North Carolina State University Athletics
Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Southern Mississippi
10/27/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 27, 2005
NC STATE (2-4, 1-4) vs. SOUTHERN MISS (4-2, 3-1)
DATE: Saturday, October 29, 2005
TIME: Kickoff: 12:00 p.m. (EDT) Carter-Finley Stadium, Raleigh, NC (57,500)
RADIO: Wolfpack Radio Network: 11:00 A.M. (EDT)
TELEVISION: ESPN-U
OPPONENT----Southern Miss used early kicking game mistakes by UAB to take an early 17-0 lead and then hung on to beat the Blazers in Birmingham last Friday night 37-28. The victory left USM tied with Central Florida atop the Eastern Division of Conference USA.
The Blazers defense forced a Southern Miss punt on the Golden Eagles' second possession of the game, but an offsides penalty against UAB gave USM a first down and set up Josh McCaleb's 47-yard field goal.
Southern Miss expanded the lead to 10-0 on its next possession with a 25-yard pass from Dustin Almond to Damion Carter. The six-play, 74-yard drive was kept alive because of a roughing the kicker penalty after the Blazers had forced the Golden Eagles to punt.
Wide receiver Josh Barnes scored on a 34-yard reverse run for Southern Miss late in the first quarter and the Blazers were in early trouble. It took them almost all of the second quarter to finally get going.
UAB did not move into Southern Miss territory until the final five minutes of the first half, when it drove 89 yards in 18 plays. Darrell Hackney found Lance Rhodes for a 17-yard touchdown with 24 seconds remaining in the half.
Southern Miss took its opening second-half possession for a touchdown, as Almond hit Barnes for a 14-yard strike, to extend the lead to 24-7. However, the Blazers scored unanswered points on a 58-yard Hackney to Jhun Cook pass and a Corey White one-yard TD run to make it a 24-21 game early in the fourth quarter.
The Golden Eagles answered by driving 74 yards in five plays and found the end zone with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Almond to Shawn Nelson to make the score 31-21. Then, Eddie Willingham picked off a Hackey pass on the next UAB series to set up a 44-yard McCaleb field goal.
Hackney continued to keep UAB in the game and found Cleveland for an 11-yard touchdown to cut the USM lead to 34-28. However, Southern Miss clinched the game with 50-seconds left when McCaleb kicked his third field goal, a 20-yarder.
Almond completed 18-of-33 passes for 247 yards and three touchdowns. It was his fourth multiple touchdown game of the season. The Eagles defense sacked Hackney 7 times, but allowed 407 passing yards.
After a 30-21 loss at Alabama to open the season, Southern Miss has won four of its last five games with victories over McNeese State, East Carolina and UCF. The only loss was a 34-17 decision to Tulsa at home.
The Golden Eagles are the top scoring team in Conference USA, averaging 34.7 points a game, but oddly enough, they've been outscored in the fourth quarter this season 55-26. USM's ability to score in the Red Zone (23-25 with 15 touchdowns) and convert on third down (43.9 percent) is impressive.
The USM offensive line has experience and features two third-year starters in redshirt junior guards Travis Cooley (6-2, 285) and George Batiste (6-5, 309). The Golden Eagles average nearly 350 yards a game with 238 of those yards coming through the air.
Almond makes the Southern Miss offense go. He's a redshirt senior (6-2, 214) with a strong and accurate arm and he gets good protection. USM has allowed only 9 sacks all season. Almond is completing 57 percent of his passes for 225 yards a game. He's thrown for 14 touchdowns with 8 interceptions and is fifth in Conference USA in passing efficiency.
The Eagles may be without two talented wide receivers for Saturday's game. Leading receiver, Antwon Courington (24 catches) is out for the year with a knee injury suffered two weeks ago. Sophomore Tavarres Williams has an MCL strain, but others have picked up the slack. Tight end Shawn Nelson (6-5, 225, RFr.) caught 4 passes for 55 yards against UAB while redshirt sophomore Chris Johnson (6-0, 172) had 3 catches for a team-high 71 yards.
The Southern Miss ground game appears to be just good enough, averaging about 110 yards a game. Thomas (406 yds.) and Cody Hull (195 yds.), both redshirt sophomores, are the leading rushers. Thomas, who has also caught 12 passes, carried a career-high 28 times for 129 yards against UAB--his second career 100-yard game.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles are athletic but unconventional. They blitz a lot while offering a variety of looks along the defensive front to confuse the offense. Opponents may see as few as three down linemen at times, but it's almost a sure bet that more defenders will be rushing from a stand-up position on every play--sometimes as many as three extra men. When USM sells out with the blitz it often times leaves cornerbacks in single coverage and sets the stage for giving up big plays.
Opponents are averaging 401 yards and 25 points a game against the Southern Miss defense. They're also converting an average of 41 percent of their third down opportunities.
The top USM defenders are the Coley brothers. Kevis, the middle linebacker, leads the team in tackles (62) and strong safety Trevis is next with 43 stops and was All-C-USA last season. In the secondary, redshirt senior cornerback John Eubanks is on the watch list for two major national awards while the other corner Caleb Hendrix (5-10, 185, Jr.) leads the team in pass break-ups and fumble recoveries. 300 pound senior tackle Terrance Ford, the team's strongest player, anchors an athletic line.
McCaleb became the school's all-time leader in field goals (43) with his performance against UAB. His 47-yarder in that game matched his career-long. This season he has made 13 of 15 field goal attempts, including 5 of 7 from beyond 40-yards. Redshirt senior punter, Luke Johnson, is solid with a 44.6 yard average.
Eubanks, the C-USA Special Teams Player of the Year in '04, is a dangerous kickoff returner averaging 23.8 yards a try. Punt returner, Jasper Faulk, has a 47-yard return to his credit this season and can also make big plays. The Golden Eagles kick and punt coverage teams look solid.
NOTES: The Pack needs to win 4 of its final 5 games to become bowl eligible. State is seeking its 150th victory at Carter-Finley Stadium...In the last 4 games, NC State has averaged only 56.5 net rushing yards. In those three games, the Wolfpack's average yards per rush has been only 2.0 which has no doubt had some effect on third down conversions (16-of-56). That lack of third down efficiency has contributed to State's defense being on the field an average of 7.5 minutes longer than its offense during that four game span... Southern Miss has eight interceptions this season and has recorded at least one pick-off in 11-straight games...Pack linebacker Stephen Tulloch is averaging 13.8 tackles per game (No. 2 ACC and No.4 NCAA) and has 10.5 tackles for loss and 2 sacks... Darrell Blackmon is No. 2 in the ACC in all purpose yards per game (129.2) and leads the nation in kickoff returns (35.8)... The Pack's defense held Wake Forest to 225 total yards and 85 net rushing yards last week... Against UAB, the Golden Eagles ran for 177 yards on 36 carries. In 68 games under Chuck Amato, the Wolfpack has entered the fourth quarter with the score differing by seven points or less 33 times...The last time Southern Miss and NC State met was in the 1990 All American Bowl. Brett Favre threw for 341 yards and two touchdowns, but the Pack won 31-27 in Jeff Bower's first game as a college head coach. Since then, Bower has won 100 games at USM.
INJURIES--NC State: DT John McCargo (foot)-doubtful; FS Miguel Scott (ankle sprain)-probable; LB Oliver Hoyte (ankle sprain)-probable; OG Kalani Heppe (shoulder separation)-out.Southern MissWR Antwon Courington (knee)-out for season; WR Tavarres Williams (knee)-questionable; CB Caleb Hendrix (hamstring)-questionable; TE Pedi Causey (hamstring)-questionable; RB C.J Barrows (hernia)-out for season; OL Greg Taylor (knee)-out for season.
