Southern Miss Football: Golden Eagles to remain steady in 2018
Offense
Southern Miss has historically been a well-balanced machine that plays good offense and defense and manages to pull out close victories to keep the Hattiesburg faithful in their seats. Southern Miss has had a legendary quarterback in Brett Favre who overshadows the rest, but Austin Davis and Dustin Almond both won football games and set records at USM.
Kwadra Griggs is shown flashes of brilliance when healthy. In 2017, Griggs threw 16 touchdowns with only two interceptions. However, he completed only 55.8 percent of his passes and averaged 7.1 yards per attempt. If Griggs can stay healthy, Southern Miss could be effective. He’s joined by part-time starter Keon Howard and JUCO transfer Jack Abraham in their meeting room.
Supporting Cast
With running back Ito Smith and wide receiver Korey Robertson both gone, the Golden Eagles have to find whoever is the starting quarterback a supporting cast. Three seniors will have a crack to replace Smith’s 1,415 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns from scrimmage. Tez Parks, George Payne and T’Rod Daniels all have a strength and could wind up in a ‘hot hand’ situation in the backfield. Parks is an elite returner while Daniels averaged 7.6 yards per carry in limited duty. Payne sat out 2017 with an injury but has averaged 4.1 yards per carry over his career.
An explosive group of young receivers will hope to emerge as more of a consistent threat for Hopson’s program. Jaylong Adams averaged 27.4 yards per catch but on only eight receptions in 2017. He’s joined by Tim Jones and his 24.2 yards per catch and Quez Watkin’s 14.7 yards per catch and two touchdowns. JUCO transfer Neil McLaurin will convert from quarterback to wide receiver for the Eagles.
The offensive line could prove to be USM’s strength. The line returns Arvin Fletcher, Drake Dorbeck and Ty Pollard. They’ll be joined by a few new faces that could challenged for playing time in JUCO transfer Tairek Johnson and three-star freshman center Trace Clopton.