2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
New Orleans Bowl champion
New Orleans Bowl, W 28–21 vs. Louisiana–Lafayette
Conference	Conference USA
	West Division
Record	7–6 (4–4 C-USA)
Head coach	Jay Hopson (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Shannon Dawson (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Tony Pecoraro (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	M. M. Roberts Stadium
	Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Conference USA football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Western Kentucky xy$	7	–	1	11	–	3
Old Dominion x	7	–	1	10	–	3
Middle Tennessee	5	–	3	8	–	5
FIU	4	–	4	4	–	8
Charlotte	3	–	5	4	–	8
Marshall	2	–	6	3	–	9
Florida Atlantic	2	–	6	3	–	9
West Division
Louisiana Tech xy	6	–	2	9	–	5
UTSA	5	–	3	6	–	7
Southern Miss	4	–	4	7	–	6
North Texas	3	–	5	5	–	8
Rice	2	–	6	3	–	9
UTEP	2	–	6	4	–	8

Championship: Western Kentucky 58, Louisiana Tech 44
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles played their home games at the M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (C–USA). They were led by first-year head coach Jay Hopson. They finished the season 7–6, 4–4 in C-USA play to finish in third place in the West Division. They were invited to the New Orleans Bowl where they defeated Louisiana–Lafayette.

Schedule

Southern Miss announced its 2016 football schedule on February 4, 2016. The 2016 schedule consists of 6 home and away games in the regular season. The Golden Eagles will host C–USA foes Charlotte, Marshall, Louisiana Tech, and Rice, and will travel to North Texas, Old Dominion, UTEP, and UTSA.^[1]

The team will play four non–conference games, two home games against Savannah State from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and Troy from the Sun Belt Conference, and two road games against Kentucky and LSU both from the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	6:30 pm	at Commonwealth Stadium Lexington, KY	ESPNU	W 44–35	57,230
September 10	6:00 pm	Savannah State*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 56–0	29,509
September 17	6:00 pm	Troy*	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	beIN	L 31–37	27,905
September 24	7:00 pm	at UTEP	Sun Bowl El Paso, TX	CI	W 34–7	21,419
October 1	6:00 pm	Rice	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS		W 44–28	28,325
October 8	11:00 am	at UTSA	Alamodome San Antonio, TX	ASN	L 32–55	19,818
October 15	6:30 pm	at Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	SECN	L 10–45	102,164
October 29	6:00 pm	Marshall	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ASN	W 24–14	31,275
November 5	2:30 pm	Charlotte	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ASN	L 27–38	28,347
November 12	2:30 pm	at Foreman Field Norfolk, VA	ASN	L 35–51	20,118
November 19	4:30 pm	at Apogee Stadium Denton, TX	beIN	L 23–29	19,120
November 26	3:00 pm	Louisiana Tech	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS (Rivalry in Dixie)	ESPNews	W 39–24	26,164
December 17	8:00 pm	vs. Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA (New Orleans Bowl)	ESPN	W 28–21	35,061
*Non-conference game Homecoming All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[2]

Game summaries

@ Kentucky

Week One: Southern Miss Golden Eagles at Kentucky Wildcats – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	10	21	6	44
Wildcats	21	14	0	0	35

at

Commonwealth Stadium, Lexington, KY

Date: September 3

Game time: 6:30 p.m.
CDT
Game weather: 76° F • ENE 7 • Sunny
Game attendance: 57,230
Referee: Ken Antee
TV: ESPNU
Southern Miss vs Kentucky

Game information

First quarter

9:37 Southern Miss – Ito Smith 8 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 7–0. Drive: 7 plays, 49 yards, 3:36
6:09 Kentucky – Jeff Badet 72 yard pass from Drew Barker (Austin MacGinnis kick), Tied 7–7. Drive: 2 plays, 75 yards, 0:40
4:03 Kentucky – Garrett Johnson 43 yard pass from Drew Barker (Austin MacGinnis kick), Kentucky 14–7. Drive: 2 plays, 58 yards, 0:33
0:25 Kentucky – Kayaune Ross 9 yard pass from Drew Barker (Austin MacGinnis kick), Kentucky 21–7. Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 2:04

Second quarter

6:55 Kentucky – Garrett Johnson 53 yard pass from Drew Barker (Austin MacGinnis kick), Kentucky 28–7. Drive: 2 plays, 49 yards, 0:24
2:46 Southern Miss – Parker Shaunfield 31 yard field goal, Kentucky 28–10. Drive: 10 plays, 64 yards, 4:02
0:56 Kentucky – Jojo Kemp 7 yard run (Austin MacGinnis kick), Kentucky 35–10. Drive: 5 plays, 64 yards, 1:42
0:26 Southern Miss – Isaiah Jones 71 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Parker Shaunfield kick), Kentucky 35–17. Drive: 3 plays, 84 yards, 0:22

Third quarter

10:36 Southern Miss – Nick Mullens 1 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Kentucky 35–24. Drive: 11 plays, 84 yards, 4:20
6:45 Southern Miss – Julian Allen 18 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Parker Shaunfield kick), Kentucky 35–31. Drive: 8 plays, 66 yards, 2:39
1:01 Southern Miss – Nick Mullens 1 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 38–35. Drive: 10 plays, 57 yards, 3:32

Fourth quarter

10:30 Southern Miss – Parker Shaunfield 49 yard field goal, Southern Miss 41–35. Drive: 12 plays, 56 yards, 4:54
2:24 Southern Miss – Parker Shaunfield 25 yard field goal, Southern Miss 44–35. Drive: 11 plays, 62 yards, 4:56

Leading Passers

USM – Nick Mullens, 18–28, 258 yards, 2 TD, 3 INT
UK – Drew Barker, 15–24, 323 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT

Leading Rushers

USM – Ito Smith, 36 carries, 173 yards, 1 TD
UK – Stanley "Boom" Williams, 13 carries, 94 yards

Leading Receivers

USM – Isaiah Jones, 3 receptions, 93 yards, 1 TD
UK – Garrett Johnson, 6 receptions, 143 yards, 2 TD

Leading Tacklers

USM – Bradley Dylan, 7 tackles, 1 sack
UK – Jordan Jones, 19 tackles, 1 sack

Savannah State

Week Two: Savannah State Tigers at Southern Miss Golden Eagles – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	0	0	0	0
Golden Eagles	21	28	7	0	56

at M. M. Roberts Stadium, Hattiesburg, MS

Date: September 10
Game time: 6:00 p.m.
CDT
Game weather: 92° F • 4 mph • Clear
Game attendance: 29,509
Referee: Justin Elliot
Southern Miss vs Savannah State

Game information

First quarter

5:33 Southern Miss – Nick Mullens 1 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 7–0. Drive: 12 plays, 78 yards, 4:48
1:35 Southern Miss – Korey Robertson 22 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 14–0. Drive: 6 plays, 47 yards, 1:44
0:00 Southern Miss – Ito Smith 86 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 21–0. Drive: 1 play, 76 yards, 0:00

Second quarter

11:29 Southern Miss – Isaiah Jones 65 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 28–0. Drive: 5 plays, 85 yards, 1:58
9:47 Southern Miss – Allenzae Staggers 75 yard punt return (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 35–0. Drive: 2 plays, 1 yard, 1:42
4:33 Southern Miss – D.J. Thompson 16 yard pass from Nick Mullens (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 42–0. Drive: 7 plays, 68 yards, 2:46
0:43 Southern Miss – George Payne 11 yard run (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 49–0. Drive: 5 plays, 45 yards, 1:52

Third quarter

4:20 Southern Miss – Marquise Ricard 12 yard pass from Parker Adamson (Parker Shaunfield kick), Southern Miss 56–0. Drive: 14 plays, 68 yards, 7:04

Fourth quarter

No scoring

Leading Passers

SSU – Blake Dever, 1–7, 17 yards
USM – Nick Mullens, 16–20, 216 yards, 3 TD, 1 INT

Leading Rushers

SSU – Keynnard Campbell, 7 carries, 24 yards
USM – Ito Smith, 8 carries, 128 yards, 1 TD

Leading Receivers

SSU – Jeremiah Harris Jr., 2 receptions, 23 yards
USM – Isaiah Jones, 3 receptions, 82 yards, 1 TD

Leading Tacklers

SSU – Marcus Lee Jr., 10 tackles
USM – Jeremy Sangster, 5 tackles

[1]

[2]

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Mike Thomas	Wide receiver	6	31	Los Angeles Rams
Kalan Reed	Defensive back	7	32	Tennessee Titans

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

2016 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

Schedule

Game summaries

@ Kentucky

Savannah State

Troy

@ UTEP

Rice

@ UTSA

@ LSU

Marshall

Charlotte

@ Old Dominion

@ North Texas

Louisiana Tech

Louisiana–Lafayette (New Orleans Bowl)

Team players drafted in the NFL

References