Southern Miss Golden Eagles 2016 NCAA Football Preview
SOUTHERN MISS GOLDEN EAGLES
Conference USA
2015 Record – 9-5
ATS – 10-4
2016 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating Rank
West Division #1
Conference #2
2015 Recap
That was quite the transformation. Southern Miss won nine games in 2015 after going just 4-20 (!) the previous two seasons combined. They made it all the way to the C-USA Title Game but were handled by Western Kentucky. The Golden Eagles had a tough bowl match-up with the Washington Huskies and lost the Heart of Dallas Bowl by a score of 44-31.
They pretty much wiped the mat with softer competition and struggled with the tougher teams on their schedule. HC Todd Monken left for the NFL and now it is up to former Alcorn St HC Jay Hopson to keep the train on the tracks.
2016 Preview
OFFENSE
It never hurts to have your fantastic senior QB returning to the job. Nick Mullens put up some fine numbers in 2015 (4,476, 38 TD, 12 INT, 63.5%) and finished in the top-15 in the FBS in passing efficiency. The Golden Eagles are going to have to find some new weapons as their top two WRs depart (combined 2,300 yards, 21 TDs last season) as well as one of their TWO 1,000- yard rushers (Jalen Richard).
2nd Team C-USA RB Ito Smith is back after leading the team with 1,128 rushing yards last season. The WR group is still flush with talent. The offensive line should be very good once again. We do worry a bit about the depth at RB should Smith get banged up, and there is always a risk moving to a new coaching staff that the offense may not be as crisp. Thankfully, the Golden Eagles still have Nick Mullens.
DEFENSE
Southern Miss was ranked 3rd in C-USA in total defense last season, which on the surface sounds pretty good, but they struggled stopping the better teams on their schedule. Then again, I suppose you could say that about most teams.
The Golden Eagles return six starters on defense and look pretty good. The DL looks solid but may be a bit undersized. The secondary features three returning starters including leading tackler SS D’Nerius Antoine. The LB unit may be the weak spot as they will miss Brian Anderson who was 2nd on the team in tackles last season and also had 13.5 tackles for loss.
The talent level looks similar to last season, but we need to remember that there is a new DC, and that introduces the risk of inconsistent performance.
SPECIAL TEAMS
This could be a trouble spot. PK Stephen Brauchle was erratic last season and punter Tyler Sarrazin had his problems as well. They both return this season. Oh ya, they could also use some additional spice in the return game that was lackluster in 2015.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 5.5
MEGALOCKS says:
Whatever the ratings say out there in college football prognostication land, this schedule looks like the easiest slate we have come across in our months of research. They have a brutal road game at LSU, but other than than, things look very manageable. Of course, as the saying goes, there’s many a slip ‘twixt the cup and the lip. #HotProverbTake
Overall, we give the GOLDEN EAGLES 5.5 ATS Value Rating (Average) this season. On the surface this team looks very similar to last season’s team. We worry about the impact of the new coaching staff and the depth at running back, but otherwise, they should be able to win the C-USA West. We feel that the point spreads may be a bit inflated in their favor this season and will have to pick our spots with the Golden Eagles.
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News
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http://www.clarionledger.com/sports/southern-miss/
http://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/conference-usa/university-of-southern-mississippi/
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