Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower deemed the spring a success, then in the next breath said the Golden Eagles still have plenty of work to do when the team gathers again for two-a-days. Clarion-Ledger USM beat writer Tim Doherty evaluates the best and worst from spring practice.
SPRING MVP: Wayne Hardy. After two seasons at fullback, Hardy was moved to outside linebacker and did so well, USM has all but decided to shift All-C-USA performer Trevis Coley back to free safety.
GAINING GROUND: Damion Carter. One of the most gifted athletes on the team, Carter has taken to the permanent switch from quarterback to receiver.
LOST A STEP: Antwon Courington. Bower held intense conversations with Courington seemingly after every practice, demanding more of his senior. When that didn't happen, Courington was dropped behind up-and-coming sophomore Tavarres Williams.Courington bounced back with a game-high six catches, including a highlight reel TD grab in the spring game.
STRENGTH: USM has more options in the secondary than it has had in years. That abundance of speed and quickness should do nothing but boost special teams coverage.
WEAKNESS: Say a prayer that Dustin Almond remains healthy at QB. Depth is a big-time issue. As goes Almond, so goes the offense.
Spring unit grades
QB ? C
RB ? B-
OL ? C
WR ? B
DL ? C
LB ? B
DB ? B
ST ? A-
2005 EARLY BIRD PROJECTIONS: 8-3 overall, 7-1 Conference USA
=====
Carter now embraces move from QB to WR
By Tim Doherty
tdoherty@clarionledger
HATTIESBURG ? Damion Carter spent much of his first two seasons at Southern Miss as one frustrated quarterback, getting a taste of the starting job, only to be bumped down the depth chart while quietly resisting a switch to wide receiver.
But this spring saw the emergence of a different Carter. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound junior from New Orleans embraced his move to wide receiver and gave the 6,000 or so USM fans who attended the Black and Gold game on April 16 a glimpse of his potential.
Carter snared a team-high five passes for 43 yards in his Gold team's 21-14 loss.
"It was probably his best day of the spring," USM coach Jeff Bower said. "He's got a lot of talent, but he's got to learn to hang on (to passes)."
Bower was referring to a pair of deep routes down the middle that generated nearly as much buzz from the crowd as anything else Carter did on the day.
Both passes were incomplete, as both times he got sandwiched by two defenders. But Carter nearly made a spectacular catch on the first ? with the ball being stripped from his outstretched hands at the last second ? and a tough catch on the other, getting his hands on the ball before being hammered front and back.
Those two plays may have erased any notion that Carter was averse to contact and could be knocked off his game by knocking him around early.
"I think coming from quarterback, people think of you being a little soft about going across the middle," Carter said. "I've tried to show them I'm not a soft receiver."
USM has had its share of game-breaking receivers, none better than the dynamic duo of Sherrod Gideon and Todd Pinkston, who played from 1996-99.
The addition of Carter to a relatively young crop of receivers has given the Golden Eagles as deep a talent reservoir as the days when the "Three Amigos" ? Darryl Tillman, Alfred Williams and Eugene Rowell ? and Michael Jackson roamed Roberts Stadium from 1987-90.
Antwon Courington is the lone senior and only full-time starter returning from last year. He was the team's leading receiver in 2004 with 47 catches for 659 yards and five touchdowns in 2004.
But Courington was pushed from his starting role this spring by youngster Tavarres Williams.
Carter and Anthony Perine will be juniors this fall. Williams and Chris Johnson head a sophomore class that also includes Chris Rhoden, who missed the spring while rehabbing a knee injury, and Adam Hurst, who missed 2004 with a knee injury.
Newcomers Josh Barnes, a transfer from Pearl River Community College, and redshirt freshman Ivory Bradshaw have shown potential.
"We've got a lot of young receivers, a lot of playmakers at that position," Carter said.
But while the potential is there, the spring also showed a disturbing penchant for dropped passes.
And there's also room for improvement in the areas that often go overlooked ? the downfield block, crisp route-running, using one's body to shield off a defender, making sharp cuts instead of rounding them off.
"These guys have got to understand the whole game," USM receivers coach Courtney Messingham said. "But all these guys have talent, no doubt about that.
"They all have the ability to be terrific players, but you've got to have a plan."
Carter does, even if he is still adjusting to the nuances of a position he hasn't played full-time since his sophomore season at Isidore Newman High.
"It's a been a while since I've been out there, so I need to keep working on the little things," Carter said. "It's getting better and better, but now I've got to make sure to always come down with the ball."
His teammates have taken notice.
"He's come a long way," said quarterback Dustin Almond about the player who took over his job in a two-game stint during the 2003 season. "He's accepted the role change and he's one of the best athletes on this team. He can be special."
SPRING MVP: Wayne Hardy. After two seasons at fullback, Hardy was moved to outside linebacker and did so well, USM has all but decided to shift All-C-USA performer Trevis Coley back to free safety.
GAINING GROUND: Damion Carter. One of the most gifted athletes on the team, Carter has taken to the permanent switch from quarterback to receiver.
LOST A STEP: Antwon Courington. Bower held intense conversations with Courington seemingly after every practice, demanding more of his senior. When that didn't happen, Courington was dropped behind up-and-coming sophomore Tavarres Williams.Courington bounced back with a game-high six catches, including a highlight reel TD grab in the spring game.
STRENGTH: USM has more options in the secondary than it has had in years. That abundance of speed and quickness should do nothing but boost special teams coverage.
WEAKNESS: Say a prayer that Dustin Almond remains healthy at QB. Depth is a big-time issue. As goes Almond, so goes the offense.
Spring unit grades
QB ? C
RB ? B-
OL ? C
WR ? B
DL ? C
LB ? B
DB ? B
ST ? A-
2005 EARLY BIRD PROJECTIONS: 8-3 overall, 7-1 Conference USA
=====
Carter now embraces move from QB to WR
By Tim Doherty
tdoherty@clarionledger
HATTIESBURG ? Damion Carter spent much of his first two seasons at Southern Miss as one frustrated quarterback, getting a taste of the starting job, only to be bumped down the depth chart while quietly resisting a switch to wide receiver.
But this spring saw the emergence of a different Carter. The 6-foot-3, 187-pound junior from New Orleans embraced his move to wide receiver and gave the 6,000 or so USM fans who attended the Black and Gold game on April 16 a glimpse of his potential.
Carter snared a team-high five passes for 43 yards in his Gold team's 21-14 loss.
"It was probably his best day of the spring," USM coach Jeff Bower said. "He's got a lot of talent, but he's got to learn to hang on (to passes)."
Bower was referring to a pair of deep routes down the middle that generated nearly as much buzz from the crowd as anything else Carter did on the day.
Both passes were incomplete, as both times he got sandwiched by two defenders. But Carter nearly made a spectacular catch on the first ? with the ball being stripped from his outstretched hands at the last second ? and a tough catch on the other, getting his hands on the ball before being hammered front and back.
Those two plays may have erased any notion that Carter was averse to contact and could be knocked off his game by knocking him around early.
"I think coming from quarterback, people think of you being a little soft about going across the middle," Carter said. "I've tried to show them I'm not a soft receiver."
USM has had its share of game-breaking receivers, none better than the dynamic duo of Sherrod Gideon and Todd Pinkston, who played from 1996-99.
The addition of Carter to a relatively young crop of receivers has given the Golden Eagles as deep a talent reservoir as the days when the "Three Amigos" ? Darryl Tillman, Alfred Williams and Eugene Rowell ? and Michael Jackson roamed Roberts Stadium from 1987-90.
Antwon Courington is the lone senior and only full-time starter returning from last year. He was the team's leading receiver in 2004 with 47 catches for 659 yards and five touchdowns in 2004.
But Courington was pushed from his starting role this spring by youngster Tavarres Williams.
Carter and Anthony Perine will be juniors this fall. Williams and Chris Johnson head a sophomore class that also includes Chris Rhoden, who missed the spring while rehabbing a knee injury, and Adam Hurst, who missed 2004 with a knee injury.
Newcomers Josh Barnes, a transfer from Pearl River Community College, and redshirt freshman Ivory Bradshaw have shown potential.
"We've got a lot of young receivers, a lot of playmakers at that position," Carter said.
But while the potential is there, the spring also showed a disturbing penchant for dropped passes.
And there's also room for improvement in the areas that often go overlooked ? the downfield block, crisp route-running, using one's body to shield off a defender, making sharp cuts instead of rounding them off.
"These guys have got to understand the whole game," USM receivers coach Courtney Messingham said. "But all these guys have talent, no doubt about that.
"They all have the ability to be terrific players, but you've got to have a plan."
Carter does, even if he is still adjusting to the nuances of a position he hasn't played full-time since his sophomore season at Isidore Newman High.
"It's a been a while since I've been out there, so I need to keep working on the little things," Carter said. "It's getting better and better, but now I've got to make sure to always come down with the ball."
His teammates have taken notice.
"He's come a long way," said quarterback Dustin Almond about the player who took over his job in a two-game stint during the 2003 season. "He's accepted the role change and he's one of the best athletes on this team. He can be special."
