Determined USM ready for bowl
By By Stan Caldwell / EMG Sports Writer
Dec. 26, 2002
HOUSTON, Tex. It will be a grimly determined group of Golden Eagles who will take the field Friday afternoon at Reliant Stadium for the third annual Houston Bowl.
The University of Southern Mississippi battles Oklahoma State at noon in the nationally-televised ESPN contest, and the Eagles know they will be the decided underdog, as they will face a red-hot team in a hostile stadium without one of their biggest weapons.
USM senior tailback Derrick Nix, the heart and soul of the Eagles, will not play Friday after suffering a relapse of the kidney disease that cost him much of the 2000 season and all of the 2001 season. As a result, OSU is a 7-point favorite.
Nevertheless, the Eagles have circled the wagons and appear ready for the challenge.
USM and OSU come into the game with identical records of 7-5 overall and 5-3 in their respective conferences. But the Cowboys come into the game on much more of a roll than do the Eagles. Oklahoma State won five of its last six games, including a 38-28 upset of No. 4 Oklahoma.
That receiver is junior Rashaun Woods, who caught 98 passes for 1,531 yards and 16 touchdowns to earn first-team All-America honors.
USM got a glimpse of Woods in the season opener in 2001, when the Cowboys visited Hattiesburg for the second game of a home-and-home series. It was Les Miles' first game as the Oklahoma State head coach, and it was not a pleasant experience. USM won that game 17-9, after winning the previous season at Stillwater, Okla., 24-6.
The Cowboys averaged 34.4 points and 403.3 yards a game this season, with sophomore quarterback Josh Fields at the helm. The Golden Eagles counter with a defense that gave up just 17.1 points and 322.0 yards a game, including just 157.1 yards passing.
Offensively, USM will try to build on the success it had passing in its last regular-season game, a 24-7 victory over East Carolina at Hattiesburg. In that game, sophomore Micky D'Angelo completed 12 of 22 passes for 208 yards and a touchdown.
But the Eagle running attack will miss Nix and his 1,194 yards and 11 touchdowns. Walley, however, has some experience in filling Nix's shoes this season. Against UAB on Nov. 9, Walley rushed for 100 yards and the game-winning touchdown in the fourth quarter of a 20-13 victory.
USM will have a full complement of players on the sideline, including Nix and wide receiver Rocky Harrison, who was redshirted this season after suffering a serious chest injury in preseason. The Golden Eagles decided to bus over from Hattiesburg, saving about $50,000 they would have spent on a chartered jet.
This will be USM's 13th bowl game in its history; the Golden Eagles are 5-7 in their previous postseason appearances. Oklahoma State is 9-4 in 13 previous bowl games; the Cowboys are playing in their first bowl since 1997, when they lost 33-20 to Purdue in the Alamo Bowl.
