Free 30-Days | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram

Contact Us | Refer-a-friend Promo

The last time UTSA played in the Alamodome was October 16. That day the Roadrunners shut out the Rice Owls 45-0. Since that last game in the Alamodome the Roadrunners have beaten Louisiana Tech 45-16 and UTEP 44-23, been ranked in the top 25 in all of the major polls and pushed their record to 9-0.

Off the field the Roadrunners announced a move to the American Athletic Conference and then fended off a group of Red Raiders trying to convince Jeff Traylor to move his triangle to Lubbock. UTSA was able to get an extension done with Traylor that forced the good people of Texas Tech to look elsewhere for their head coach. It has been one wild and crazy month

Now this weekend the Roadrunners are back home in the Alamodome to welcome the Southern Miss Golden Eagles to town for possibly the final time for the foreseeable future. Both UTSA and Southern Miss will be departing Conference USA in 2023, UTSA to the AAC and Southern Miss to the Sun Belt.

When Southern Miss makes that move it will be their fourth conference home since starting football in 1912. The school from Hattiesburg was a member of the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1931-41, the Gulf States Conference from 1948-51 and Conference USA from 1996 to the present day. The Golden Eagles were Independent from 1912-30, 1942-47 and 1952-95.

Southern Miss began as a school in 1910 when opened as the Mississippi Normal College. In 1924 the name was changed to Mississippi State Teachers College. That name stood until 1940 when they adopted the name of Mississippi Southern College. In 1962 the school got its current name of the University of Southern Mississippi.

The football team also went through a wide range of nicknames over the years. In the beginning they were known as the Tigers and the Normalites interchangeably. In 1924 they became known as the Yellowjackets. In 1940 they went for one year as the Confederates. A year later they became known as the Southerners. The school adopted its current nickname in 1972.

Whatever it's been named the Southern Miss Football team has had a largely successful history. The Golden Eagles have an all-time record of 605-446-27. This last decade has not been as successful for Southern Miss. Since the start of the 2011 season they are 57-76 overall.

UTSA returns home to the iconic spires of the Alamodome this weekend having moved their record to 9-0 with a 44-23 win last Saturday night in El Paso. With their victory over UTEP, the Roadrunners became the ninth team of the current 12 FBS schools in Texas to start a season 9-0.

It was also the fourth straight game that UTSA scored 40 points or more. Through nine games this season UTSA has outscored its opponents 359-173 (per game that breaks down to 39.89-19.22). The Roadrunners offense has racked up 4,092 yards of total offense (454.7 per game). UTSA has 2343 passing yards (260.33 per game) and 1749 yards rushing this season (194.3 per game). UTSA's defense has given up 3042 yards (338 per game). Roadrunner opponents have had better luck in the passing game with 2280 yards (253.33 per game) compared to 762 yards rushing (84.7 per game).

As we turn our attention to the Roadrunners opponents for this week we should borrow a term from Monty Python: "Now for something completely different."

The Southern Miss team that visits San Antonio this Saturday has not had a great season this year. The Golden Eagles opened the season with a loss to South Alabama before beating Grambling State in Week two. Since that win over Grambling the Golden Eagles have lost seven straight. Through their first nine games the Golden Eagles have scored 123 points (13.67 per game) and given up 272 points (30.22 per game).

Southern Miss on offense has 2268 yards this season (252 per game). The Golden Eagles have 1462 yards passing (162.44 per game) and 806 yards rushing (89.6 per game). On defense Southern Miss has given up 3291 yards this season (365.7 per game). Opponents of the Golden Eagles have combined for 1866 yards passing (207.33 per game) and 1425 rushing yards (158.3 per game).

THE INDIVIDUALS

As we have in each preview this season we begin with the quarterbacks. For UTSA, Frank Harris has completed 173 of his 254 passing attempts for 2079 yards and 18 touchdowns. The 18 passing touchdowns by Harris are tied for 20th in the country. Harris is 640 yards away from tying the school record for passing yards in a single season. Harris only needs two touchdowns to tie the school record for passing touchdowns in a season.

Southern Miss's quarterback is Jake Lange. Lange has completed 79 of his 137 pass attempts for 843 yards and five touchdowns. Lange has also thrown six interceptions this season.

When it comes to the running backs UTSA would appear to have a slight edge with Sincere McCormick. Through the first nine game this season McCormick has 211 carries for 1060 yards and 10 touchdowns. McCormick is 407 yards from tying his own record for rushing yards in a season set last season. McCormick is also one touchdown away from tying the school record for rushing touchdowns in a season set by him last year.

Southern Miss's rushing attack is led by Frank Gore Jr. Gore Jr. has 142 carries for 608 yards and a touchdown.

UTSA's receiving corps is led by the big three of Zakhari Franklin, Joshua Cephus and DeCorian Clark. Franklin leads with 55 catches for 686 yards and eight touchdowns. Cephus has caught 51 passes for 576 yards and five touchdowns. Clark has 31 catches for 479 yards and five touchdowns.

It's looking likely that some UTSA receiving records could be falling this season to go with those set to fall in the rushing and passing departments. Franklin is just four receptions away from setting a new mark in that category. Franklin also needs just eight yards to break the record he set last season. If Franklin is able to score a touchdown on Saturday night it will give him the school record for receiving touchdowns in a season.

Southern Miss counters with a receiving corps led by Jason Brownlee. Brownlee has 33 catches for 427 yards and four touchdowns. Demarcus Jones has 10 catches for 185 yards and two touchdown.

SPECIAL TEAMS AND TURNOVERS

Last Saturday the Roadrunners went the entire game without a punt for the second time this season. In the seven games that UTSA has punted it has been the boot of Lucas Dean doing the punting. Dean has 30 punts this year for 1323 yards (44.10 yards per punt). Dean has had 12 punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard-line and had five punts go for 50 yards or more.

Southern Miss has done a lot more punting this year than UTSA. The Golden Eagles punter Mason Hunt has 60 punts for 2613 yards (43.55 yards per punt). Hunt has had 17 punts downed inside the opponent's 20-yard-line and 13 punts go for 50+ yards.

Handling the returning for UTSA has been Sheldon Jones. Jones has 20 returns for 262 yards. He is currently tied for fourth in the nation for punt return yards. Southern Miss leading punt returner is Da'Quan Bailey-Brown with 10 returns for 67 yards.

When it comes to field goals UTSA has made 17 of 21 attempts this season. Hunter Duplessis is 16-of-20 on field goals this season and Everett Ornstein is 1-for-1. Southern Miss has had Briggs Bourgeois handle all of their field goal attempts. Bourgeois has made six of his nine field goal attempts.

The turnover margin has also been like a tale of two seasons for each team. UTSA has had the best of times with a plus-10 turnover differential compared to Southern Miss's worst of times with a minus-10 differential.

UTSA has come away with eight interceptions and seven fumbles on defense while only throwing three interceptions and losing four fumbles on offense. It should be noted that UTSA did not have a takeaway in the win at UTEP last Saturday. Southern Miss's defense has five interceptions and seven fumbles recovered but the Golden Eagles offense has thrown 14 interceptions and lost eight fumbles.

A lot has changed for both teams since Southern Miss last played in San Antonio. For one thing both of the head coaches from that 2019 game are no longer patrolling the sidelines for Southern Miss and UTSA. Another is that these two teams have gone in opposite directions since that last meeting between the two in San Antonio.

In a season of firsts UTSA will have a chance to get another first as with a win over Southern Miss it would mean back-to-back victories over the Golden Eagles for the first time ever. There is also the fact that, starting with the win last week, from here on out each win for the Roadrunners will mark a program first

UTSA enters this game having scored 40 points or more in four straight games. Southern Miss has given up 30 points or more in three straight games. All of the things that Southern Miss do poorly at are things UTSA does well at.

Then there is the atmosphere underneath the quad spires of the Alamodome. It is possible that UTSA has more than 30,000 fans, perhaps up to 35,000 are in attendance. That was certainly not the case the last time Southern Miss played in the Alamo City.

UTSA should be able to rise to the level of noise in the Alamodome and make it a difficult Saturday afternoon for the Golden Eagles. Could UTSA be able to clear the bench this weekend and get experience for the back ups? We will have to wait and see.

My pick: UTSA 45 Southern Miss 14

FORUMS: UTSA Boulevard | Roadrunner Way