It's Homecoming! Anyone excited?

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

We have an opportunity to win seven games this year, but we have to win today. I personally think that a 6-6 season is a good season for this team, thought that at the beginning of the year.

We have talent but little experience, so if we can muster 6 or 7 wins, I'm happy.

Again, we have to win today. UTEP may stink, but we can't look passed them.

 

[garynada]

The team tends to play to the level of competition so nothing is a given. Big question for the day will be which Howard shows up. I am hopping last week was a sign of things to come.

 

[SouthernMiss3613]

I am hoping the bad Howard shows up and they are forced to put Griggs in. We need Griggs against the better teams left on our schedule.

 

[Eaglebird Humperdink]

Is anyone else excited about homecoming?...

 

[sprint-draw gandy!]

We have an opportunity to win seven games this year, but we have to win today. I personally think that a 6-6 season is a good season for this team, thought that at the beginning of the year.

We have talent but little experience, so if we can muster 6 or 7 wins, I'm happy.

Again, we have to win today. UTEP may stink, but we can't look passed them.

not trying to attack you, but im thrown by you being happy with 6 wins? we have seen how competent Griggs is and even Keon showed his potential for about a quarter last game.

though nothing would surprise me anymore (after the EJ year and seeing Keon's fumbles, and Hops dumb Daddy ball decisions), we "should" win more than 6 or 7. our schedule is full of the weakest teams in the country.

UTEP - terrible team, though appear much better with the recent head coaching change. we are 24 pt favorites. should get the Win - that makes 4 Wins.

La Tech - they aren't any good. we "should" win that game too. we are a better team. of course, you never know. lets give us the Loss - so still 4 Wins

UAB - sure historically, we can lose to them at any time. but i think its reaonsable for everyone to expect us to win this game - thats 5 Wins.

Tenn - they really arent any good. if we play well and start the right QB (Griggs), we can win that game. nevertheless, we are expected to lose. so give us the Loss - stuck at 5 Wins.

Rice - they have to be one of the worst teams in the country- gives us 6 Wins.

Charlotte - they are prob worse than Rice - gives us 7 Wins.

Marshall - idk how good or bad they are. i think we can beat them. but give us the loss - guess thats our 7 Wins, with a bowl loss.

Which one of those "wins" would you be ok with losing, whereby you would be happy with 6 Wins?

If we get good QB play, then every game is winnable. If Hopson plays Daddy Ball with Keon and allows him to turn the ball over multiple times each game, we can lose to anyone. I dont think anyone will be happy, with any amount of Wins, if Hopson ruins games (as he did the Kentucky game), by playing favorites. Im not saying its impossible to win games with Keon, but he has to demonstrate that he can throw more than just 3 good passes in a row and can hold on to the ball, before I can have any confidence in him.

Griggs looks like the best option to me. He hasnt even played a snap with the "true" offensive line yet. Id sure like to see that before benching him for Small Hands Howard. Heck, Griggs has an 8/1 TD to Int ratio. I've never even heard of someone being benched with that type of success. Only Daddy Ball could bench him for Keon's fumbles. I'll pull for whoever is in at QB, but its concerning if Hop plays Keon too long/much.

But back on topic - ill be pretty ticked off with only 6 wins, no matter who is playing QB. I hope every USM fan would be.

 

[Eaglebird Humperdink]

not trying to attack you, but im thrown by you being happy with 6 wins?...

...edited for space........

.....But back on topic - ill be pretty ticked off with only 6 wins, no matter who is playing QB. I hope every USM fan would be.

Great opening. Right to the point, respectful, and led with a question to draw the reader in.

Then a loooooooooooooooooooooooooong breakdown of C-USA teams & how we should win almost every game we play....most readers will tap out here, or scroll down.

Good ending. Restatement of the initial opinion. Wrap it up quick and get out.

B-...Good effort, but a bit windy.

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

Gandy,

I answer your question in my second paragraph. We have talent but little experience, last night showed that.

An experienced Southern Miss team would have shut down that UTEP team in the first half. It took us till late in the fourth quarter last night. An experienced team would have held on against UNT, too.

We saw in both of those games that this team can win or lose to anyone. We may or may not win 6 or 7 games so as a realist, I am happy with 6-6 and a bowl game from a team that doesn't know how to finish yet. As a fan, of course I expect more, but as I age, I get more realistic. I used to get very emotional about USM football but it was probably killing me. I still attend every home game, but my blood pressure now stays in check.

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

One more thing, to answer my original question, looks like few were excited for homecoming as less than 22K showed up. I ask again, where is everyone?

 

[Aub Bry]

One more thing, to answer my original question, looks like few were excited for homecoming as less than 22K showed up. I ask again, where is everyone?

As long as our leadership is content with 22k homecoming crowds we can’t expect anything different. There was more pride taken in the maintenance of our campus and stadium in community college than at SM and it’s not a lack of $. It’s a lack of pride. I’ve seen it spiral downward for sometime. Just look around campus.

 

[Eaglebird Humperdink]

One more thing, to answer my original question, looks like few were excited for homecoming as less than 22K showed up. I ask again, where is everyone?

Have you taken a look at our home schedule lately? Have you noticed the quality of play of teams in the bottom third of the NCAA? Those 22k spent their Saturday evening watching some really bad football last night. There is no big mystery. It's right there on the schedule.

And, I won't take the time to look up the average attendance throughout our conference, but I assume we are right on par or better than average in the conference.

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

I don't care who we play, I go to football games as a Southern Miss football fan.

Also, the grounds crew do a great job. Campus looks way better than when I was a student. I have been to lots of college campuses and the Pride I see in our campus is tops.

 

[NorthwestEagle]

The campus comment is odd. our campus his heads and shoulders above what it was when I was there in the 90s. It looks fantastic

 

[Aub Bry]

I don't care who we play, I go to football games as a Southern Miss football fan.

Also, the grounds crew do a great job. Campus looks way better than when I was a student. I have been to lots of college campuses and the Pride I see in our campus is tops.

I guess I’m to critical, but I’d love to ask someone that matters why the stadium is overlooked. Would it cost to much to put a little paint on the bathroom walls or maybe take down the dry rotted, sun bleached banner along the sideline walls and add some paint or even get a new one? I hope they fixed the PA system by homecoming. These are things that can be done to add a little pride to game day. These are a few of the obvious problems I see. It’s a lack of leadership.

 

[Houston Eagle]

Is that confusing large sink/urinal still in the restroom?

 

[Wonder Boy Eagle]

Ok, I will agree about the old, faded banners, they need to go, but they did make bathroom upgrades a few years ago. I have been to many college campuses and stadiums and a lot of really nasty stadiums fill up every week.

Oh, yeah, I forgot, our sound system is terrible. I;m hoping they fix it by next year. We need to add speakers to the south side of the stadium.

 

[Eaglebird Humperdink]

I don't care who we play, I go to football games as a Southern Miss football fan.

If you like to think that there are 10,000-15,000 more diehard USM fans out there who would really rather spend their Saturdays watching USM play a half-dozen of the worst college football teams in the country...but they are not attending games because because of some mystery reason that we haven't heard about, that's okay.

But, I'll bet if you take a look at the average attendance at UAB, UTEP, North Texas, etc., I believe you'll find similar attendance numbers. There are lots of options competing for sports fans time & money on Saturdays. C-USA football isn't very high on folks' list.

 

[yeoyeo78]

ill be pretty ticked off with only 6 wins, no matter who is playing QB. I hope every USM fan would be.

I totally disagree Sprint. We definitely have a great shot at winning six games, but given the head coach we have, I'd consider getting more than six wins to be one of those miracles that gets you nominated for sainthood