Golden Eagle Football:
Southern Miss, To The Top!

Check out this hit by Patrick Surtain, the best cornerback I ever saw play at USM or anywhere else (current pro-bowler in the NFL). I was sitting 35 yards away from this as a student and remember it like it was yesterday.

This, is Golden Eagle Defense:
NEW!!! Here are more video clips from great Golden Eagle Football moments in the past: Link
And one of the great plays and calls (Bill Goodrich) in one of the many victories over Ole Miss that Southern Miss had since moving to D1: Wooohooo Mercy!
Clip from the game-winning walk-off homerun when Southern Miss came back, down 4, in the bottom of the 9th to defeat the Ole Miss Webels a few years back.

VIDEO AND AUDIO CLIPS:
"The Leap" (Sammy Winder game winning td leap over Ole Miss) and REggie Collier over FSU
Pictoral walk through Great Moments in Southern Miss football
Mills Kills (1999 Louisville)
Patrick Surtain Hit
"Safety!" Eagle Swarm, Fumble, beating Georgia (1996)
Farve over Florida State (1989), Last Play
Hey Bama, Shut Out (2000)
Woooohoooo Mercy (Ole Miss, 1979)

Click here to link to the rivalry page (a work in progress).

Eagle Quotes:

"If you are going to war and you get to choose first, choose Southern Mississippi. Don't fight Southern Mississippi. No matter how hard you fight, these folks will fight harder."~Mickey Spagnola (Dallas Cowboys and NFL Authority; former reporter for Jackson Daily News)

Southern Miss vs. Ole Miss or Mississippi State
"A classic case of two SEC schools that want NO part of getting their pants pulled down by an in-state 'little brother' who's more than capable of doing it. You know it. I know it. Ole Miss and Mississippi State know it." Tom Dienhart, Sporting News. March 26, 2006.

“Ole Miss stopped playing Southern Miss in 1984 after getting whipped six times in eight games. Mississippi State ended the series in 1990 after losing 10 times in 14 contests. Southern Miss, clearly, is the big wheel in the Magnolia State.” – Oakland Tribune

From the horse's mouth:
Ole Miss should play USM
From staff reports

THIS NEWSPAPER'S editorial board was impressed with University of Mississippi Chancellor Robert Khayat during his visit on Wednesday. But when Khayat was asked if Ole Miss will play Southern Miss in football again, he responded, "As long as I am chancellor it's not ever going to happen." His explanation: "The fans of both schools do not behave. They are mean to each other. It's a mean-spirited game. LSU people rock our bus and call us names and Mississippi State people (do the same) and we do the same thing to them, I'm sure. "But I'm telling you, people fall out over the USM-Ole Miss game. It wasn't a healthy environment." The last time USM and Ole Miss competed on the football field was 1984 in Jackson. Southern Miss won 13-10. Khayat said it makes no economic sense for Ole Miss to play Southern because it doesn't bring new money from outside the state. Also, he said, Ole Miss needs to play against non-conference teams that it has a better chance of defeating before it goes into its tough Southeastern Conference schedule. (Hattiesburg American - Feb 8, )

If Khayat's reasoning were sound, then virtually every other D1 school in ever other state is irrational because in-state rivalry games between all D1 schools takes place EVERYWHERE but here. Let me translate the above: We won only two of the last seven games we played against Southern Miss. So we are not going to play them anymore because, well, WE'RE CHICKEN!

Click HERE for Southern Miss Football Student Ticket (FREE!) information. Picture of the student section below:

Other Southern Miss links:
Best fan site I know: GoldenEagles.net
Official website for Southern Miss athletics: Southern Miss
NEW!!! Official website for Conference USA: Conference USA
Best place to talk Golden Eagle sports: BigGoldNation
Articles on Southern Miss Football History "101" Link
Click here for a map of the the new Conference-USA beginning in 2005.
Click here for the 2005 Composite C-USA schedule (all members' schedules)
Click here for Southern Miss's future schedules

No where else I'd rather be on Saturdays than at The Rock! The Rock has become a dreaded place to play (ask TCU and CAL). All of the fans in the stadium are right on the field and Southern Miss fans are loud. When Cal QB Aaron Rodgers commented on the crowd after a winning a close game at the Rock, he said "Their fans were incredible. My voice is gone because I had to scream so loud...sounded like 70,000 people."
On the right is the new "Momentum Turf" put down in the Spring of 2004.

Below: The Nebraska game 2003

Here is the Endzone Expansion to the Rock

The following photo is of Sammy Winder's game winning touchdown run defeating Ole Miss. This play is known to Eagle fans everywhere simply as "The Leap" (a 7 yard leap into the endzone). Sammy went on to win Superbowls as a Probowl running back for the Denver Broncos.

Brett Favre is the most celebrated athlete to have ever played at Southern Miss. He holds most of our passing records and led Southern Miss to victories against ranked teams like Alabama, Louisville, Auburn, and Florida State. Of course, he continued the USM tradition of defeating in-state rival Mississippi State. He went on to become a 3 time NFL MVP and Superbowl champ for the Green Bay Packers.

The painting below (by Douglass Hess) illustrates the championship moment when the best Golden Eagle defense, perhaps ever, defeated Pittsburgh in the 1997 Liberty Bowl (USM 41-7). Future NFL players and starters Perry Pheonix (#1; picked this ball up after the hit and returned for a touchdown), Patrick Surtain (#15; greatest cornerback I have ever seen play in college); and Marchant Kenney (Butkis candidate who delivered the hit that caused the fumble) dominated offenses all season.

#43 Derrick Nix was probably Southern Miss's greatest running back. He ran for nearly 3500 yards. This is amazing when you consider that he did it in 3 years, playing only about 60-70% of the time, and with ongoing health problems for which he was frequently given an iv during the game. His kidney disease that forced him to receive a transplant eventually ended his football career. He is now a USM assistant coach for the defense. More importantly, he remained positive throughout the difficult period and was an encouragement to all. There will never be another one like him

Ray Guy, a former LA Raider punter and Golden Eagle kicker, punter, safety, track star, and pitcher is considered by many Eagle fans to be our greatest all-around athlete. He held the NCAA record for the longest punt (93 yards) and the longest field goal for a long time (61 yards in the snow). At safety, he once hit an opponent so hard they stopped the game to help the poor guy find his teeth in the grass. Click here for a wonderful story by Rick Cleveland on USM's most outstanding athlete

BIG RED GOES DOWN!
Southern Miss vs Nebraska, Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska, September 11, 2004.

In 1999, the Eagles went to Memorial Stadium and narrowly lost to the Huskers after two Eagle turnovers returned for TDs in the final minutes of the game. This time, the Eagle defense forced their own turnovers and beat the Huskers 21-17. This game, televised nationally on ABC, was filled with key individual plays and spectacular performances. All Spring and Summer, Eagle fans expressed concern over having the most inexperienced defense in a decade. But defensive coordinater Tyrone Nix kept telling his team "Tradition never graduates." Although the defense gave up considerable yardage between the twenties, they did not break. They forced 4 (of 5) turnovers. The talented placekicker Darren McCaleb nailed 3 of 3 field goals to give the Eagles a 9-3 lead at halftime. The Eagle defense had a bad 3rd quarter in which the Huskers scored two TDs, but the fourth quarter belonged to the Eagles. First, Naton Stewart stepped in front of a Dailey (QB) pass and returned it 50 yards for an Eagle TD. Next, with over 8 minutes left to play, the Darrel Bennett recovered a forced fumble (nice hit!). Two plays later, Dustin Almond connected with "Marvelous" Marvin Young on a 46 yard TD strike to give the Eagles a 21-17 lead. Then, the Huskers began a march down to the 10 yard line with four shots at the endzone. With Eagle fans biting nails and afraid to watch, Husker QB Dailey broke the huddle. 1st down: Daily fires in the center of the field, but Eagle DB Darrel Bennett slapped the ball away with blanket coverage at the last second. 2nd down: Dailey misfires to his receiver in the endzone. On these two plays, Golden Eagle db Seth Cumbie (5 year senior, starting for the first time as a corner back) ended his season with a tear to his ACL. He can look back to this day with pride given his performance. 3rd down: Dailey tries to throw to his bread and butter TE Herian who had been killing the Eagles all day. But not this time. Herian appeared to be wide open and a Golden Eagle victory appeared to be another "if only" story. But Caleb Hendrix, who had just come in for Seth Cumbie, quickly made up the ground on the fade pass and knocked the ball away from the sure handed Herian. 4th down: Huskers have to go 15 yards for the TD (thanks to a delay of game penalty). Once again, Dailey drops back to pass. But Southern Miss LB Dillon Cleckler forced him out of the pocket when the Eagle secondary blanketed every receiver. Dailey then tried to run it in but was forced out of bounds at the 3 yard line by a host of Eagle defenders to secure the victory for Southern Miss. This game was filled with excitement. It marked only the 4th time in 13 years (81-4) that Nebraska lost at home (two of those teams went on to win the National Championship). But individual performances by experienced Eagles like preseason All-American Michael Boley (18 tackles in this game) and PK Darren McCaleb (3 FGs) proved too much. Also, Eagle fans were encouraged about the new season because of outstanding preformances by rising stars like LB Dillon Cleckler, DBs Seth Cumbie and Darrell Bennett and Caleb Hendrix, the O-Line (nice protection and run blocking) and the seemingly relentless pressures and pursuits of DE Matthew Chatelain and LB Antoine Cash. This game is special, not only because the Eagles pulled off something that few have (beating the Huskers at home) but because it has left Eagle fans wondering if this season will be as glorious as this game...

Hendrix last second break up!Marvin Young