It should be said from the outset, this is a Jeckyll & Hyde Southern Miss team thats having a very weird season. It makes them very hard to figure out. Just look at their schedule so far:
They killed Jackson State 55-7
They lost to LA Monroe 21-20 (Monroe beat Coastal Carolina 45-20)
They were supposed to play Appalachian State but the hurricane canceled the game
They beat Rice by 18
They lost by 11 to Auburn in a weird game that had a 3 hour rain delay.
They lost to North Texas 7-30 somehow despite Jack Abraham out-dueling Mason Fine for most of the game.
They beat UTSA by 10.
They lost at Charlotte and played poorly, but the kicker was a fluke pick 6 where the USM RB hit the QB while he was trying to make an easy throw, causing the ball to flutter.
Beat a good Marshall team 26-24
So, they are 4-4 with a missing game vs App State and a weird game Vs Auburn because of a 3 hour weather delay. The weird thing is that they are legitimately a handful of plays from being 6-2. They were the better team against both Charlotte and La Monroe but turnovers and fluke plays cost them both games. Even so, they are technically still in the race for CUSA West with games vs La Tech and UTEP left to play after us.
The USM Offense
Short version is that they are a very explosive offense, averaging nearly 300 yards per game passing and 125 per game rushing. Right up there with UNT for best offense in our league, but have struggled with turnovers and giving up sacks.
They do a bit of everything, but at their core they want to spread you out and make you defend the whole field. Lots of 4-5 wide sets, lots of WR screens, WR jet sweeps, swing passes to the RBs, deep passes, quick slants, quick outs, rollouts. lots of Pistol look one & two back RPO stuff.
Jack Abraham was the starter all year until he got injured against Charlotte (concussion)He's thrown for 1742 yards with 12 TDs and 9 Interceptions (3 in the first half before he got KTFO'd against charlotte... the dude had a bad day) He is very similar to Mason Fine in ability but without the same level of other world accuracy Fine has. They rank 3rd nationally in completion percentage and 20th in passing yards per game.
He was replaced by Tate Whatley, a true freshman that made his first start last week and has looked good when he has played. Leading them to the win against Marshall and almost leading them to a comeback win in the loss to Charlotte.
My bet is that we see Abraham this week, but their coaches said that he would be ready to go vs Marshall and didnt play, so we will see.
They spread the ball around, but their best receiver is Quez Watkins, a 6'2 sophomore speedster from Athens, AL He averages 72 yards receiving a game and has 7 TD receptions on the year.
The have only had one 100 yard rusher this season (Trivenskey Mosley had 142 vs UTSA) For the most part they are a pass first team and run to keep you off balance. Mosely is their leading rusher with 299 yards on the year. Their change of pace back is the thunder to Mosely's lightning in 6'2 240 pound Steven Anderson. They rank 119th in rushing yards per game.
The USM Defense
They are undersized but very athletic. They mix things up, but primarily run a 3-3-5 and bring pressure from all over.
What do I mean by undersized? Their starting Nose Tackle is 6'1 280. his backup is their one big body, 6'3 308.
Their starting DT is 6'2 264 his backup is 6'3 280
Their starting DE is 6'1 247 his backup is 6'2 240
They are all quick, and do a lot of stunts and twists to cause havok and get pressure. They bring linebackers and/or safeties most every play and do a good job of disguising where the extra man is coming from. It's not that they are blitzing every down, it's just that they will have 6-7 guys at the line of scrimmage and the offense has to figure out which four are coming.When you watch their highlights you will see USM defenders in the backfield most every play.
They rank 9th nationally in yards allowed per game and 28th nationally in points allowed per game. They are ranked 18th nationally against the rush, using speed and penetration to blow up run plays and make up for their lack of size.
They have a lot of speed in their linebacker core and secondary and do a good job of not giving up the big play and swarming to the ball.
Highlights
Charlotte
Rice
Marshall
(This post was last modified: 11-06-2018 04:51 PM by BlazerMatt.)
I haven’t this excited over a football game in a long time. Don’t get me wrong, I was super excited for TheReturn. But this surpasses that game for so many reasons.
Fear of the next game is a conditioned response for long time Blazer fans. We have seen "the other shoe drop" too many times in the past and leave us bleeding and despondent. Maybe that response will fade with time and continued success. I hope so.
Me too. It reminds me very much of the time a very good Houston team had to only beat a good, but not as good Southern Miss team to go to a big six bowl, and Southern Miss spent all week telling everyone how good Houston was only to beat the ever living crap out of them come gameday.
The Southern Miss coaches and players have spent all week talking about how good we are, you know damn well they are going to come out fired up and ready to show us whats up.
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Southern Miss Preview
