Somehow, some way, Golden Eagles find way to come back for win By Tim Doherty [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Forget any probing answers to the inevitable questions about starting quarterbacks or Jekyll-and-Hyde defenses or Crimson Tides.
And forgive the shrug-of-the shoulder postgame Saturday night.
In all likelihood, Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower still is trying to figure out how his Golden Eagles pulled off a 22-20 Conference USA victory at Cincinnati. Either that, or trying to decide whether to treat his team to a group hug or a big whap upside its collective helmet.
"Good football teams, teams that believe they are going to find a way to win, find a way to win," Bower said not long after Darren McCaleb's game-winning field goal had wobbled through the uprights for the winning points.
But after watching the first 17:26 of the game at Nippert Stadium, any who believed USM had the wherewithal to beat the Bearcats have to be card-carrying members of the Optimist Hall of Fame.
Early on, the Golden Eagles, 3-2, looked worse than bad.
Consider:
About the only positive thing USM's defense managed on three of the first four times the Bearcats had the ball was to force field goals instead of touchdowns.
At the time, when UC was outgaining USM 148 yards to 6 yards, that didn't seem to matter. It would.
USM's offense was having an even tougher go than its defense over that stretch.
Damion Carter looked every bit the freshman in his first ever start. In his four series, USM did not record a first down, netting six yards, total, including zero yards rushing.
Carter's first pass of the evening turned into Cincinnati's first touchdown as Daven Holly intercepted Carter's gift and returned it for a 10-0 lead.
USM's special teams refused to be left out, with McCaleb shanking an extra point and a holding call bringing back a John Eubanks' kickoff return to midfield.
" ... We weren't looking very good and things weren't going well on either side of the ball," Bower said.
But five big plays by USM brought the Golden Eagles back:
Michael Boley's sack-and-strip of Gino Guidugli set up USM's first score, a 3-yard pass from Carter to Anthony Harris.
Eubanks' then supplied the shifter, a 94-yard kickoff return after Cincinnati had taken a 20-6 lead.
Reserve running back Sherron Moore ripped off a 33-yard run to spark a 48-yard drive that resulted in McCaleb's first field goal.
Dustin Almond, who replaced Carter, hit Marvin Young on a 49-yard play to set up McCaleb's second boot.
After a holding penalty wiped out a UC first-and-goal at USM's 1, Chet Ervin missed a 44-yard field goal attempt.
Almond converted three, third-down plays — USM's only such conversions of the game — to set up McCaleb's winner. Trevis Coley's pick sealed the win.
So, despite a season-low 200 yards total offense, the Golden Eagles walked off the field a winner.
"We had their number," Holly said. "They couldn't do much ... They made a few plays here and there, and those were the ones that made the difference."
http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0310/06/usm01.html
ROLL TIDE!! Rick
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