So.
Miss Saves CUSA From Winless Bowl Season
by Mike Mitchell
1/7/07
11:30 pm est
Southern
Miss beat Ohio 28-7 in the GMAC Bowl, saving CUSA (1-4)
from a winless bowl season, and keeping Ohio winless (0-3) in
its bowl history. The Bobcats were playing in their first bowl
game since losing to Richmond in the 1968 Tangerine Bowl.
The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, were playing in their fifth straight
bowl contest, and ninth in the last ten years.
Southern Miss' experience and superior talent became obvious
6-1/2 minutes into the second quarter when USM blew open a scoreless
game. Tory Harrison's 43-yard run made it 7-0 and, 5-1/2 minutes
later, Damion Fletcher's 2-yard run gave Southern Miss a 14-0
lead.
That deficit put Ohio at an extreme disadvantage as the Bobcats'
passing game produced more turnovers than touchdowns in the regular
season, with 13 interceptions and 8 scores. Sure enough, as Ohio
tried to go airborne at the end of the half, James Denley returned
an intercepted Brad Bower pass 18 yards for a 21-0 lead for the
Golden Eagles at halftime.
Fletcher's second touchdown on a 9-yard in the 3rd quarter boosted
the Southern Miss lead to 28-0. That score came at the end of
a ball-hawking 17-play drive that went 80 yards and lasted just
under ten minutes.
Though Ohio finished the bowl game with 2 INT's, the Bobcats
did manage to score the first passing touchdown of their last
six games when Austen Everson connected with Thomas Christy on
a 13-yard scoring play with 9:34 left to avoid the shutout. Everson
threw for 176 yards, his second-best total of the year. But the
rushing game, which averaged 155.4 per game, was held to just
46 yards by the Southern Miss defense. |
