Hope this helps
Hope this helps
From the Sunherald website.
www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/sports/15793987.htm
With Southern Miss tailback Damion Fletcher sidelined for Saturday's game at Virginia Tech, Conrad Chanove will get the bulk of the work in one of the more hostile environments in college football.
Fletcher, the No. 8 rusher in the nation at 113 yards per game, had minor surgery to remove cartilage Wednesday and should be back in the lineup when the Golden Eagles resume Conference USA play next week at home against East Carolina.
Until then, Chanove, a junior walk-on from Covington, La., will be the starter; freshman Tory Harrison, a redshirt until the Fletcher injury, will be No. 2.
Chanove, a 5-foot-9, 190-pounder, played in 12 games last season on special teams. Prior to that, he had been a member of the Golden Eagles track team since 2003; he advanced to the NCAA National Championships in 2005 with a javelin throw of 213 feet, 5 inches. He currently holds the school record at 216 feet, 6 inches.
"Certainly, we'll miss Damion," Southern Miss offensive coordinator Jay Johnson said. "There's no question that Conrad will do a good job for us.
"Conrad Chanove is a young man who gets everything he deserves."
It was Johnson who first got the opportunity to see Chanove perform back in 2004.
Johnson, then the running backs coach, quickly realized Chanove would end up on the field in some form or fashion.
"It's a feel-good story for an amazing kid," Johnson said. "I remember when he walked on and I got my first look at him in drills. He busted his tail through every drill. When you have someone like that, it's contagious to the other players on the team.
"I knew right then he was going on the team - maybe not at this extent - but he was going to make the team. It was a matter of time."
In high school, Chanove collected more than 800 yards of offense as a senior running back at Fontainebleau and 700 yards as junior.
Chanove, a human resource management major, averages 4.9 yards per carry on 18 attempts this season with a long run of 23 yards coming in a 37-17 win against N.C. State. Last week, while playing the first half, Chanove picked up 44 rushing yards and 23 passing yards in Southern Miss' 31-27 win against Houston.
When Cody Hull and Larry Thomas left the team during the early part of the season, Chanove moved into the backup slot behind Fletcher. With C.J. Barrows quitting the team this week, Chanove is the man when the Golden Eagles travel to Virginia Tech for a nationally televised game on ESPN U.
"It's a great story," Johnson said. "He's an amazing young man and a very good person."
As a team, Southern Miss is a solid 4-2 overall and 2-1 in C-USA play. After Virginia Tech, the Golden Eagles will play the favorite role in the final five games against East Carolina, at Memphis and Tulane before closing out the season at home against UAB and Marshall.
With a potential nine-win season at stake as well as an Eastern Division championship, Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower refuses to give his team an overall grade.
But the 16-year veteran is right on the money when he offers his first-half report on the 4-2 Golden Eagles.
"We're OK," Bower said. "When we're ready to play, we're good. When we're not, we're not. We've won the last four out of five, which is good. We're the type of football team that when we get ready to play and have a good week, we can play pretty well. When we don't, we don't."