Swagger returns to USM

By AL JONES
BIRMINGHAM

Was it the return of senior quarterback Jeremy Young to the lineup or the fact that Alabama-Birmingham is a very bad football team?

No matter which one it was, things got ugly early when Southern Miss invaded Legion Field on Saturday and beat the Blazers 37-7.

It was, however, the perfect remedy for a struggling football team that still has plenty to play for in the final three weeks. The Golden Eagles, now 5-4 and 4-2 in Conference USA, are one win away from a 14th consecutive non-losing season and a school record fifth straight bowl game.

After last Sunday's 34-17 home loss to Central Florida, things looked bleak for the Golden Eagles. A day later, USM coach Jeff Bower, during his weekly news conference, said the Golden Eagles won the final four games last season to win the East Division.

With that in mind, Southern Miss responded by dominating both sides of the football. The Golden Eagles jumped on the Blazers with 17 points in the first 19 minutes and added 13 more in the final 11 minutes of the first half to take a 30-0 lead at halftime and never looked back.

The 30 first-half points were the most the Golden Eagles scored in a half this year while the defense held an opponent scoreless for the first 30 minutes for the second time, including the SMU game.

On defense, Southern Miss held the Blazers offense to 95 first half yards and five first downs, four of which came in the second quarter.

The defense also forced two turnovers and the Southern Miss offense responded with 10 points off the miscues, including a 36-yard touchdown pass from Young to Ed Morgan.

When it came to short yardage situations, Southern Miss pushed the Blazers offense around like a punching bag.

Facing a third and one on two occasions in the first half, the Blazers lost yardage and were forced to punt. Toss in the Blazers didn't cross midfield until the seven minute mark of the second quarter and UAB never earned any respect from the Golden Eagles.

For one game, the swagger was back for a team that when mixing a little talent with a lot of emotion can be pretty good.

When the dust settled on the first 30 minutes, Southern Miss had rolled up 252 total yards and Young guided the offense to points on six of eight possessions.

Was it Young's spark or a very bad UAB football team?

Both.

Al Jones can be reached at 896-2351 or at afjones@sunherald.com