Southern Miss
- Thread starter Wesson Bulldog
- Start date
Not good but I'm not talking smack about anybody at this point. Before the season started I was actually just a touch (emphasis on a touch) worried about our game but goodness are they bad. That said, I thought we would look like USA does tonight against SELA and WMU and we know how that went. 
They gave us fits in the 80s. The 7-6 game in Jackson was one of the hardest hitting I've ever seen.
They had some damn good teams in the 80s. But all those players they used to get then are going to schools like Central Florida, South Alabama, Troy, UAB, UL-Lafayette, etc. And with recruiting so much more sophisticated now, players like Reggie Collier, Brett Favre, Sammy Winder and Ricky Floyd are playing in the SEC.
I just hope all 10 fans have a secure and safe mode of transit out of that neighborhood when they decide to leave at the end of the 3rd quarter.
1981. A missed 29-yard field goal in the second half by our usually dependable kicker, Dana Moore, cost us that game. USM was a powerhouse in those days. Great quarterback, Reggie Collier. A classic defensive struggle.
I think Moore was injured, maybe a hammy, and he hit it flat if I remember correctly. Fesmire also muffed a punt that set up their only score, maybe?
They don’t play at Ladd-Pebbles stadium any more. They built a nice stadium on campus in west Mobile.
The last USM team that could’ve hung with us was 2011 in Fedora’s last year with a senior Austin Davis at QB.
Even with us stinking right now, the gulf between the two programs is huge right now. There’s a legitimate argument that they’ve become the least desirable program in FBS. Definitely the least desirable FBS program in the South, there may be a MAC team or two that’s worse off.
Even with us stinking right now, the gulf between the two programs is huge right now. There’s a legitimate argument that they’ve become the least desirable program in FBS. Definitely the least desirable FBS program in the South, there may be a MAC team or two that’s worse off.
Yep, 1981. Rob Fesmier muffed a punt inside our 20 and they made the short drive for their only points of the day. Unfortunately it was enough.
In the 80s, Reagan was president and it was morning in America. Those days are never coming back.
That was year of missed opportunities. Close losses to USM, Mizzou, Bama and UM. End up 7-4 and in the Birmingham Bowl, defeating Kansas 10-0.
It's sad what happened to them. I often wonder how their fortunes could have turned out differently, because like you said, they were a force to be reckoned with in the 80s. They beat us every year when I was growing up, I just expected it.
People say it was the Metro Conference. That was a big part, sure, but location was more than anything. There just wasn't room for another program in this state, and there's really not room for 2. USM and Florida State are very similar - they both started as teacher colleges, etc. FSU was in a state that grew, and survived when the Metro folded.
For the future, while I think the Sun Belt was a good move, I would also considering going FCS. Be the North Dakota State of the South. You just need success, and I really they won't do it, but national titles are national titles. Better than Sun Belt titles.
They actually did hang with us in 2015, which is why continuing this series (thanks Coinz) was a bad idea.
They are having a bad year, but I don't get all this 'least desirable' stuff. A lot of Sun Belt programs are worse.
Your right that they might beat us once in 20 games now. But so what? It’s not like it would be any worse than losing to South Alabama was. Or LA Tech. If we’re going to play Sunbelt teams (we are), may as well play them occasionally.
Since we’ve started playing USM again, we’ve won 49-0, 34-16, and 38-15.
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They hung with us for a half in ‘15 because of turnovers. Shumphert fumbled going into the end zone and Ross muffed a punt deep in our own territory. We still won the game by 3 touchdowns. And that was a Todd Monken team with an NFL QB, their best team in the last decade plus.
They’ll play UL Monroe in a few weeks to determine who the worst team in the Sun Belt is. The situation is not at all what it was 30-40 years ago. Their program is in rough shape.
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For many years, that game stood as the most well attended game in the history of Mississippi for college games. 64,000+
Also, beat them in the final two games of the original series in 1989 and 1990.
I remember I had a rare chance and was attending the "last" Southern Miss game in the early 90s. We won with a late punt return for a touchdown. I couldn't give you the exact year or who returned the punt for us, but it was a fun game. I didn't go to very many games back then. An elderly lady about my grandmother's age picked me out of the crowd and was looking for somebody to sit with her. She had great seats. She asked me if I could sit with her simply because I reminded her of her son, who was supposed to come but couldn't. We had a great time together... She was a Southern Miss alumnus.
We beat Brett Favre down there after they had beaten Fla State. State fans did the tomahawk chop while exiting MM Roberts. It was glorious.
Schedule grind. That's what so many G5 teams don't want to admit, or just don't understand. It's not about a one on one matchup, it's the one on one matchups back to back to back to back, that get you at the P5 level, and especially the SEC.
I don't know about "a lot", but your overall point is right. I'd say Louisiana-Monroe, Georgia State, and Georgia Southern out of the Sun Belt, as well as LaTech, MTSU, Sam Houston, Western Kentucky, Jax State, Old Dominion, and maybe FIU out of Conference USA are all objectively worse/less desirable programs than Southern Miss, even if you count population/fan base/proximity to a metro area.
That being said, I would argue USM is either in the bottom 10 or right above the bottom 10 in terms of "southern FBS desirability". They were the last founding CUSA member to get an invitation to leave for a reason.
I was there. Bond did not play. Tim Parrenton ran the offense that day.