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Southern Mississippi (5-2) at T-C-U (6-1)
The Sports Network
DATE & TIME: Wednesday, October 30th, 7:30 p.m. (et).
FACTS & STATS: Site: Amon G. Carter Stadium (44,008) -- Fort Worth, Texas. Television: ESPN2. Home Record: Southern Miss 4-0, TCU 3-0. Away Record: Southern Miss 1-2, TCU 3-1. Neutral Record: Southern Miss 0-0, TCU 0-0. Conference Record: Southern Miss 3-0, TCU 3-1. Series Record: TCU leads, 2-1.
GAME NOTES: The Horned Frogs of TCU take aim at their seventh straight win in a rare Wednesday night affair as they battle the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in Conference USA action from Fort Worth. Southern Miss currently leads the league with a perfect 3-0 mark, while the Horned Frogs are tied with Louisville and UAB for second place with a league record of 3-1. The only loss for TCU came in the season opener against conference rival Cincinnati, 36-29, in overtime on the road. As for the Golden Eagles, they began the year with three straight victories against the likes of Jackson State, Illinois and Memphis. Since then the squad has alternated wins and losses, with their most recent game being a 23-14 victory over Cincinnati back on October 19th. The Horned Frogs have also been off since the 19th, when they toppled Louisville in conference action, 45-31. The Horned Frogs lead the series between the two teams, which began back in 1989, 2-1. TCU was victorious in the 2001 season finale versus the Golden Eagles, 14-12, in Hattiesburg.
The Southern Miss offense had a less-than-spirited outing two weeks ago, but the team still managed to record the nine-point win over Cincinnati at home. The Golden Eagles were held to just 11 first downs, 92 yards passing and 211 yards of total offense. Running back Derrick Nix continues to be a bright spot for the unit, carrying the ball 19 times for 77 yards and finding the end zone on a seven-yard run in the first quarter. Despite having one of his lowest outputs of the season as far as yardage is concerned, Nix is still averaging over 117 ypg, which ranks him 17th in the nation. Redshirt freshman quarterback Dustin Almond, who recorded a six-yard passing touchdown against the Bearcats, finished that game with only seven completions on 22 attempts. Almond got the start in place of Micky D'Angelo, whom he replaced the week prior against South Florida. The team as a whole is averaging 165 yards rushing and 184 ypg through the air, which ranks the squad 85th in the nation in total offense.
While the Southern Miss offense was not getting much done, the defense was having its share of ups and downs as well. The Bearcats managed to produce 22 first downs, twice as many as the Golden Eagles, and a hefty 263 yards rushing. Overall, Cincinnati was allowed to post 409 yards of total offense while controlling the ball for just under 39 minutes. The Southern Miss defense did step up at the right time however, forcing the Bearcats into 12 penalties for a loss of 104 yards, while also returning an interception 44 yard for a score, thanks to the efforts of Etric Pruitt. With six picks through seven games, Pruitt is tied for the second-most in the nation. Rod Davis currently leads the team in tackles with a whopping 90 stops and has made a team-high 14.5 tackles behind the line of scrimmage. Davis is also tops in sacks with six, followed by Joe Henley who has five. The team is allowing opponents to produce 192 yards per game on the ground and another 169 ypg by way of the pass, ranking it 13th in the nation in that category. The USM defense has surrendered just one passing score this season, the fewest in the nation.
TCU's offense was firing on all cylinders against Louisville two weeks ago, sporting 250 yards rushing and another 187 yards passing in the squad's 14- point victory. Ricky Madison rushed for 137 yards and a touchdown, and Lonta Hobbs ran for 106 yards and two more scores while quarterback Tye Gunn, filling in for the injured Sean Stilley who is still nursing a shoulder injury, completed 17-of-23 passes for 187 yards and three scores. Gunn has put up some decent numbers this season for the Horned Frogs, completing nearly 65 percent of his pass attempts with six touchdowns and just a pair of picks. The team, which is scoring close to 34 points per game in 2002, is getting modest production from both the running attack (169 ypg) and the passing game (195.3 ypg). The unit could certainly be more productive however, since they are converting a meager 30 percent on its third-down tries this season.
The Horned Frog defense held the Cardinals to just six points through the first 30 minutes of action before giving up 25 points in the second half. While quarterback Dave Ragone was allowed to pass for 309 yards on the day, the Cardinal running game was completely stifled by the Horned Frogs, leading them to minus-26 yards on 22 rushing attempts overall. TCU's run defense is one of the strongest in the country this year, limiting opponents to a mere 69.1 ypg, thanks in large part to the effort two weeks ago. Holding teams to an average of less than two yards per rushing attempt, the Horned Frogs are ranked third in the nation in run defense behind the likes of Virginia Tech and Iowa. LaMarcus McDonald currently leads the team in tackles with 72, nearly twice as many as his nearest teammate. McDonald has posted 16 TFLs and three sacks and also leads the squad with three fumble recoveries. Bo Schobel is tops on the team in sacks with five, while Jason Goss is one of the best cover guys in the conference having recorded a team-high five interceptions and seven pass breakups thus far.
Pitting TCU's run defense against the likes of Nix for the Golden Eagles should be a very interesting matchup. Southern Miss has a modest run game, one that could easily be turned away, while the passing attack is somewhat lacking, leaving the door open for the Horned Frogs to make several plays in the backfield should the Golden Eagles leave themselves open to mistakes. Expect the game to be close, but by the end TCU should at least have a share of the conference lead.
Sports Network Predicted Outcome: TCU 38, Southern Mississippi 27
