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Wednesday, October 25
Southern Mississippi settles into role of winner

By Eric Crawford
Special to ESPN.com

Southern Mississippi coach Jeff Bower spent his team's off week taking a look at his younger talent, with several scrimmages for players who haven't seen much actual playing time this season.

Some in Conference USA might accuse him of looking for diamonds in the middle of a gold mine. And given Bower's track record, he probably found a few.

"We just teed it up and let them go. It was good," Bower said. "We taped it and looked at it and watched some of the guys do some things."


	Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower has the Golden Eagles in line for another bowl bid.

Bower didn't say whether anybody he looked at might provide immediate help, but in truth, the Golden Eagles don't need it.

Ranked No. 14 in the Bowl Championship series standings released earlier this week, they are poised for a run at their fourth C-USA title. But it won't be an easy run. At 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the conference, they will visit Houston this week, then finish with two at home and two on the road. They meet the two toughest teams, Louisville and East Carolina, at home and will visit UAB and upset-specialist Cincinnati.

The Eagles are 23-2 in C-USA play, and Bower says they have settled into their role as perpetual front-runner.

"I think in terms of getting ready to play and going out and playing with effort, we have accepted where we are," Bower said. "We know that we have bull's-eyes on our jerseys. Everybody is going to play as well as they can possibly play when they play us. Our team knows that because we as coaches certainly remind them enough."

Southern Miss appears to have everything in place to make a push for another Liberty Bowl appearance. It had the week to get healthy, with junior running back Derrick Nix the chief beneficiary. Bower has proclaimed Nix recovered from an ankle injury that kept him out of the Eagles' 56-24 victory against Tulane on Oct. 14.

In that game, Dawayne Woods stepped in for Nix and ran for a career-high 143 yards on 20 carries.

With the running game in good hands, the passing game continues to progress under new offensive coordinator Chris Klenakis and quarterbacks coach Paul Petrino. The new-look passing game has spread the wealth, with quarterback Jeff Kelly completing passes to five different receivers in five consecutive games until he found just four against Tulane.

Bower began the season with what looked like the most difficult start in the nation -- trips to Tennessee, Alabama and Oklahoma State. As the Volunteers and Crimson Tide have slid in the power ratings, however, so has Southern Mississippi's stock. They have slid from a top-10 ranking in most computer lists to 14th or 15th without losing a game, and its schedule, once ranked one of the top five nationally, was ranked 79th by the BCS system.

Bower's stated goal coming into the season was a top-eight finish, but he says he's not thinking about that now.

"I'm not concerned about it because I only worry about where we are going to be when it's over," Bower said. "I'm not going to get caught up in it."

Around the conference

Army
The wall is down. First-year coach Todd Berry's constant prediction that his winless team would eventually break through the wall that separated them from victory came true last week with a 21-17 victory against Tulane. ... The Black Knights did it behind a career effort from running back Michael Wallace, who rushed for 183 yards and two TDs. His first touchdown, a 95-yard run, stands as the second-longest run from scrimmage in Army history. A 24-yard run on fourth and 11 kept alive Army's game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. ... Senior quarterback Joe Gerena engineered the victory by completing 21 of 34 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown.

Cincinnati
The Bearcats renew a 112-year-old rivalry when they play host to Miami (Ohio) of the Mid-American Conference. They had an off week to regroup after a 38-24 loss to Louisville in which they were outscored 24-0 in the second half. ... Senior quarterback Deontey Kenner's status remains in question after he aggravated a torn abdominal muscle in the first half against Louisville. Kenner led the Bearcats to a 24-14 halftime lead, then couldn't continue. ... The game is C-USA's only regular-season meeting against a team from the MAC. The two conferences will compete in the Motor City Bowl in Detroit on Dec. 27.

East Carolina
The Pirates are back on the move after hanging on for a 28-25 victory at Louisville last Thursday. Quarterback David Garrard dominated the game in leading ECU to a 28-10 lead, then Louisville scored 15 consecutive points before coming up short on a final effort from the ECU 34. ... Pirates punter Kevin Miller earned C-USA special teams player of the week for a 66-yard punt that forced Louisville to start its final drive from its own 16-yard line. ... Miller averaged 45.6 yards on seven punts and pinned three inside the 20. ... ECU hosts UAB this week, trying to avenge a 36-17 upset loss that dropped the Pirates from the top 25 last season. The home team has won every game in the series.

Houston
Fresh off a triple-overtime upset of Memphis, the Cougars set their sights on the top of the league standings in Saturday's game against No. 14 Southern Miss. ... Linebacker Wayne Rogers had 15 tackles -- 12 solo and three for a loss -- in the Cougars 33-30 overtime victory last week. He had a pair of sacks and a pass defended as Houston held Memphis to 202 yards of total offense ... Houston is one of only two C-USA teams to beat the Golden Eagles in conference play. In 1996, Antowain Smith scored five TDs to lead Houston to a wild 56-49 victory that gave the Cougars the inaugural C-USA title. ... This week's game pits C-USA's top passing offense (Houston) against the conference's top passing defense (Southern Miss).

Louisville
Sophomore quarterback Dave Ragone, who missed the second half of last Thursday's loss to East Carolina with an injured right (nonthrowing) shoulder, has been cleared to return for Saturday's game against Memphis. ... The loss to ECU was Louisville's first of the season at home but continued a trend of second-half streaks for the Cardinals. They are outscoring opponents 131-52 after halftime this season and 39-7 in the past two games. ... Junior wide receiver Deion Branch has moved into the No. 4 spot nationally in receiving yards per game with 104. ... Senior wideout Arnold Jackson needs 23 catches to break the Division I-A all-time career record.

Memphis
The Tigers bowl hopes might be gone, so their bowl might come next Saturday after an off week. That's when state rival Tennessee visits the Liberty Bowl. Memphis nearly upset the Volunteers in Knoxville a year ago. ... The Tigers' past two C-USA losses have been by a total of seven points. ... While the Memphis defense remains one of the best in C-USA, the Tigers' offense has been the worst, averaging only 16.9 points and 246 yards per game.

Tulane
The Green Wave were talking bowl opportunities and a winning season before struggling for a one-point victory against Louisiana-Lafayette, then dropping back-to-back losses to Southern Miss and Army. ... The Army loss was Tulane's most disappointing of the season and dropped the Green Wave to 3-4 overall and 1-3 in C-USA. This week, they can be spoilers at Louisville. ... Green Wave coach Chris Scelfo says he'll stay with junior quarterback Patrick Ramsey, despite the also-impressive play of freshman J.P. Losman. Overall, Tulane ranks No. 2 in C-USA in pass offense at 304.6 yards per game. Both QBs rank in the top six in C-USA in total offense ... Ramsey needs only 80 yards to top the 5,000-yard mark for his career.

UAB
After a disappointing loss to Louisville in Birmingham three weeks ago, the Blazers have gotten back on the right track with back-to-back victories against Middle Tennessee and Memphis. They're still struggling offensively, however, scoring only 13.5 points in the two victories. ... They'll need more offense than that this week when they travel to revenge-minded East Carolina. ... Junior RB Jegil Dugger ranks second in C-USA in rushing with 89.7 yards per game. ... Junior transfer quarterback Jeff Aaron continues to settle in as the starter. He went 17 of 28 passing against Middle Tennessee.

Eric Crawford covers Conference USA for the (Louisville, Ky.) Courier-Journal.

ALSO SEE
ACC notebook

Mountain West notebook

Pac-10 notebook

WAC notebook

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