Associated Press
HATTIESBURG – Southern Miss hasn’t had many problems scoring points during the four-year tenure of coach Larry Fedora.
It’s stopping the other team that has sometimes been an issue.
But this season, Southern Miss (6-1) is finally playing well on both sides of the ball, and the improved defense is a big reason Fedora’s team just missed a national ranking in the Associated Press poll this week after an impressive 27-3 victory over Southern Methodist. Now the Golden Eagles appear to be Houston’s most likely challenger for the Conference USA championship.
Southern Miss is ranked No. 25 in the USA Today Coaches’ Poll.
“It’s good to be recognized for what you’ve been able to accomplish to this point,” Fedora said. “But at the same time, there are a whole lot of teams who were in the top 25 that aren’t there anymore. We know the ranking doesn’t mean anything unless we live up to it.”
Fedora has developed a reputation for big offensive numbers since his days as Oklahoma State’s offensive coordinator, but that hasn’t translated into the success envisioned when Southern Miss hired him in 2008. Much of that was because of a porous defense that gave up more than 44 points a game in five losses last season.
To solve that problem, Fedora hired co-defensive coordinator Dan Disch, who has installed a 4-2-5 scheme designed to defend the pass-happy spread offenses so common in Conference USA. It’s been a huge success so far. The Golden Eagles rank 35th nationally in total defense, 51st in rushing defense an 10th in pass efficiency defense.
All this despite losing Korey Williams – arguably the team’s best linebacker – to a knee injury early in the season.
“We try to approach every game the same way,” Disch said. “We want to make whoever we are lining up against one dimensional. We’ll tailor it to whoever we’re playing, but we want to take something away, then concentrate on stopping whatever they fall back into.”
Despite an early 26-20 loss to Marshall in Huntington, W. Va., Southern Miss sits atop the East standings at 2-1 and controls its destiny. Far from being a weakness, the defense is a big reason for the success.
The USM defense hasn’t given up a touchdown in two of its seven games, including last Saturday when it held the SMU offense to a field goal. The Mustangs came into the game averaging nearly 34 points.
Even in the team’s only loss to Marshall on Sept. 10, the offense turned the ball over six times, USM receivers dropped seven passes and the game was still decided in the final seconds thanks to a defense that made things difficult for the Thundering Herd.
“Coach Disch just allows us to go out there, play fast and turn it loose,” safety Kendrick Presley said. “The number one thing he preaches is don’t think, just go out there and play hard and fast and everything will take care of itself.”
That’s exactly what Southern Miss coaches are saying about the sudden spat of national recognition.
Southern Miss goes about as far as possible from the spotlight on Saturday, when it takes the 1,200-mile trip to El Paso for a conference game against UTEP (4-3). The Golden Eagles have won five straight. UTEP has won two in a row after last weekend’s 33-17 victory over Colorado State.
A Southern Miss win might merit a ranking in both major polls for the first time since 2004.
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