Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Southern Mississippi

NC STATE (1-1, 0-0) at SOUTHERN MISS (1-1, 0-0)

DATE: Saturday, September 16, 2006

TIME: Kickoff: 7:00 p.m. (EDT) at M.M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS (33,000)

RADIO: Wolfpack Sports Network: 6:00 p.m. (EDT)

TELEVISION: None

OPPONENTSouthern Miss rebounded from its opening game loss at Florida with a 45-0 rout of 1-AA Southeastern Louisiana at home Saturday night. The Golden Eagles recorded their first shutout since 2001 and seventy players saw action on an evening that went as expected before a crowd of 28,258.

Southern Miss took a 14-0 first quarter lead on a 31-yard Jeremy Young touchdown pass to Damion Carter and a 19-yard scoring run by rookie Damion Fletcher.

After a 1-yard TD blast by Larry Thomas the Golden Eagles defense got into the act. Reserve cornerback Cornelius Magee picked up a fumble by Lions quarterback Seth Babin and returned it 5-yards for a touchdown with 2:24 left in the half. That gave Southern Miss a 28-0 cushion at the intermission.

In the second half, USM scored on its opening drive as veteran Darren McCaleb connected on a career-long 50-yard field goal. Fletcher and Thomas completed the scoring with third quarter touchdown runs of 28 and 5-yards respectively.

Young completed 5-of-7 passes for 106 yards. Fletcher finished with 17 carries for 116 yards and two touchdowns while Thomas had eight carries for 50 yards and two touchdowns. Carter was USM’s leading receiver with three catches for 82 yards, the second-best performance of his career.

Defensively, linebacker James Denley (6-2, 235, Jr.) led Southern Miss with 9 tackles while safety Eddie Hicks (6-2, 183, Fr.) had 7 stops. Overall, the Golden Eagles recorded 9 tackles for loss, one less than it forced in the season-opener at Florida.

USM opened the game in a 3-3-5 defensive formation, with safety Ladarius Webb starting as the fifth back while defensive tackle Sean Merrill stayed on the sidelines. The scheme stifled SLU’s air attack. The Golden Eagles held Babin to 59-yards passing (11-of-21) and an interception. The Lions ground game was more impressive as Mario Gilbert and Dremell Adams combined for 104 yards rushing on 20 attempts.

Other major drawbacks for Southern Miss were three lost fumbles and a muffed punt late in the game.

SLU managed one more yard on offense (219) than it had gained in a season-opening loss at New Mexico State. USM gained 448 yards (256 rushing), with 230 of that total coming in a first half. That bettered the 295 total yards the Golden Eagles gained in a 34-7 loss at Florida the previous week. Florida led only 14-7 in that game until it scored late in the third quarter and then pulled away.

Southern Miss returns 16 starters from last season’s 7-5 team, including four of five offensive linemen. Three of those veterans up-front are redshirt seniors, including right guard George Batiste (6-5, 300).Batiste has started 37 consecutive games.

At quarterback, Young has good size (6-3, 215) and mobility, but not much experience after working as an understudy to Dustin Almond for three years. So far, Young is 18-of-34 passing for 235 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions. The redshirt junior can be a dangerous runner and is averaging 6.6-yards a carry.

Stephen Reaves, a redshirt junior transfer from Michigan State and the son of former NFL quarterback John Reaves, has played in both games this season and is competing for playing time. He has completed 10-of-19 passes for 133 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.  Against SLU, Reaves was 6-of-9 for 86 yards, including a 35-yarder.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Shawn Nelson (6-5, 238), a freshman All-American, led the Golden Eagles last season in catches (35) and receiving yards (540). He’s also the favorite target this year with 7 receptions for 104 yards.  Carter, a senior big play threat, is next with 4 catches for 88 yards and 2 TDs.

Southern Miss is averaging an impressive 188 rushing yards a game and leading the way is Fletcher (5-10, 176). In two games, the rookie has rushed for an average of 102.5 yards. Fletcher is the first freshman runningback to start at Southern Miss since 2001. He’s also a threat to catch the football with 4 receptions for 60-yards.  Thomas, a starter last season, is a solid back-up.

Defensively, the Golden Eagles led Conference USA last season in sacks, scoring defense and turnovers forced per game. Over the first two games this year, they’ve notched 4 sacks, forced 4 fumbles and notched 3 interceptions.

USM can be unconventional at times in its attempt to confuse opponents with different defensive fronts and blitz angles. In some of their schemes the Golden Eagles are similar to the Akron team NC State faced last week, but they are more aggressive and have more speed.

Third year starter, Matthew Chatelain (6-2, 247), a redshirt senior end, anchors the USM defensive line along with redshirt junior Robert Henderson. Playing the “Bandit” position, Henderson (6-3, 280) can either line-up along the line of scrimmage or drop and become an extra linebacker.

Denly is the team’s leading tackler and is a returning starting at outside linebacker. Third year starter Caleb Hendrix (5-10, 185, Sr.) is probably the team’s best cover corner while strong safety Brandon Sumrall (5-11, 195, Jr.) is one of the team’s hardest hitters and fastest players.

On Monday, Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower announced that middle linebacker Mitch Craft would play this Saturday after serving a two-game suspension and would likely start against the Wolfpack. Gerald McRath, who filled in for Craft, will be moved to outside linebacker while Marcus Raines was shifted from reserve middle linebacker to defensive end.

So far this season, the USM defense is allowing an average of 305 yards and 17 points a game, including an average of 128 rushing yards.

McCaleb (5-11, 176, Sr.), snapper Stephen Daigle (6-0, 220, Sr.) and redshirt senior punt and kick returner Jasper Faulk are the returning starters on special teams. McCaleb is a very accurate field goal kicker and has made 54-of-66 career attempts. He has kicked four field goals in a game twice. Redshirt sophomore, Brett Barefoot, a first-year starter, has punted 5 times for an impressive 46.8 yard average.

NOTES:   Saturday’s game will mark NC State’s first visit to Hattiesburg since 1963. The Wolfpack is 5-4 all-time against Southern Miss, including a 21-17 win in Raleigh last season. Andre Brown rushed for 248 yards in that game... State is 24-4 against non-conference opponents under Chuck Amato including a 4-1 record in non-conference road games...Akron rushed for 114 yards in its win over the Pack last week. It marked only the third time in the last nine games that an opponent rushed for 100 or more yards against NC State....Wolfpack kicker, John Deraney, has never missed an extra point kick in his college career (67-67)...Deraney has kicked off 8 times this season and five of those have not been returned. That’s despite a new rule that lowered the kicking tee one-inch...Wolfpack quarterback Marcus Stone is 6-2 as a starter...Stone threw for 49 yards and an interception in the first half against Akron last week, but was 11-of-15 in the second half for 160 yards and two touchdowns...In his first career start in last season’s win over Southern Miss, Stone was 10-of-26 for 128 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions... Southern Miss is 56-15 at home under coach Jeff Bower...Bower has won at least a share of four Conference USA titles in the 10-year history of the league and has been named C-USA Coach of the Year three times...Turnovers could be the difference Saturday. The Wolfpack has coughed the ball up seven times, USM six... Wolfpack linebacker, Pat Lowry, is averaging 10.5 tackles a game; best in the ACC...State leads the ACC with 8 sacks.

 

INJURIES--NC State: C Luke Lathan-Probable, concussion; CB A.J. Davis-Questionable, hamstring.

Southern Miss OLB Gerald McRath-Probable, hamstring; OG George Batiste-Full go, ankle.

North Carolina State University Athletics

Gary Hahn's Scouting Report: Southern Mississippi

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