SOUTHERN MISS Team Report

By The Sports Xchange

1/3/2005

INSIDE SLANT

At their best in 2004, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles won with defense, special teams and just enough offensive balance. It wasn't dominating, but it worked.

At their worst, the Golden Eagles missed too many tackles, missed some special teams opportunities and threw the ball poorly enough to hurt the running game. It wasn't a total disaster, but it was enough to lose and cost two assistant coaches their jobs.

When the Golden Eagles finished with a 7-5 record and a 31-10 victory over North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl, they were at their best.

"When things didn't look good for us, and our backs were up against the wall, we came out fighting, and played our best football in the last three games of the year," Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said.

<a href='http://www.collegesports.com/tsx/current/m-footbl/smis.html#' target='_blank'>COLLEGESPORTS.COM: Southern Miss team report</a>