of the 12 (Houston, Louisiana, North Texas, UAB, USC, UTSA, and WKU) earned bowl berths. Six of the Owls’ 12 games were decided by seven points or less with the Rice splitting those six games with wins vs. UAB (28-24), at LA Tech (42-41) and UTEP (37-30). The last time Rice had at least six games decided by seven or less was 2013 (5-1). The Owls also won three games in 2021 by seven or less.
CONFERENCE CALL
Rice placed eight players on the 2022 All-Conference USA Football team and added a ninth on the C-USA All-Freshman team. Shea Baker was named to the second team, while Jack Bradley, Ekenna Enechuckwu, Jordan Dunbar, Josh Pearcy, Bradley Rozner, Trey Schuman and Clay Servin earned honorable mention recognition. Offensive tackle Ethan Onianwa was named to the all-freshman team.
55 FOR 53
Senior offensive lineman Shea Baker will play in his 55th consecutive game on Saturday and make his 54th career start on the offensive line. His 55 career games will match the school record set by Gabe Baker from 2010-14, however, Gabe Baker only made 12 career starts and his 55 games were not consecutive. Shea Baker has made 33 starts at center and 20 at guard in his career, dating back to making his debut with a start at center vs. Prairie View on 8/25/18. Baker has taken 818 snaps this season and passed 3,600 (3,603) in his career in the regular season finale vs. North Texas.
TWO IF BY AIR
• Luke McCaffrey (3) and Bradley Rozner (5) have combined for eight 100-receiving efforts through nine games. The last time Rice had at least eight individual 100-yard receiving games was in 2008 when James Casey (7) , Jarett Dillard (6) , Toren Dixon and Corbin Smiter (2 each) combined for 17 receiving games over the century mark.
• Rozner has five this season–the most since Casey had seven and Dillard six in 13 games in 2008–and nine in his career… The last Owls with more than nine career games over 100 yards were Dillard (15 in 49 games from 2005-08) and Casey (10 in 25 games from 2007-08).
• Rozner has nine touchdown receptions this year to move into a tie for fifth on the Rice single-season list and McCaffrey (6) needs one to join him and if he does, they will become the first teammates at Rice to enter the season list together since Mario Hull (8) and Jordan Taylor (7) in 2014.
• Rozner has a career-high 834 yards this season, which ranks ninth in school history while McCaffrey (656) needs 171 yards to pass Jordan Taylor’s 826 yards in 2012 to join Rozner on the season list… The only teammates to enter the Owls’ single-season top 10 in receiving yards in the same season were Casey (1,329) and Dillard (1,310) who compiled the top two seasons in school history in 2008.
• Rozner leads the Owls with 252 yards after the catch (30% of his 834) while McCaffrey has 235 (35%).
• Rozner’s 1,634 career receiving yards rank eighth in school history. Former teammate Austin Trammell is seventh with 1,744.
• Rozner has scored on plays of 78 and 75 yards this year and is the first Owl with two scoring receptions of at least 70 yards since Taylor in 2013.
• Rozner is the only receiver in the country with at least 40 receptions who is averaging more than 20 yards per reception (20.3). The best average by an Owl (min 30) is Bill Howton, who averaged 22.6 (33/747) in 1951.
WORKING THE NUMBERS
• Cameron Montgomery leads the Owls in rushing with a career-best 498 yards and is averaging 5.8 per carry (86 carries)… The last Owl to have at least 450 yards and average better that 5.8 per carry was Samuel Stewart who averaged 6.3 (76/479) in 2016. The last Owl to lead the team with 500 or more yards and average better than 5.8 per carry was Charles Ross who averaged 6.1 (211/1,280) in 2013.
• Jack Bradley has set career highs with 27 receptions, 235 yards and two touchdowns (13 for 118 and 1 TD in the last four games. His reception total is the most by an Owls’ TE since Connor Cella caught 31 for 302 yards in 2016. The last TE with more than 31 receptions in a season was Vance McDonald in 2012 (36-458).
• Rice rushed for 279 yards vs. LA Tech, the most since they ran for 304 at UTEP in 2017 and the 11th-best rushing total for the Owls in C-USA competition.
• The Owls’ win at LA Tech was their first win since at least 2000 while being -3 in fumbles and the first with three fumbles in a game since the 2012 Armed Forces Bowl.
• The Owls’ overtime win at LA Tech snapped a four-game losing streak in extra quarters to improve to 7-9 all-time. The last 10 overtime games have been in C-USA action (4-6).
SPECIAL SUCCESS
• Rice punt returners combined to average 9.35 yards this season (17/159 9.35), their best average since 2010 (11.56) while their 159 yards were their most since 2011 (215).
• Rice was 11/16 on field goal attempts (11/15 by Christian VanSickle) and the Owls’ 68.8% success rate was their best since 2012 (23/29 79.6%.
• VanSickle opened the year with a streak of 10 consecutive field goals the longest by an Owl since at least 1975 (as far back as the game books are on file).
• His 11 field goals this year are tied with Chris Boswell (2010) and James Hamrick (1984) for 10th in school history while his 15 career field goals are 10th (see chart)
• VanSickle’s 68.2% career mark (15/22) ranks sixth in school history.
• VanSickle has converted all 35 PATs this year and is 65/67 in his career.
QB XIII
AJ Padgett became the 13th different quarterback to start a game since 2017 with his start at North Texas in relief of TJ McMahon. McMahon made nine consecutive starts in 2022, the most for a Rice QB since Tyler Stehling started the first 10 games of 2016. Rice has started three in four of the last six seasons (and started two in the five games in 2020). Driphus Jackson is the last QB to start an entire season for the Owls (12 games in 2015) and made 25 consecutive starts at QB from 2014-15.
1ST DOWN GENERATORS
Luke McCaffrey leads the Rice receiving corps with 32 of his 51 receptions this season resulting in first downs (62.3%). Bradley Rozner (29/41; 70.7) and Isaiah Esdale (21/30 53.8) also topped 20 first downs this year. Kobie Campbell was just behind Rozner in terms of percentage of catches resulting in first downs (12/17, 70.5%).
WORTH THE WAIT
Cornerbacks coach Gerard Wilcher began his career at Morehouse College in 1992 and 30 years later he will coach in his first bowl game this week in the LendingTree Bowl. Wilcher did coach in the postseason at Massachusetts, including a D-1 AA national title in 1998.
6TH YEAR ON SOUTH MAIN
Shea Baker, George Nyakwol, Kenneth Orji and Trey Schuman began their careers with an early training camp in 2017 as Rice prepared to take on Stanford in the Sydney Cup will complete their six-year collegiate careers at the LendingTree Bowl.
PRESSURIZED
Chris Conti, Ikenna Enechukwu, Josh Pearcy and Trey Schuman have combined for 92 quarterback pressures this year according to PFF. Enechukwu leads the team with 29 on 265 pass rushes followed by Pearcy (22 on 235), Schuman (22 on 132 rushes) and Conti (19 on 59 rushes from his linebacker position. Pearcy and Schuman have recorded career highs in sacks, with Pearcy leading the team with 5.5 sacks and Schuman second with four while Enechukwu is one shy of his career-best of 4.5.
NEEDVILLE NUMBERS
Bradley Rozner (Class of ’16) and Blake Boenisch (Class of ’21) may not have played together at Needville High School, but the pair of former Blue Jays enjoyed a productive night vs. McNeese. Rozner topped 100 yards receiving for the fifth time in his career, finishing with 101 yards and two touchdowns on three receptions. Boenisch tied for the team lead with five tackles and 1.5 sacks.
DOUBLE DIGIT STOPS
Chris Conti joined seven returning defenders who have at least one game with 10 or more tackles in a game with his 11-tackle effort at Houston. Treshawn Chamberlain recorded a team season and a personal career-high 11 stops in the opener at Arkansas, his second double-digit tackle game and second against an SEC school. He was credited with 10 as a freshman at LSU. Kirk Lockhart was credited with 10 stops vs. WKU to join Chamberlain as the team leader with two career double-digit games. Josh Percy matched Chamberlain for the season-high with 11 tackles vs. Southern Miss, one more than Trey Schuman in the same game. Gabe Taylor recorded 10 tackles as part of his C-USA Defensive Player of the Week effort vs. UAB. They are joined by Kenneth Orji who was credited with 10 tackles vs. Southern Miss in 2019 and George Nyakwol who was credited with 11 vs. UTEP in 2018.
SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI GOLDEN EAGLES NOTES:
Noting the Golden Eagles
• Southern Miss played in its 106th football season in 2022, having fi rst fi elded a team in 1912. The Golden Eagles are 613-453-27, which is 40th best among FBS teams by winning percentage (.573).
• The Golden Eagles played in their fourth diff erent conference in their football history in 2022, after holding a spot in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1931-41, the Gulf States Conference from 1948-1951 and Conference USA from 1996-2021. Southern Miss starts its first year as a member of the Sun Belt Conference. Its first-ever game came at Troy on Oct. 8.
• Heading into 2022, the program had collected 23 winning seasons since the start of the
1994 season and will now appear in their 19th bowl game during that time with a chance
for its first winning season since 2019 and 24th overall in that span.
• Overall, Southern Miss has enjoyed 73 winning seasons and fi ve years of .500 football over its history. Since 2000, the Golden Eagles have 17 of 22 winning seasons.
• Against the current membership of the Sun Belt Conference, the Golden Eagles are 78- 32-1 versus league foes, having never met James Madison.
• This will be the 27th bowl appearance for the Golden Eagles as they hold an 11-15 record overall in postseason games and look to snap a two-game losing streak in those games.
• This will be the third trip to Mobile for a bowl game as the Golden Eagles won the 2000 GMAC Bowl 28-21 over TCU and defeated Ohio 28-7 in the 2007 GMAC Bowl.
The Rice Series
• The Golden Eagles and Owls meet for the 13th time with each team winning six games dating back to their fi rst meeting in 2007. This will be the fi rst game between the two schools not designated as a Conference USA tilt.
• After Southern Miss won five-straight meetings with Rice, the Owls have rallied for victories in the last two contests including a 24-19 decision in Houston last season (game recap and series breakdown on page 3 of the notes).
• Rice QB AJ Padgett is the nephew of legendary Southern Miss women’s basketball coach Kay James, who posted a 403-209 (.658) record for 22 seasons at the school.
• There is one player from Mississippi on the Rice roster, OL Weston Kropp from Biloxi, who attended Biloxi HS and went on to play at Jones College.
• Golden Eagle defensive back Jay Jones was a prep teammate with Owl WR Peyton Stevenson at Demopolis High School in Alabama.
Close Games in 2022
• Of the five wins for Southern Miss this season, three have come by six points or less. The last time Southern Miss won at least three games in a season by seven or fewer points was during the 2017 campaign when they defeated UTSA (31-29), Louisiana Tech (34-27) in double overtime, and Marshall (28-27).
• Southern Miss captured a 20-19 home triumph over Arkansas State, a 20-14 decision at Texas State in close contests before defeating Louisiana 39-24 at home on a Thursday night in three-straight weeks. The last time the Golden Eagles won consecutive games by seven or fewer points was in 2004 when they upended USF (27-20) and Houston (39-35) in overtime in back-to-back outcomes.
• Six games this season have been determined by seven points or less and Southern Miss is 3-3 in those contests. Its the first time since 2009 that at least six games were decided by that seven points or less. The Golden Eagles did it seven times that year and were 3-4.
MississippiMade
Of the 112 players listed on the Southern Miss 2022 football roster, 75 players come from Mississippi (67.0%), representing 52 different Magnolia State communities. The cities of Hattiesburg, Madison and Oxford lead the way with four players apiece, while Flora, Purvis each have three Golden Eagles from their respective towns. Bassfield, Bay St. Louis, Fayette, Greenwood, Gulfport, Louisville, Magee, Starkville, Taylorsville and West Point each have two Southern Miss players to represent their city
The Rice Series (Tied 6-6; 2007-2021)
29-31 L 10-3-07 Hattiesburg, Miss.
40-45 L 10-18-08 Houston, Texas
48-24 W 10-1-11 Hattiesburg, Miss.
17-44 L 10-27-12 Houston, Texas
23-41 L 9-27-14 Hattiesburg, Miss.
65-10 W 11-14-15 Houston, Texas
44-28 W 10-1-16 Hattiesburg, Miss.
43-34 W 11-11-17 Houston, Texas
40-22 W 9-22-18 Hattiesburg, Miss.
20-6 W 10-26-19 Houston, Texas
6-30 L 10-31-20 Hattiesburg, Miss.
19-24 L 10-2-21 Houston, Texas
Record in Hattiesburg: 3-3
Record in Houston: 3-3
Neutral Site Games: Never met
Most Points Scored: 65 (11-14-15)
Fewest Points Scored: 6 (10-31-20)
Largest Margin of Victory: 55 (11-14-15)
Largest Loss Margin: 27 (10-27-12)
Longest Winning Streak: 5 (2015-2019)
Longest Losing Streak: 2 (Three times)
Current Streak: Lost 2
Shutouts: 0
Games Decided By 7 or fewer points: 0-3
C-USA Games: 6-6
Golden Eagles Complete Inaugural Sun Belt Conference Season
• After spending the last 26 seasons in Conference USA, the Golden Eagles announced their intention of joining the Sun Belt Conference last fall and became full members July 1.
• The Golden Eagles are part of the new 14-team Sun Belt Conference that are separated in the East (App State, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Marshall and Old Dominion) and West (Arkansas State, Louisiana, South Alabama, Southern Miss, Texas State, Troy and ULM) division. JMU, ODU and Marshall join the Golden Eagles as fi rst-year members.
• Southern Miss won fi ve Conference USA titles during its tenure, including one since divisional play started in 2005. They captured their only league title contest and the school’s fi fth overall C-USA league crown when they beat Houston, 49-28, in 2011.
• The school’s other C-USA titles came in the inaugural season of 1996 as well as the 1997, 1999 and 2003 campaigns. The Golden Eagles also won two East Division crowns in C-USA (2006, 2011), and captured their fi rst West title in 2015 after moving to that division during the 2014 campaign. Southern Miss won its third division title in 2015, but lost in the C-USA championship game at WKU, 45-28. Southern Miss was 1-2 in C-USA title games.
• Along with the fi ve C-USA titles, the Golden Eagles also won three league titles – 1948, 1950, 1951 – when they were members of the Gulf States Conference.
The Bowl History
The Golden Eagles return to a bowl game for the first time since the 2019 season and the 27th overall in school history. At one point, the program went to a postseason game every year for 10 seasons from 2002-2011. This will be the fi rst bowl meeting with Rice and the seventh overall against a school from the state of Texas. The Golden Eagles are 3-3 in those contests, having won the last three versus Texas schools.
Here is a breakdown of the bowl games for Southern Miss over its history:
Year Bowl (City) Opponent Score
1953 Sun (El Paso) Pacific L, 7-26
1954 Sun (El Paso) UTEP L, 14-37
1957 Tangerine (Orlando) West Texas A&M L, 13-20
1958 Tangerine (Orlando) Texas A&M Commerce L, 9-10
1980 Independence (Shreveport) McNeese State W, 16-14
1981 Tangerine (Orlando) Missouri L, 17-19
1988 Independence (Shreveport) UTEP W, 38-18
1990 All American (Birmingham) NC State L, 27-31
1997 Liberty (Memphis) Pittsburgh W, 41-7
1998 Humanitarian (Boise) Idaho L, 35-42
1999 Liberty (Memphis) Colorado State W, 23-17
2000 GMAC (Mobile) TCU W, 28-21
2002 Houston (Houston) Oklahoma St. L, 23-33
2003 Liberty (Memphis) Utah L, 0-17
2004 New Orleans North Texas W, 31-10
2005 New Orleans (Lafayette) Arkansas State W, 31-19
2007 GMAC (Mobile) Ohio W, 28-7
2007 Papajohns.com (Birmingham) Cincinnati L, 21-31
2008 New Orleans Troy W, 30-27 (ot)
2009 New Orleans Middle Tennessee L, 32-42
2010 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s (St. Petersburg) Louisville L, 28-31
2011 Hawai’i (Honolulu) Nevada W, 24-17
2015 Zaxby’s Heart of Dallas Washington L, 31-44
2016 New Orleans UL Lafayette W, 28-21
2017 Independence (Shreveport) Florida State L, 13-42
2020 Armed Forces Bowl (Fort Worth) Tulane L, 13-30
Overall: 11-15
By Bowl –
Sun: 0-2
New Orleans: 4-1
Papajohns.com: 0-1
All American: 0-1
GMAC: 2-0
Liberty: 2-1
Tangerine: 0-3
Heart of Dallas: 0-1
Humanitarian: 0-1
Houston: 0-1
Independence: 2-1
St. Petersburg: 0-1
Hawai’i: 1-0
Armed Forces Bowl 0-1
By Decade –
1950s: 0-4
1980s: 2-1
1990s: 2-2
2000s: 5-4
2010s: 2-3
2020s: 0-1
By State Site –
Alabama: 2-2
Florida: 0-4
Hawai’i: 1-0
Idaho: 0-1
Louisiana: 6-2
Tennessee: 2-1
Texas: 0-5
Overtime Anyone?
Southern Miss has been involved in 13 overtime games since the rule went into effect prior to the 1996 season and the Golden Eagles are 5-8 overall, after falling to Liberty 29-27 in the school’s longest game in their history. Eleven of the 13 games that have taken OT were C-USA contests when they were members of that league. Here is a look of all the overtime games Southern Miss has played:
Date Opponent Score
11/09/96 at Houston • L, 49-56
11/11/00 at UAB • W, 33-30 (2 OT)
11/15/02 Louisville • L, 17-20 (2 OT)
10/07/04 Houston • W, 39-35
11/13/05 at Marshall • W, 27-24
10/28/06 East Carolina • L, 17-20
10/04/08 UTEP • L, 37-40 (2 OT)
12/21/08 Troy (New Orleans Bowl) W, 30-27
10/30/10 UAB • L, 49-50 (2 OT)
10/13/12 at UCF • L, 31-38 (2 OT)
10/21/17 at Louisiana Tech • W, 34-27 (2 OT)
11/10/18 at UAB • L, 26-23
9/3/22 Liberty L, 29-27 (4 OT)
• – Conference USA game
A Golden Eagles Win over Rice would…
• snap a two-game bowl losing streak
• give the school their 73rd winning season
• make Will Hall only the third Golden Eagle coach to go from a losing to a winning season from year one to year two of their tenure – Pooley Hubert (1931-32) and Jeff Bower (1991-92) were the others. Four other Golden Eagle coaches had winning seasons in their first two year – Reed Green, Jim Carmody, Larry Fedora and Jay Hopson
More Bowl Notes …
• The Golden Eagles played six teams during the regular season that reached a bowl game.
• Five 2022 opponents captured at least eight victories this season and three won at least 10 games.
• Southern Miss and Rice played one common opponent in 2022 – Louisiana – with the Owls winning 33-21 over the Cajuns in Houston and the Golden Eagles winning 39-24 in Hattiesburg.
The Offensive Line
Nine different offensive linemen have made at least one start this season, including Tykeem Doss and Gerquan Scott, who each have started in all 12 games. The Golden Eagles have now used five different lineup combinations this year on the offensive front. Scott, who is the only returning Southern Miss player to start every game on the line last year, ran his consecutive start streak to 28 for the Golden Eagles in the ULM contest. Gainer has played the most on the offensive line at 36 contests, with 14 starts. Briason Mays missed the Texas State game with an injury, snapping a string of 10 starts in a row coming at center, but has now made 11 starts, including the last three games at left tackle.
Trey Lowe Returns as Signal Caller Trey Lowe now has registered three starts this season, and eight for his career, after going 10-for-16 for 170 yards and a touchdown in the regular season fi nale at ULM. Lowe threw for a career-high 295 yards on 19-of-36 throws with a 15-yard touchdown toss to Tiaquelin Mims in his fi rst start versus Coastal Carolina. His completion and attempts were also career highs, as he surpassed his previous throwing best game of 209 against Florida Atlantic in 2020.
For his career, Lowe has thrown for 1,460 yards over 12 career games for Southern Miss on 114- of-204 throws with six touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
Lowe is the third quarterback to start this season. Redshirt freshman Ty Keyes opened the year at starting QB, but was hurt in the opening game and true freshman Zach Wilcke started the next eight games for the Golden Eagles.
Cole Cavallo Excelling at Tight End
Cole Cavallo enjoyed his best night as a Golden Eagle versus Coastal Carolina with career highs for catches (4) and receiving yards (46). This came a week after catching his fi rst career TD pass versus Georgia State. He has started 10 times in 2022, 15 times in his career, and played in 46 career games. His season totals for catches (19) and receiving yards (163) are season-bests as he has 36 career catches for 344 yards.
Big Play Brownlee
In 2022, Jason Brownlee has 52 catches for 819 yards with seven TD grabs and is the top current receiver for the Golden Eagles with 132 career catches for 2,072 yards and 20 touchdown receptions. He registered his fi fth 100-yard receiving game of the year versus South Alabama with a 109 yards on seven catches and now has 10 for his career.
His 10, 100-yard receiving games rank tied for second on the school career charts behind Sherrod Gideon (11), and even with Mike Thomas and Quez Watkins. His 20 touchdown receptions now is fourth on the career Golden Eagle charts. Brownlee has at least one catch in each of the last 22 games and has caught a pass in all but two games he has played in his career.
Gore Leads the Running Backs
Frank Gore, Jr. led the Golden Eagles offense in a couple of roles last season. He was the team’s top running back with 801 yards on the ground with three rushing scores and was also called to take snaps from center late in the year as part of the SuperBack Offense and converted 10-of-16 passes for 189 yards with four touchdown passes, two coming at LA Tech and two versus FIU. He also led the team in all-purpose yards with 990, as he also had 155 receiving yards.
He started this season with 178 yards on a career-best 32 carries as he also threw for 48 yards on 1-of-4 passing against Liberty. He finished the regular season with a career-best 199 yards against ULM. It was his seventh 100-yard rushing game of his career and the Golden Eagles are 5-2 when he achieves that feat. Gore, Jr., went over the 1,000 yard mark for the first time at ULM and has 1,053 rushing yards this season, averaging 5.1 yards per carry with a team-high seven rushing scores, including a 33-yard touchdown run at ULM. He threw his fi rst touchdown pass of the year versus UL, on a 52-yard strike to Tiaquelin Mims in the fi rst quarter, and added a 29-yard strike to Jason Brownlee against South Alabama, to give him six touchdown passes for his career.
Gore, Jr., led the team in rushing in 2020 with 708 yards on 121 carries for a 5.9 rush average. Gore was a second-team All-Conference USA selection in 2020 and was a member of the league’s All-Freshman team. Gore is a member of the preseason watch list for the Doak Walker Award, given to the nation’s top running back.
His seven 100-yard rushing games tie him for 12th on Golden Eagle charts for that category with Reggie Collier (1979-82), Anthony Harris (2002-03) and Bubba Phillips (1947-50). For his career, Gore, Jr., has registered 2,562 rushing yards on 507 carries for a 5.1 yard per attempt and 14 rushing scores. He moved into the No. 8 spot on the Golden Eagle career rushing chart following the ULM contest, moving ahead of Bubba Phillips (2,527) and Shelton Gandy (2,504).
Nasty Bunch Continuing with Solid Performance
Southern Miss finished 2021 at No. 42 nationally in total defense, allowing 358.5 yards per contest. The group finished No. 73 in the country in rushing defense (156.5 ypg), holding opponents to under 100 yards on the ground three times, and 24th in passing yards allowed at 202.0 per game. The Golden Eagles surrendered 27.9 points per contest, ranking No. 80 in the country. But of the 335 points allowed by the team, the Golden Eagles gave up 63 points directly off turnovers, 34 points on short fields after turnovers, 14 points on two kick returns for scores, and one safety when the quarterback was sacked in the end zone, cutting the number to the defense allowing to 18.5 points per contest.
n 2022, the Golden Eagles have allowed an average of 367.8 yards per game (No. 55 currently). They limited Liberty to just 194 yards over the first three quarters, while holding Miami to 10 points in the opening half and gave up only 198 yards to Tulane in the second half. They held Arkansas State to 50 yards rushing, forced negative six yards rushing at Texas State, before restricting Louisiana to 69 yards rushing. At Coastal Carolina, after giving up 176 yards in the opening quarter, the defense held the Chanticleers to just 185 yards the remainder of the contest and forced three turnovers versus South Alabama before keeping ULM to only 232 total yards. They have produced 20 turnovers (No. 33 FBS), including a season-high four versus Louisiana, three versus Liberty and two against Troy and Coastal Carolina, and at least one in 10 of 12 games.
Quewon Leads the Team in Sacks
Senior Dominic Quewon leads the team and is third in the Sun Belt in sacks with 9.0, averaging 0.75 per contest. Quewon also ranks No. 16 in the country in that category, while having 10 TFLs. The Golden Eagles as a team have at least one sack in every game this season and have at least two in all 12 contests for 39 on the year (No. 6 in FBS at sacks per game at 3.25). The team also ranks No. 3 nationally with 8.4 tackles for loss per game.
Shorts Leading Team in Tackles in 2022
Defensive back Malik Shorts paced the Golden Eagles in 2021, as he was the school’s nominee for the Conerly Trophy – the top collegiate player in the state of Mississippi.
In seven games last season, he either led or tied for the team high in tackles. Shorts ranked first in tackles with 89 including two tackles for loss, two interceptions and seven pass breakups.
This season, Shorts opened with a game-high 12 tackles and an interception against Liberty and followed that with a game-high 13 stops with another interception at Miami. He got two tackles in limited action against Northwestern State, before getting eight stops versus Tulane, six at Troy, five versus Arkansas State and six at Texas State. Versus UL, he registered a team-high tying 11 stops with an interceptions and another pick on a Louisiana extra point and notched seven versus Georgia State. He has a team-best 92 stops in 2022 and ranks No. 7 in the Sun Belt in tackles per game.
Latham Finished No. 3 in Country in Fumble Recoveries
Santrell Latham recovered three fumbles last season – the last one he returned 72 yards at Louisiana Tech – and finished ranked No. 3 in the country in that category. He also forced four fumbles which ranked No. 8 in the country. He started this season with another forced fumble on a sack against Liberty to give him six forces in his career. Latham collected six solo tackles in the contest with two of those tackles for loss. He followed that with three assisted tackles at Miami. Latham ended fi fth on the team in tackles with 52, including fi ve for loss, a season ago.
This year, after getting a team-high tackles at Tulane (9) and Troy (10) and a team-tying bests with eight versus Arkansas State and seven at Coastal Carolina, Latham is second on the team in stops with 81. He enjoyed his best game of the season against the Chanticleers with seven tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss.
The D-Line Keeps Things Stuffed Up Front
The defensive line has stacked up this year for the Golden Eagles as they continue to make plays each week. In fact, four defensive linemen have tallied 32 or more tackles this season, including a season-best 47 from Jalen Williams, 37 from Josh Ratcliff , who also blocked an extra point at Coastal Carolina, 33 for Kristin Booth and 32 from Quentin Bivens. Those four have also combined for the 22 of the Golden Eagles 101 tackles for loss this season. Williams leads the defensive linemen in tackles for loss with 7.5, while Bivens paces the group in sacks with 4.5
Briggs Bourgeois Back Booting Kicks
Redshirt senior Briggs Bourgeois opened 2022 by making all three extra-point attempts to go along with 2-of-3 field goals made, including a career-long 53 yard attempt in the second overtime. He added an extra point and two touchbacks in his contest at Miami. His best game of the year came versus Northwestern State in which he converted 34- and 26-yard field goals as well as making seven-of-seven extra point attempts. He also notched 10 kickoff s for a 64.3 yard average, including eight touchbacks. He added two more fi eld goals – 36 and 26 yards – at Tulane with three extra points, and after making a 34-yard at Troy, along with a pair of makes at Texas State (33, 40) and one versus Louisiana (25). After tying a career mark with three fi eld goals made against Coastal Carolina (21, 23, 23) and then hitting two more last week versus South Alabama (22, 36), Bourgeois now has converted his last 16 fi eld goal attempts. In his career, Bourgeois has made 39-of-50 fi eld goals, and 90-of-95 career extra-point attempts.
This is the third consecutive year and fi fth overall that Bourgeois has handled most of the kicking duties, after missing 2019 with a leg injury.
Hunt Punts Down the Field
Ray Guy Award Watch list candidate Mason Hunt has had the punting chores over the last two years.
Hunt finished the 2020 season by averaging 43.6 yards over 71 punts with 40 fair catches, 18 inside the opponents 20 and 15 or more for 50 yards. His per punt average was the furthest by a Golden Eagle since Tyler Sarrazin averaged 44.7 yards per punt in 2016.
This year, Hunt has collected 66 punts for a 42.5 average, including 25 inside the opponent’s 20 yard line, a long of 59 versus Georgia State and 16 of 50 or more yards. He also has 28 fair catches, while foes have returned nine punts for an average of 6.9 yards.
