Marshall Football: Fast Facts, Southern Miss

1) Southern Miss is on a much publicized 19 game losing streak. Their last win came against Nevada in the Hawaii Bowl on December 24^th 2011. That victory occurred under Larry Fedora, the current head coach at North Carolina. Since Fedora’s departure, Southern Miss hired and fired Ellis Johnson and brought along current head coach Todd Monken. Prior to arriving in Hattiesburg, Monken served as the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State.

2) True freshman quarterback Nick Mullens will get his second career start on Saturday. Making his debut last week against North Texas, Mullens completed 12 of 31 passes for 210 yards, three interceptions, and one touchdown. Coming out of high school, the Hoover Alabama product had scholarship offers from UAB and a few FCS schools.

3) Southern Miss splits carries between two running backs, sophomore Jalen Richard and senior Kendrick Hardy. Richard leads the team with 225 rushing yards. Despite missing the past two games, Hardy almost equals Richard’s production with 202 yards on 47 carries. Reports have indicated that Hardy will play Saturday. Freshman running back George Payne scored the teams only rushing touchdown of the season last week.

4) Three Golden Eagles receivers have recorded over 200 receiving yards,  Rickey Bradley, Tyre’oune Holmes, and Markese Triplett. Holmes has caught the most passes (34) and Triplett is tied for the team lead with two touchdown receptions.

5) The Southern Miss offensive line has surrendered 19 sacks, allowing the 9^th most among Conference USA teams.

6) In total, the Golden Eagles offense is scoring just over 12 points per game while averaging 77 rushing and 209 passing yards per outing.

7) Safety DeBarriaus Miller leads the Southern Miss defense with 36 tackles. He is also tied for the team lead with one interception.

8) After sitting out the 2012 because of eligibility issues, defensive tackle Octavious Thomas has recorded a team high two sacks. Among USM’s defensive lineman, Thomas leads the group with 33 tackles. Defensive end Adam William’s seven tackles for loss are also a team high.

9) Linebackers Terrick Wright, Alan Howze, and Dylan Reda have recorded at least 37 tackles. Wright is the most active with 55 total tackles, good enough for second on the team.

10) Southern Miss is allowing a C-USA worst 42 points per game.

11) The Golden Eagles defense has experienced an equal amount of trouble stopping their opponents rushing and passing attacks. They allow 193 rushing and 221 passing yards per game.

12) Junior kicker Corey Acosta has had a rough season. He is 5 for 12 of field goal attempts, three of which have been blocked.

13) Three different players have punted for Southern Miss this season. The best appears to be Matthew Moseley, he has handled a team high 18 punts, averaging 40.9 yards per attempt.

 14) Now this is a great stat, the Golden Eagles have only returned five punts this year.

15) Wide receiver Justin Sims is the lead kick returner, he is averaging 21.9 yards per attempt.

16) Southern Miss last recorded a road win against Marshall in 2009. At that time the Golden Eagles were piloted by quarterback Martevious Young who would later play indoor football for the short lived Huntington Hammer.