Two games remain in another edition of the Long Season for Southern Miss football.
The Golden Eagles are 15.5 point underdogs to Louisiana Tech ahead of the second-to-last opportunity to notch a conference win in 2021 for Will Hall.
That number is worth mentioning, but does it really matter? Well, no. The predicted spread was 30+ in favor of UTSA last weekend in a game that Southern Miss was in position to win in the last half of the fourth quarter.
Against one of the best G5 teams in the country, I saw one of the more creative and innovative game plans I've ever seen in college football. It'll be more of the same tonight.
The Calvary, as Hall aptly dubbed it earlier this week, will run in and out at "quarterback". The best athletes available will touch the ball on offense and aim to put the ball in the air in one on one situations on the outside.
It worked at times last week and was certainly better than the other option of using what Hall has in the cupboard for a traditional offensive look. That hasn't worked, and it won't in these final two games - so why not elect for pure chaos in hopes of giving yourself a chance.
Can Southern Miss win this game? Sure. But there a few things that must happen.
The Bulldogs are a bit of an enigma in 2021. The record of 3-7 is indicative of a team that's been bad throughout the schedule, but they lost heartbreakers to 3 high-quality opponents in Mississippi State, SMU, and NC State. Plus, 2 conference wins vs. North Texas and Charlotte sandwiched around a 5-game losing streak.
The defense is bad - ranking 240th in scoring defense, 234th in total defense, and 252nd in passing defense. The offense is a good bit better, showing the ability to score efficiently at times - particularly in the passing game.
However, when Tech and Southern Miss meet, you can usually throw statistics and box scores and expect a competitive game (see: 2020 w/ Scotty Walden on the sideline).
On top of such a wacky offensive attack (that La Tech will have film on), the defense has to come big again. Coach Armstrong's group was just as big of a factor in Southern Miss having a chance to win late as the offense was. It'll take another big effort from that side of the ball. The Louisiana Tech offense is significantly less talented than UTSA.
Lastly, as is always the case and has so often prevented USM from winning in 2021, turnovers matter. With a chance to expand the lead, tie, or put pressure on the Roadrunners late in the game last Saturday, Southern Miss turned the ball over. In fact, 4 of the last 5 possessions for the Golden Eagles ended in some sort of a turnover in that game.
Even keeping the turnover margin at -2 or lower would be a big win tonight and should give Southern Miss a chance to get conference win No. 1.
To be sure, it'll be a strange game. But a strange, messy, infuriating contest that Hall & Co. has an opportunity to win late is the best that can be hoped for at this point. I expect that to be the case in Ruston under the lights at Joe Aillet Stadium.
The question remains, can the battered and broken Eagles limit the game-breaking mistakes enough to walk off the field a winner for the first time since September 11th? They haven't yet, but the beauty of competition allows them another shot tonight.
The Golden Eagles are 15.5 point underdogs to Louisiana Tech ahead of the second-to-last opportunity to notch a conference win in 2021 for Will Hall.
That number is worth mentioning, but does it really matter? Well, no. The predicted spread was 30+ in favor of UTSA last weekend in a game that Southern Miss was in position to win in the last half of the fourth quarter.
Against one of the best G5 teams in the country, I saw one of the more creative and innovative game plans I've ever seen in college football. It'll be more of the same tonight.
The Calvary, as Hall aptly dubbed it earlier this week, will run in and out at "quarterback". The best athletes available will touch the ball on offense and aim to put the ball in the air in one on one situations on the outside.
It worked at times last week and was certainly better than the other option of using what Hall has in the cupboard for a traditional offensive look. That hasn't worked, and it won't in these final two games - so why not elect for pure chaos in hopes of giving yourself a chance.
Can Southern Miss win this game? Sure. But there a few things that must happen.
The Bulldogs are a bit of an enigma in 2021. The record of 3-7 is indicative of a team that's been bad throughout the schedule, but they lost heartbreakers to 3 high-quality opponents in Mississippi State, SMU, and NC State. Plus, 2 conference wins vs. North Texas and Charlotte sandwiched around a 5-game losing streak.
The defense is bad - ranking 240th in scoring defense, 234th in total defense, and 252nd in passing defense. The offense is a good bit better, showing the ability to score efficiently at times - particularly in the passing game.
However, when Tech and Southern Miss meet, you can usually throw statistics and box scores and expect a competitive game (see: 2020 w/ Scotty Walden on the sideline).
On top of such a wacky offensive attack (that La Tech will have film on), the defense has to come big again. Coach Armstrong's group was just as big of a factor in Southern Miss having a chance to win late as the offense was. It'll take another big effort from that side of the ball. The Louisiana Tech offense is significantly less talented than UTSA.
Lastly, as is always the case and has so often prevented USM from winning in 2021, turnovers matter. With a chance to expand the lead, tie, or put pressure on the Roadrunners late in the game last Saturday, Southern Miss turned the ball over. In fact, 4 of the last 5 possessions for the Golden Eagles ended in some sort of a turnover in that game.
Even keeping the turnover margin at -2 or lower would be a big win tonight and should give Southern Miss a chance to get conference win No. 1.
To be sure, it'll be a strange game. But a strange, messy, infuriating contest that Hall & Co. has an opportunity to win late is the best that can be hoped for at this point. I expect that to be the case in Ruston under the lights at Joe Aillet Stadium.
The question remains, can the battered and broken Eagles limit the game-breaking mistakes enough to walk off the field a winner for the first time since September 11th? They haven't yet, but the beauty of competition allows them another shot tonight.
