Seth Littrell's Mean Green stand in second to last place in the CUSA West, above only Southern Miss. Littrell was once thought of as one of the rising stars in the D1 HC ranks, but is standing on his last leg in Denton. Since Mason Fine graduated (after playing what felt like 14 years for UNT), Littrell's teams have taken a step off the proverbial cliff.
As far as common opponents go, the Green's lone conference win came last weekend in the form of a 30-24 win at Rice. UAB bludgeoned UNT in a similar way as they did the Golden Eagles - 40-6.
North Texas is not a good football team, to say the least. The trouble is, and I don't need to educate the board on this one, neither is Southern Miss. This appears to the first of 2 games left on the schedule that are winnable for Hall & Co.
Here's how I look at it. Lose to North Texas today, and the Golden Eagles likely will head into the offseason 1-11. Road matchups vs. a top 20 UTSA and a mediocre Louisiana Tech will likely be a pair of losses. At this point, Southern Miss would come back to MM Roberts to face an awful FIU group in the final game of the season on Thanksgiving weekend. The home crowd will be sparse and confidence won't be able to found anywhere on the football field that day.
Could Southern Miss lose today and find one more win in the final three? Sure. But another ding in the failing armor at this point will make it all that more difficult to get back in the win column in 2021.
On the other hand, a win today would go a long way. North Texas is average to below average on the offensive and defense line, but do have some skill guys who can hurt the Southern Miss defense. The Mean Green defense has given up an average of about 37 points per game in their most recent six games. This is a chance for the Southern Miss offense to find some breakthrough and give itself a chance to win at the end of the ballgame.
The key today is avoiding the big mistakes - punt blocks, turnovers, breakdowns in the secondary, basically everything we saw against MTSU that kept USM out of the game in the end.
Another factor that I'll be looking for is at the quarterback position. Sure, the depth at QB is as scarce as Coors Light in a teetotaler's fridge, but having one quarterback playing the majority (or all) of the game would go a long way in building some consistency all the way around.
Celebrating the 2011 CUSA championship in front of the last non-holiday home crowd, not to mention more great weather in Hattiesburg, gives this battered version of Southern Miss football an opportunity to grab some positive momentum in the final stretch. It's not the last such opportunity, but it could be the best one Southern Miss has before hitting the road for two tough contests.
As far as common opponents go, the Green's lone conference win came last weekend in the form of a 30-24 win at Rice. UAB bludgeoned UNT in a similar way as they did the Golden Eagles - 40-6.
North Texas is not a good football team, to say the least. The trouble is, and I don't need to educate the board on this one, neither is Southern Miss. This appears to the first of 2 games left on the schedule that are winnable for Hall & Co.
Here's how I look at it. Lose to North Texas today, and the Golden Eagles likely will head into the offseason 1-11. Road matchups vs. a top 20 UTSA and a mediocre Louisiana Tech will likely be a pair of losses. At this point, Southern Miss would come back to MM Roberts to face an awful FIU group in the final game of the season on Thanksgiving weekend. The home crowd will be sparse and confidence won't be able to found anywhere on the football field that day.
Could Southern Miss lose today and find one more win in the final three? Sure. But another ding in the failing armor at this point will make it all that more difficult to get back in the win column in 2021.
On the other hand, a win today would go a long way. North Texas is average to below average on the offensive and defense line, but do have some skill guys who can hurt the Southern Miss defense. The Mean Green defense has given up an average of about 37 points per game in their most recent six games. This is a chance for the Southern Miss offense to find some breakthrough and give itself a chance to win at the end of the ballgame.
The key today is avoiding the big mistakes - punt blocks, turnovers, breakdowns in the secondary, basically everything we saw against MTSU that kept USM out of the game in the end.
Another factor that I'll be looking for is at the quarterback position. Sure, the depth at QB is as scarce as Coors Light in a teetotaler's fridge, but having one quarterback playing the majority (or all) of the game would go a long way in building some consistency all the way around.
Celebrating the 2011 CUSA championship in front of the last non-holiday home crowd, not to mention more great weather in Hattiesburg, gives this battered version of Southern Miss football an opportunity to grab some positive momentum in the final stretch. It's not the last such opportunity, but it could be the best one Southern Miss has before hitting the road for two tough contests.
