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Golden Eagles take on Blue Raiders in New Orleans Bowl

Sun 20th, December 2009

New Orleans, LA (Sports Network) - The 2009 New Orleans Bowl features the first-ever meeting between the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles and the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders on the gridiron.

The Golden Eagles are making their second straight and fourth overall appearance in the New Orleans Bowl, where they are a perfect 3-0, including a 30-27 overtime triumph over Troy last season. Overall, USM is appearing in a bowl game for the eighth straight time and they are 9-8 all-time in postseason action. The Golden Eagles earned their spot in this game with a 7-5 showing during the regular season, although they did lose to East Carolina (25-20) in their regular-season finale in a bout that was for a spot in the Conference USA championship game.

As for the Blue Raiders, they are making just their second bowl appearance at the FBS level and their first since losing to Central Michigan in the 2006 Motor City Bowl. MT placed second in the Sun Belt with a 7-1 finish and went a stellar 9-3 during the regular season. The nine regular-season victories are the program's most since 1992, and the Raiders are currently ridding a six- game winning streak which ranks as the sixth longest in the nation.

Despite losing star quarterback Austin Davis to injury midway through the campaign, the Golden Eagles were still able to churn out more than 5,000 total yards of offense for the third straight season. Martevious Young stepped in after Davis went down and he turned out to be a pleasant surprise. The redshirt junior threw 13 touchdowns against only one interception and hasn't been picked off since a victory over Memphis on October 17th. He is also effective with his legs, rushing for 270 yards.

DeAndre Brown is his main target and the 2008 New Orleans Bowl was the scene of a devastating injury he suffered. As one of the nation's top freshman in 2008, Brown suffered a broken left leg in the New Orleans Bowl and missed all of spring practice and the this year's opener while recovering. It appears Brown has regained his form however, as he has gone over 100 yards in two straight games and has scored five touchdowns over his last five outings.

In the backfield, veteran Damion Fletcher is set to conclude his career at USM, where he has set numerous records. He has rushed for 937 yards and eight scores this season and is just 63 yards shy of becoming the ninth player in FBS history to record four 1,000-yard campaigns.

Defensively, the Eagles are strong up front and they have done a nice job in registering 33 sacks on the campaign. The unit also ranks 22nd nationally in tackles for loss, averaging 6.9 per game. Linebackers Korey Williams (112 stops) and Ronnie Thornton (107 tackles) are the team's top overall tacklers and they have also combined for 18.5 TFLs. Williams has 6.5 sacks to his credit and ranks second to Cordarro Law, who tops the roster with 7.5 and 13.5 TFLs.

The weakness of this defense comes in the secondary, where the Eagles are allowing 265.6 ypg through the air. The unit has recorded 12 interceptions to help compensate a little for those yards allowed, but this group will surely be tested by MT. Free safety Eddie Hicks is a veteran leader of the secondary and has 13 career interceptions, including five this season.

For the Raiders, it all starts with quarterback Dwight Dasher, who ranks ninth nationally in total offense. The versatile gunslinger can get the job done in a variety of ways and he has thrown for 2,627 yards and 21 touchdowns, in addition to leading to the team with 953 yards and 11 scores on the ground. Those are certainly impressive numbers, but Dasher can be rattled and that is evident in the 14 interceptions he has thrown.

Spreading out the ball has been a strength of Dasher and the trio of Chris McClover (486 yards), Patrick Honeycutt (36 catches, 411 yards) and Garrett Andrews (479 yards) are his primary targets.

D.D. Kyles ranks second to Dasher with 822 rushing yards and he is averaging an electric 6.5 yards per carry. As a team, MT is managing 181.2 ypg on the ground and 4.6 yards per carry.

On defense, the Raiders have done an outstanding job of making big plays, as they have notched 31 turnovers, including 17 interceptions. Those picks can be attributed to constant pressure, which has resulted in 38 sacks for the squad. Chris McCoy is one of several players to have a breakthrough campaign and the end has posted 59 stops and a team-high seven sacks. The 2009 SBC Defensive Player of the Year also ranks sixth nationally with 20 TFLs.

Linebackers Cam Robinson and Danny Carmichael are two other players worth noting. Robinson leads the team in tackles with 104 and he also has 13 TFLs and five sacks to his credit. Carmichael checks in with 87 stops, 12.5 TFLs and 6.5 sacks, while also ranking third in the nation with six forced fumbles.

The secondary has allowed just 13 touchdowns through the air this season and corner Marcus Udell has recorded a team-high seven interceptions, which is tied for fourth in the nation and one off the school record.