The Book 2008 Football

[MiamiCajun32]

If anything, bookies would probably want to have lower point spread than should be the case because the average casual college football fan still thinks that the sunbelt is a much worse conference than C-USA.

This line will likely go down to about 12 before kickoff.

It is crazy line though. Playing at USM historically is a really tough game against a borderline top 25 to top 40 team, but in present day it is not any more or less challenging than traveling to Middle Tennessee. Cajuns will have to play well to win and unfortunately are likely to lose, based on the past 1.5 year of mediocre play, but 14 points is just silly.

If Cajuns were to win this game by 10 points, I would not at all be sold on them having a good year. USM would be very competitive in sunbelt but could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th in sunbelt. Sunbelt is so underrated v C-USA. How many games will sunbelt teams have to win v C-USA before the conferences are considered at least close to equal footing. Here you have a predicted middle of the pack sunbelt team v predicted middle of the pack C-USA team. About even matchup but USM is at home so should be about -5 spread.

[SpreadEagle]

If anything, bookies would probably want to have lower point spread than should be the case because the average casual college football fan still thinks that the sunbelt is a much worse conference than C-USA.

This line will likely go down to about 12 before kickoff.

It is crazy line though. Playing at USM historically is a really tough game against a borderline top 25 to top 40 team, but in present day it is not any more or less challenging than traveling to Middle Tennessee. Cajuns will have to play well to win and unfortunately are likely to lose, based on the past 1.5 year of mediocre play, but 14 points is just silly.

If Cajuns were to win this game by 10 points, I would not at all be sold on them having a good year. USM would be very competitive in sunbelt but could finish anywhere from 1st to 5th in sunbelt. Sunbelt is so underrated v C-USA. How many games will sunbelt teams have to win v C-USA before the conferences are considered at least close to equal footing. Here you have a predicted middle of the pack sunbelt team v predicted middle of the pack C-USA team. About even matchup but USM is at home so should be about -5 spread.

A coaching change was made at USM because USM fans would not settle for 7 and 8 win seasons. Even so, USM has had 14 straight winning seasons and played in bowl games 10 out of the last 11 years. In the last
ten games against Sun Belt teams, USM is 10-0. Lets compare MTSU to those stats.
Also, USM had the number 37 recruiting class as ranked by Rivals last year. That was 20 spots ahead of the closest non-BCS team. As a matter of fact, DeAndre Brown, the five star receiver that LSU wanted so bad, was just cleared by the NCAA today and is fully qualified. How many five star receivers does MTSU have?
Damien Fletcher will be the best running back your team sees next year and Gerald Mcrath will be the best defensive player your team sees next year. They are both pre-season CUSA offensive and defensive players of the year.

[MiamiCajun32]

Sure, going back 10 to 15 years, USM has accomplished a tremendous amount and I don't see why they can't get back to that level of success in near future. However, the situation is what it is during the past two seasons, with sunbelt beating C-USA teams routinely and not just the bottom echelon C-USA teams. If mediocre Cajuns team two years ago can go to Houston and win, why not a hopefully better team win at USM this year? FAU blew out Memphis in bowl game last year. The year before, Troy blew out Rice in bowl.

14 points is just too high, unless you are going to put an all star team together from past 15 years and play it on a computer or something. We are talking about the '08 teams though and frankly, USM is not predicted to do very well this year. Neither are the Cajuns (although we fans have reason to hope for better :-). So if predictions are in ball park, then this is a matchup of middle of the pack C-USA v midde of the pack sunbelt. And the two conferences have played even over the past two years (actually, sunbelt may have winning record against C-USA over past two years, but not sure).

If Cajuns beat USM and lost to Midd Tenn I would not be surprised. Same goes for vice versa. MT is just an example. Same goes for FAU, Troy, Ark St., ULM. All these teams would go toe to to with USM this year, no matter what USM did in the past 15 years.

[MiamiCajun32]

_ A coaching change was made at USM because USM fans would not settle for 7 and 8 win seasons. Even so, USM has had 14 straight winning seasons and played in bowl games 10 out of the last 11 years. In the last
ten games against Sun Belt teams, USM is 10-0. Lets compare MTSU to those stats.
Also, USM had the number 37 recruiting class as ranked by Rivals last year. That was 20 spots ahead of the closest non-BCS team. As a matter of fact, DeAndre Brown, the five star receiver that LSU wanted so bad, was just cleared by the NCAA today and is fully qualified. How many five star receivers does MTSU have?
Damien Fletcher will be the best running back your team sees next year and Gerald Mcrath will be the best defensive player your team sees next year. They are both pre-season CUSA offensive and defensive players of the year. _

The best running back UL Cajuns see this year is in practice when TF runs the ball...

[cajun4life]

A coaching change was made at USM because USM fans would not settle for 7 and 8 win seasons. Even so, USM has had 14 straight winning seasons and played in bowl games 10 out of the last 11 years. In the last
ten games against Sun Belt teams, USM is 10-0. Lets compare MTSU to those stats.
Also, USM had the number 37 recruiting class as ranked by Rivals last year. That was 20 spots ahead of the closest non-BCS team. As a matter of fact, DeAndre Brown, the five star receiver that LSU wanted so bad, was just cleared by the NCAA today and is fully qualified. How many five star receivers does MTSU have?
Damien Fletcher will be the best running back your team sees next year and Gerald Mcrath will be the best defensive player your team sees next year. They are both pre-season CUSA offensive and defensive players of the year.

Didn't Fletcher tear his ACL? and his two primary back ups get dismissed from the team?

[SpreadEagle]

Didn't Fletcher tear his ACL? and his two primary back ups get dismissed from the team?

No. Fletcher has never had a serious injury. Here is an article on him that just ran in the Biloxi newspaper this summer......
You are correct on his two backups from last season. I feel really good about his backups this year though. We shall see how they work out this year.

http://www.sunherald.com/238/story/675666.html

[SpreadEagle]

Sure, going back 10 to 15 years, USM has accomplished a tremendous amount and I don't see why they can't get back to that level of success in near future. However, the situation is what it is during the past two seasons, with sunbelt beating C-USA teams routinely and not just the bottom echelon C-USA teams. If mediocre Cajuns team two years ago can go to Houston and win, why not a hopefully better team win at USM this year? FAU blew out Memphis in bowl game last year. The year before, Troy blew out Rice in bowl.

14 points is just too high, unless you are going to put an all star team together from past 15 years and play it on a computer or something. We are talking about the '08 teams though and frankly, USM is not predicted to do very well this year. Neither are the Cajuns (although we fans have reason to hope for better :-). So if predictions are in ball park, then this is a matchup of middle of the pack C-USA v midde of the pack sunbelt. And the two conferences have played even over the past two years (actually, sunbelt may have winning record against C-USA over past two years, but not sure).

If Cajuns beat USM and lost to Midd Tenn I would not be surprised. Same goes for vice versa. MT is just an example. Same goes for FAU, Troy, Ark St., ULM. All these teams would go toe to to with USM this year, no matter what USM did in the past 15 years.

You are correct in that USM football had fallen off in the last few years. Even still we beat the Sun Belt champs convincingly in the N.O. Bowl in 04 and 05.
USM fans saw Jeff Bower becoming complacent with winning seasons and bowl trips. That wasn't going to cut it in Hattiesburg. His replacement, Larry Fedora, is a ball of fire and has lit a fire under USM fans. It could take him this year to get his offense in, but when it clicks it will be very good. Fedora's job is to return USM football to championship football and even higher. I think he is the man to do it. ULL is playing him at the best time possible time, his first game. I expect a close game.

[MiamiCajun32]

_ You are correct in that USM football had fallen off in the last few years. Even still we beat the Sun Belt champs convincingly in the N.O. Bowl in 04 and 05.
USM fans saw Jeff Bower becoming complacent with winning seasons and bowl trips. That wasn't going to cut it in Hattiesburg. His replacement, Larry Fedora, is a ball of fire and has lit a fire under USM fans. It could take him this year to get his offense in, but when it clicks it will be very good. Fedora's job is to return USM football to championship football and even higher. I think he is the man to do it. ULL is playing him at the best time possible time, his first game. I expect a close game. _

I agree that even just two years ago even the 1st place sunbelt team could not really play competitely with USM, even though USM was not having its best years then (USM I know was not happy wth two NO bowls in a row). But if USM would have been to the last two NO bowls it would have been much more difficult to beat Troy '06 and FAU '07.

With that said, USM is the envy of all non BCS teams in the talent rich south. In my opinion, your program is stellar and I have always wondered why the Cajuns could not do the same all these years, or even come close. I actually went to UF for undergrad and I remember when USM came to town my senior year in '97. It was a close game and even though the gators were ranked #1 at the time, even the casual fans were aware of USM and that it would be great to just get out of that game with a W. I had never seen the Gators fans give a smaller program such respect going into an opening game like that. Sure enough it was a competitive 20-6 game and could have been a lot closer. Year after year, USM played toe to toe with the very best teams in the country. I hope you guys are able to get to that level again soon, as it is great for all the non BCS programs in the south, including Cajuns.

For this game, I think USM will win (although I think the Cajuns can win) and both teams will be improved from last year, but still have problems and have dissapointing seasons (6-7 wins for USM and 4-5 wins for Cajuns). I think USM will win by about a touchdown, so the 14 point spread is just out of line. I think the game will be close and even if it were out of hand, the Cajuns have enough offense to score enough to get within 14.

[MiamiCajun32]

_ You are correct in that USM football had fallen off in the last few years. Even still we beat the Sun Belt champs convincingly in the N.O. Bowl in 04 and 05.
USM fans saw Jeff Bower becoming complacent with winning seasons and bowl trips. That wasn't going to cut it in Hattiesburg. His replacement, Larry Fedora, is a ball of fire and has lit a fire under USM fans. It could take him this year to get his offense in, but when it clicks it will be very good. Fedora's job is to return USM football to championship football and even higher. I think he is the man to do it. ULL is playing him at the best time possible time, his first game. I expect a close game. _

I saw Fedora coach at UF. He is a hell of an offensive coach.

[SpreadEagle]

I saw Fedora coach UF. He is a hell of an offensive coach.

Thanks for your kind words in your two posts. USM fans are excited about Fedora. He is one fireball personality and it is contagious. Here is a video from a fan posted on youtube that kind of expresses how USM fans feel with Fedora coming in. We are proud to be hosting your Cajuns in his first game and also the first game in our newly expanded stadium...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suTsE...eature=related

[NewsCopy]

 Michael Desormeaux took a break from a voluntary offseason workout early last week, his body dripping with sweat. As his UL football teammates continued the drill behind him, the senior quarterback described all the work the Ragin' Cajuns have put in over the past few months preparing for the 2008 season.

"This summer has been really exciting for us," said the New Iberia native. "But we're ready to start playing."

While college football season starts in late August, the Cajuns will move one step closer to getting on the field today as players, coaches and media members arrive in New Orleans for the Sun Belt Conference Football Media Days.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • July 21, 2008

[DestinCajun]

You are correct in that USM football had fallen off in the last few years. Even still we beat the Sun Belt champs convincingly in the N.O. Bowl in 04 and 05.
USM fans saw Jeff Bower becoming complacent with winning seasons and bowl trips. That wasn't going to cut it in Hattiesburg. His replacement, Larry Fedora, is a ball of fire and has lit a fire under USM fans. It could take him this year to get his offense in, but when it clicks it will be very good. Fedora's job is to return USM football to championship football and even higher. I think he is the man to do it. ULL is playing him at the best time possible time, his first game. I expect a close game. _

I'm not driving up to Hattiesburg to see UL lose this game. For the first time in quite awhile, I expect the Cajuns to win there.

[Zeebart21]

2008 Preseason Sun Belt Poll
As voted on by the league's eight head coaches. First place votes in parentheses.

1. Florida Atlantic (6) 62
2. Troy (1) 51
3. Louisiana-Monroe (1) 46
4. Arkansas State 39
5. Middle Tennessee 32
6. Louisiana-Lafayette 26
7. North Texas 19
8. Florida International 13

[ManAboutTown]

Starters Returning: 12 (6 offense, 4 defense, 2 specialist)

Offensive Starters Lost: QB Jeremy Young, LG Chris Clark, RG Nick Dean, C Rick Thompson, FB Marcus Raines.

Offensive Starters Returning: RT Ryan McKee, TE Shawn Nelson, RB Damion Fletcher, LT Calvin Wilson, WR Gerald Baptiste, WR Ed Morgan.

Defensive Starters Lost: DE Matthew Chatelain, NT Sean Merrill, DT Martavius Prince, LB Robert Henderson, LB James Denley, DB LeVance Richmond, DB Brandon Sumrall.

Defensive Starters Returning: LB Tokumbo Abanikanda, DB C.J. Bailey, DB Eddie Hicks, MLB Gerald McRath.

Starting Specialists Lost: None

Starting Specialists Returning: P Britt Barefoot, K Justin Estes


2008 Southern Mississippi Football Overview

2008 saw the end of an era, as long time USM head coach Jeff Bower was forced out after 17 years at the Golden Eagles helm.

At the time of Bower’s resignation, only Penn State's Joe Paterno (42), Bobby Bowden (32) of Florida State and Virginia Tech's Frank Beamer (21) had longer tenures with their schools. Bower guided USM to 14 straight winning seasons, three outright Conference USA championships and one shared league title. He was named the conference's coach of the decade in 2004 and was coach of the year in 1997, 1999 and 2003.

Despite going to 10 bowls in the past 11 seasons, a faction of influential boosters decided the program had grown stale and it was time to make a change.

Replacing Bower is former Oklahoma State offensive coordinator Larry Fedora. The Cowboys were in the top 10 in rushing yards per game and in the top 20 in total offense per game in each of the last two seasons.

USM has been a consistent contender for the C-USA crown, so Fedora knows what is expected of him.

"Our goal is to compete for the conference championship, and it will be every year," Fedora said. "We are at a level where we ought to compete for the conference championship each and every season."

However, in the reality is that USM returns only six starters on offense and four on defense. The Golden Eagles will also be starting from scratch with new offensive and defensive philosophies, including a spread attack for an offense without any experienced quarterback candidates.

In other words, this may be the closest thing to a rebuilding year they have seen in Hattiesburg in a long time.


2008 Southern Miss Offense:

Overseeing USM’s switch to the spread is new offensive coordinator, Darrell Wyatt. He was a member of the Arizona Wildcats staff last season as the wide receivers/passing game coordinator coach. In his lone season, the Wildcats ranked No. 10 nationally in passing yards per game (308.5).

Either redshirt freshman Austin Davis and sophomore Martevious Young will start at QB. Neither was able to claim the job in the spring.

“They still have a lot of work to do,” said Wyatt. “That will wage through volunteer workouts and fall camp. Both guys had moments and I'm really impressed with both. They both have the ability to make off-schedule plays, make plays with their legs and throw with accuracy."

The ground game will be set with Junior RB Damion Fletcher. The juniorcarried 29 times for 155 yards in the Papajohns.com Bowl to finish the season with a single-season best 1,586 yards and 15 rushing scores. He has recorded a total of 16, 100 yard rushing games in his first two seasons at USM, along with seven multi-touchdown games on the ground and 26 career scores. Fletcher already ranks fourth on the school's all-time rushing list with 2,974 yards and needs just 622 yards to become the leader. The spread could open things up even more for Fletcher, and he could be poised to have a great year.

In addition to the Golden Eagles’ lack of an experienced quarterback, they also need to find a proven, consistent playmaker at receiver. Gerald Baptiste and Ed Morgan could fill the bill.

2008 Southern Miss Defense:

Defense has always been the cornerstone of USM’s success. However, this year the Golden Eagles return only four starters. This does not give new defensive coordinator Todd Bradford much to work with. However, the former Oklahoma State linebacker coach has a few pieces to build on.

Junior linebacker Gerald McRathis a preseason candidate for the Lombardi Award. McRath, the reigning Conference USA Defensive Player of the Year, led the Golden Eagles with 139 tackles last season to go along with 12 tackles for loss, 4.5 sacks, three passes broken up and one forced fumble. Last season, he tallied seven games in which he recorded 10 or more tackles including a career-best 21 at home against UCF.

There are no returning starters on the defensive line and the secondary is uncertain beyond junior FS Eddie Hicks.


2008 Southern Miss Special Teams

As with the other area of its team, USM has questions to resolve on special teams. Britt Barefoot is one of C-USA's best punters but PK Justin Estes has a lot to prove. The Golden Eagles enter the season looking for help in the return game.





Maybe we catch the Golden Eagles at the perfect time? Set the tone for a fresh start? It would be huge...

[CajunZ1]

I think that's a very accurate ranking for our team as far as preseason expectations are concerned. I would have a hard time arguing that we should get more respect than 6th at this point.

The success of our team this year hinges on our defense being better. MUCH better. Obviously, the pundits aren't convinced that we will be.

Here's to hoping we prove them wrong!