Golden Eagles face tall task in clash with Crimson Tide

Sep 10, 2014 - 3:20 PM Tuscaloosa, AL (SportsNetwork.com) - The Southern Miss Golden Eagles hit the road to challenge the third-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide, as the two meet in non-conference action this Saturday at Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Southern Miss is coming off a 26-20 win over FCS foe Alcorn State, the victory snapping an 11-game home losing streak for second-year coach Todd Monken's club. The Golden Eagles had been whitewashed in their season opener, 49-0 at Mississippi State, and Alabama marks their highest ranked opponent since dropping a 21-6 decision at No. 2 Florida on Aug. 30, 1997.

USM, which has actually won two of its last three games dating back to last season, will host FBS newcomer Appalachian State next week, before kicking off Conference USA play against visiting Rice on Sept. 27.

Alabama is 2-0 on the young season, as coach Nick Saban's club got by West Virginia in the opener (33-23) before destroying visiting Florida Atlantic last week (41-0) in a game that was halted midway through the fourth quarter due to inclement weather. Despite the dominating performance against the Owls, the Crimson Tide fell one spot in this week's AP poll.

Saban was generally pleased with the effort of his team last week.

"I guess I will say we did a real workman-like job in the last game. I was pleased by the way we competed in the game and gave good effort and played with toughness. We executed better on both sides of the ball. We did make improvement from the first game to the second game."

Alabama will conclude its current three-game homestand next Saturday when it opens SEC action against the Florida Gators.

The all-time series between these two teams leans heavily in favor of the Crimson Tide, 33-6-2, which includes an 18-2-1 mark in Tuscaloosa. The last meeting took place back in 2005, with 'Bama prevailing in a 30-21 final.

Behind the solid play of quarterback Nick Mullens and running back Ito Smith, the Southern Miss offense did just enough to squeak out a win over Alcorn State last weekend.

Mullens completed 21-of-33 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns, and while he was sacked twice, he did not throw an interception. As for Smith, he tallied 118 yards on 32 carries, helping the team amass 207 total yards on the ground. Smith is averaging 80.5 ypg, but no one on the roster has scored on the ground as of yet.

Casey Martin was the team's top pass catcher with seven grabs for 56 yards, giving him a club-best 11 receptions for 95 yards for the season.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles are permitting 34.5 points and 471.5 yards per game, with their effort against the run being particularly troubling as foes are rumbling their way to 248 ypg, averaging 6.5 ypc in the process.

Alcorn State ran the ball effectively last week, churning out 295 yards and scoring a pair of TDs, while the Golden Eagles did a terrific job defending the pass in yielding only 98 yards.

Jacorius Cotton was the most active defensive player for coach Monken's club, tallying eight tackles, and the defense as a whole proved to be opportunistic as it came up with four turnovers. USM did not record a sack however, and finished with only one tackle for a loss.

Alabama imposed its will from the outset in last week's rout of Florida Atlantic, rolling up 620 yards of total offense compared to only 145 for the Owls. Offensive stars for Saban's club included quarterbacks Jake Coker (15- of-24, 202 yards, one TD) and Blake Sims (12-of-14, 228 yards, two TDs), as well as receiver Imari Cooper (13 receptions, 189 yards, one TD).

Thanks in large part to last week's superior effort, the Tide are permitting just 11.5 points and 226.5 yards per contest this season. They have been especially strong against the run, yielding a mere 42.5 ypg. Conversely, the UA offense is generating 579 yards per outing, with 340 coming by way of the pass. Both quarterbacks are completing better than 62 percent of their throws, and Cooper (25 receptions, 319 yards, one TD) is far-and-away the club's leading receiver.

Both T.J. Yeldon and Derrick Henry have more than 100 rushing yards, and the team as a whole has five rushing TDs.

Defensively, the Tide were led last week by Reggie Ragland with five tackles, and the junior linebacker was also credited with a sack and a fumble recovery.

FAU earned just nine first downs and averaged a meager 3.4 yards per offensive play. By contrast, Alabama picked up nearly nine yards per snap and moved the chains a total of 27 times.

Landon Collins was the team's top tackler with 15, while Ragland (11) and Cyrus Jones (10) are in double digits as well. The Tide have yet to pick off a pass, but they've recorded six sacks and 12 TFL.