Behind big special teams plays from Tracy Lampley and Freddie Parham, Southern Miss proved to be too much for the visiting Memphis Tigers on Saturday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium. After it was all said and done the Golden Eagles took the victory 36-16.
Once again, Martavious Young did a great job managing the offense. Young threw his first touchdown pass of his college career in the third quarter to DeAndre Brown. It will be nice to a see a few plays with Quentin Pierce, Leroy Banks and Brown on the field at the same time. Combing with the threat that Damion Fletcher or Tori Harrison brings to the table, defenses would have fits with this package.
The defense still needs to put more pressure on the quarterback and needs to make tackles. Memphis was just a bad team. The same performance against a higher-caliber team could result in a ugly day.
The kick return game was fantastic. Lampley finally took a return back for a touchdown in the third quarter and Parham took a kick off back 78 yards, which led to a Southern Miss TD. On a negative note, there were two failed extra points (block and botched snap).
Injury Updates
Defensive back Michael Magee is listed as doubtful for this week's game against the Tulane Green Wave. Magee injured his knee against Memphis and will have an MRI early this week.
Tulane Green Wave
Due to Conference USA scheduling, Southern Miss and Tulane have not played since 2006. Hard to believe considering the teams are roughly 100 miles apart. Tulane will bring a new starting quarterback, a solid running game and a sound defense that will test USM early. The Golden Eagles should have no problem securing a homecoming victory, but need to take this game seriously and not look ahead to next week's game at Houston. To paraphrase Coach Fedora, "We need to be 1-0 next week."
Southern Miss 38
Tulane 17
