2015 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

2015 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
2015 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
C-USA West Division champion
C-USA Championship Game, L 28–45 vs. Western Kentucky
Heart of Dallas Bowl, L 31–44 vs. Washington
Conference	Conference USA
	West Division
Record	9–5 (7–1 C-USA)
Head coach	Todd Monken (3rd season);
Offensive coordinator	Chip Lindsey (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	David Duggan (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	M. M. Roberts Stadium
	Seasons ← 2014 2016 →

2015 Conference USA football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 24 Western Kentucky x$	8	–	0	12	–	2
Middle Tennessee	6	–	2	7	–	6
Marshall	6	–	2	10	–	3
FIU	3	–	5	5	–	7
Old Dominion	3	–	5	5	–	7
Florida Atlantic	3	–	5	3	–	9
Charlotte*	0	–	8	2	–	10
West Division
Southern Miss x	7	–	1	9	–	5
Louisiana Tech	6	–	2	9	–	4
UTSA	3	–	5	3	–	9
UTEP	3	–	5	5	–	7
Rice	3	–	5	5	–	7
North Texas	1	–	7	1	–	11

Championship: Western Kentucky 45, Southern Miss 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions * Ineligible for postseason bowl due to transition from FCS As of January 12, 2015 Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season as members of the West Division of Conference USA. They were led by third-year head coach Todd Monken and played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. They finished the season 9–5, 7–1 in C-USA play to be champions of the West Division. They represented the West Division in the Conference USA Football Championship Game where they lost to Western Kentucky. They were invited to the Heart of Dallas Bowl, where they were defeated by Washington.

On January 24, 2016, head coach Todd Monken resigned to become the offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.^[1] He finished at Southern Miss with a three-year record of 13–25.

Schedule

Southern Miss announced their 2015 football schedule on February 2, 2015. The 2015 schedule consist of six home and away games in the regular season. The Golden Eagles will host CUSA foes North Texas, Old Dominion, UTEP, and UTSA, and will travel to Charlotte, Louisiana Tech, Marshall, and Rice.^[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	9:00 p.m.	Mississippi State*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	FS1	L 16–34	36,641
September 12	2:30 p.m.	Austin Peay*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ASN	W 52–6	23,042
September 19	6:00 p.m.	at Texas State*	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	ESPN3	W 56–50	27,252
September 26	11:00 a.m.	at Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	ESPNews	L 28–36	89,899
October 3	6:00 p.m.	FCS	W 49–14	26,430
October 9	6:00 p.m.	at Marshall	Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, WV	CBSSN	L 10–31	22,763
October 17	6:00 p.m.	UTSA	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ASN	W 32–10	28,745
October 24	11:00 a.m.	at Charlotte	Jerry Richardson Stadium Charlotte, NC	ASN	W 44–10	13,813
October 31	1:30 p.m.	UTEP	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	FCS	W 34–13	25,581
November 14	2:30 p.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ASN	W 65–10	18,656
November 21	2:30 p.m.	Old Dominion	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ASN	W 56–31	29,568
November 28	11:00 a.m.	at Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA (Rivalry in Dixie)	FSN	W 58–24	19,028
December 5	11:00 a.m.	at Western Kentucky	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY (C–USA Championship)	ESPN2	L 28–45	16,823
December 26	1:20 p.m.	vs. Washington*	Cotton Bowl Dallas, TX (Heart of Dallas Bowl)	ESPN	L 31–44	20,229
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time

Schedule source:^[3]

Game summaries

Mississippi State

Week One: Mississippi State Bulldogs at Southern Miss Golden Eagles – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	7	7	13	7	34
Golden Eagles	10	0	3	3	16

at M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS

Date: September 5
Game time: 9:00 PM
CDT
Game weather: 81° F • 11 mph • Rain
Game attendance: 36,641
Referee: David Smith
TV: FS1
Southern Miss vs Mississippi State

Game information

First quarter

5:39 Southern Miss – Stephen Brauchle 31 yard field goal, Southern Miss 3–0. Drive: 4 plays, -3 yards, 1:39
5:26 Mississippi State – Brandon Holloway 100 yard kickoff return (Westin Graves kick), Mississippi State 7–3. Drive: 0 plays, 0 yards, 0:00
2:20 Southern Miss – Jay'Shawn Washington 19 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Stephen Brauche kick), Southern Miss 10–7. Drive: 8 plays, 70 yards, 3:06

Second quarter

10:57 Mississippi State – Justin Johnson 5 yard pass from Dak Prescott (Westin Graves kick), Mississippi State 14–10. Drive: 5 plays, 21 yards, 1:28

Third quarter

12:15 Mississippi State – Gus Walley 4 yard pass from Dak Prescott (Westin Graves kick), Mississippi State 21–10. Drive: 9 plays, 95 yards, 2:45
10:36 Mississippi State – Westin Graves 38 yard field goal, Mississippi State 24–10. Drive: 6 plays, 19 yards, 1:22
8:37 Southern Miss – Stephen Brauchle 27 yard field goal, Mississippi State 24–13. Drive: 5 plays, 64 yards, 1:59
4:02 Mississippi State – Westin Graves 37 yard field goal, Mississippi State 27–13. Drive: 13 plays, 53 yards, 4:35

Fourth quarter

13:01 Southern Miss – Stephen Brauche 27 yard field goal, Mississippi State 27–16. Drive: 13 plays, 68 yards, 6:01
5:55 Mississippi State – Dak Prescott 7 yard run (Westin Graves kick), Mississippi State 34–16. Drive: 6 plays, 82 yards, 1:40

Leading Passers

MSU – Dak Prescott, 22–38, 237 yards, 2 TD
USM – Nick Mullens, 30–44, 311 yards, 1 TD, 2 INT

Leading Rushers

MSU – Dak Prescott, 8 carries, 72 yards
USM – Ito Smith, 8 carries, 69 yards

Leading Receivers

MSU – Fred Ross, 5 receptions, 75 yards
USM – Korey Robertson, 6 receptions, 81 yards

Leading Tacklers

MSU – Richie Brown, 11 tackles
USM – Picasso Nelson Jr., 5 tackles

Austin Peay

Week Two: Austin Peay Governors at Southern Miss Golden Eagles – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Governors	6	0	0	0	6
Golden Eagles	7	21	21	3	52

at M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS

Date: September 12
Game time: 2:30 PM
CDT
Game weather: 84° F • S 8 • Partly Cloudy
Game attendance: 23,042
Referee: Johnathan Noli
TV: ASN
Southern Miss vs Austin Peay

Game information

First quarter

5:36 Southern Miss – Mullens, Nick Mullens 2 yard run (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 7–0. Drive: 3 plays, 6 yards, 1:07
3:01 Austin Peay – Rashaan Coleman 44 yard pass from Trey Taylor (Loga Birchfield kick failed), Southern Miss 7–6. Drive: 4 plays, 87 yards, 2:35

Second quarter

13:51 Southern Miss – Ito Smith 75 yard run (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 14–6. Drive: 2 plays, 75 yards, 0:21
10:23 Southern Miss – D.J. Thompson 3 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 21–6. Drive: 6 plays, 72 yards, 1:52
7:37 Southern Miss – Korey Robertson 9 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 28–6. Drive: 4 plays, 40 yards, 1:02

Third quarter

9:23 Southern Miss – Ito Smith 49 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 35–6. Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 1:37
4:54 Southern Miss – Justice Hayes 1 yard run (Stephen Brauchle kick), Southern Miss 42–6. Drive: 7 plays, 56 yards, 2:10
1:23 Southern Miss – Kalan Reed 76 yard interception return (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 49–6. Drive: 8 plays, 39 yards, 3:31

Fourth quarter

12:41 Southern Miss – Parker Shaunfield 28 yard field goal, Southern Miss 52–6. Drive: 5 plays, 28 yards, 1:47

Leading Passers

APSU – Trey Taylor, 11–18, 93 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT
USM – Nick Mullens, 22–40, 275 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT

Leading Rushers

APSU – Kendall Morris, 17 carries, 54 yards
USM – Ito Smith, 10 carries, 135 yards, 1 TD

Leading Receivers

APSU – Rashaan Coleman, 2 receptions, 50 yards, 1 TD
USM – Casey Martin, 7 receptions, 81 yards

Leading Tacklers

APSU – DeKeivis Perry, 5 tackles
USM – Dylan Bradley, 8 tackles, 2 sacks

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
Venues	Kamper Park (1912–1931) M. M. Roberts Stadium (1932–present) Ladd Stadium (alternate, 1950–1974) Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium (alternate, 1952–1988)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Louisiana Tech: Rivalry in Dixie Memphis: Black and Blue Bowl Tulane: Battle for the Bell
Culture & lore	Seymour d'Campus " Southern Mississippi to the Top " Pride of Mississippi Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943–1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

2015 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

Schedule

Game summaries

Mississippi State

Austin Peay

@ Texas State

@ Nebraska

North Texas

@ Marshall

UTSA

@ Charlotte

UTEP

@ Rice

Old Dominion

@ Louisiana Tech

@ Western Kentucky (C–USA Championship game)

Vs. Washington (Heart of Dallas Bowl)

References