Golden Eagles seek first win against Owls

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles (3-1, 0-1 C-USA) are looking to follow up their 30-24 win over the Virginia Cavaliers with their third consecutive victory when they return home on Saturday to take on C-USA foe the Rice University Owls (1-2, 0-0 C-USA), who are coming off a crushing 56-31 defeat to the non-conference Baylor University Bears. The Owls are 2-0 all-time against the Golden Eagles, as they defeated USM 31-29 and 45-40 in 2007 and 2008, respectively.

In their most recent defeat in 2008, the Southern Miss defense gave up a whopping 444 yards and six touchdowns through the air as Rice quarterback Chase Clement completed 30 of his 43 pass attempts. The Golden Eagles rallied late in the fourth quarter when quarterback Austin Davis connected with wide receiver DeAndre Brown for a touchdown with 17.2 seconds left, but the Owls recovered the ensuing onside kick.

USM running back Damion Fletcher led the rushing attack with a game-high 120 yards on 17 carries, while Davis threw for a school-record 461 yards by completing 32 of his 61 passes. Brown was the recipient of all four Davis touchdown tosses, which established a new school mark in receiving scores.

Entering Saturday's match-up, all the momentum is in the favor of the Golden Eagles, but USM head coach Larry Fedora is well aware of the history between the two schools.

"The last two times Southern Miss has played Rice, we've been on the short end of the stick," Fedora said. "They are going to come in here and feel pretty good. We're going to have to play a really good football game. And we've got to be better, what I'm preaching, than we were last week. We keep showing progress that way, then we are getting where we want to be. I know [Rice head coach David Baliff] will have them coached up. Their punter is averaging about 47 yards a punt. We've got our work cut out for us this week."

It would not be a surprise to see the Golden Eagles pound the ball against the Owls, as USM running back Kendrick Hardy is only one game removed from his 155 yard outing against Southeastern, and Rice is giving up a mediocre 233.3 yards rushing per game.

The Southern Miss defense will be tasked to stop a Rice offense, led by quarterback Taylor McHargue, that is accumulating an average of 330.7 yards and 21.3 points per game.

The Owls are a deceptively better team than their 1-2 record indicates, as both of Rice's losses have come against top 25 opponents in Texas and Baylor.

"They were pretty good teams that they went against," Fedora said of Rice's play against their three opponents this season. "I just finished watching that Texas game. As I'm sitting there watching the game, I'm thinking, ‘Wow!' because they are playing toe-to-toe with them. They were flying around the field. They were physical. They were getting after it. It's a little bit scary actually."

Southern Miss will look to secure its first ever win against Rice when they take on the Owls at 6:30 p.m. at The Rock. The game will be televised on Comcast Sports Southeast.