Southern Miss Golden Eagles 2021 College Football Preview
Updated July 26, 2021
2020 Recap
Record – 3-7
ATS – 4-6
The Golden Eagles coughed and sputtered their way to a mark of 3-7 and booked their first losing season since 2014. It was a fiasco and a HEAD COACH CAROUSEL and Southern Miss was happy to see the season end. We give them credit for the season-ending win over Florida Atlantic (W 45-31) and head into 2021 with a wee bit of MOJO.
Southern Miss Golden Eagles 2021 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Golden Eagles didn’t get much done through the air LY and they’ll be a new QB under center this year. Trey Lowe got a little bit of work in 2020 (59 attempts, 2-3 TD to INT) but it remains to be seen if he’s their long term solution at the position. Frank Gore Jr is one of the best RBs in the conference and will be the focal point of the offense (708, 5.9, 2 TD) and Darius Maberry is a capable backup. #2 WR Tim Jones departs but Jason Brownlee is a good #1 option (610, 17.9, 5 TD LY). It’s unclear if they have quality depth. There are some big bodies up front and they boast well over 100+ career starts as a group. They could be pretty good with decent QB play. <grabs popcorn>
DEFENSE
Southern Miss gave up over 400 YPG and 30 PPG LY for the first time since 2014. They finished the year ranked #83 in the FBS vs the run and #99 in pass efficiency D. They allowed 30+ in seven of their 10 games. PENETRATION wasn’t their strong suit as they finished last in C-USA in sacks/game. New DC Austin Armstrong has nine returning starters and 11 of the top-12 tacklers on board including the team leader in tackles and TFL in LB Hayes Maples. Leading sack man LB Santrell Latham is a force and they have decent beef up front. They’ve got to get a lot better on the back end as they had a scary 24-6 TD to INT mark LY. Losing their excellent safety Ky’el Hemby doesn’t help.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Yes, guy.
Things look pretty solid with the return of PK Briggs Bourgeois (12/16 FG, 3-4 40+) and P Griffen Fleming (38.2 net). KR Camron Harrell brought one back to the HIZZY JIZZY (100Y) and averaged 31.4 YPR.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The schedule maker did them a SOLID as they get an easy draw from the East (FIU, MTSU) and have three winnable games in non-conference play. The road game at ROLL TIDE will be a BLOODBATH but you can’t have everything.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Nothing overly-spooky is noted.
Season Win Total
Per 5Dimes July 26
Over 5.5 -105
Under 5.5 -115
updated August 24
Over 6 -105
Under 6 -115
MEGALOCKS says:
Lean: Over.
Seems we like a lot of the C-USA overs in the West. We won’t play them all but this one doesn’t look horrible. That schedule looks pretty JOOCY and they do have some interesting pieces on both sides of the football. Not 100% convinced we’ll get down but it’s a possibility, yo.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The last time Southern Miss had a POSITIVE TURNOVER MARGIN was back in 2010 (!) when they finished +9. Since then? A combined -82. WHOA NELLIE. Amaze your QUADRUPLE-MASKED D-BAG CUBICLE BUDDY with that nugget.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
New HC Will Hall comes over from Tulane and may not need a ton of time to get this ship turned back around in the right direction. You know the running game will work and the defense at least has experience on their side. We’re not sure what to expect at QB but we’ll call for 5-6 wins and a shot at a bowl game.
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NEWS
http://www.sunherald.com/sports/college/conference-usa/university-of-southern-mississippi/
http://www.clarionledger.com/sports/southern-miss/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2572/southern-mississippi-golden-eagles
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