Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 2009 College Football Predictions, Picks & Odds: Nobody expected Coach Larry Fedora’s offense to be picked up too quickly at Southern Miss. Transitioning into the spread offense is never easy, especially in a program that was running such a different scheme. However, The Golden Eagles did an admirable job on offense and the pieces are back for this year’s team to be very capable offensively. Odds makers at Sportsbook.com have the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles 50-1 odds to win the BSC 2010 National Championship.
Quarterback Austin Davis did a superb job for a freshman, throwing for 3,128 yards and 23 touchdowns. However, it was his mere eight interceptions that surprised the most people. Davis’ ability to hang onto the ball gave Southern Miss one of the best turnover ratios in the nation and he should only be better with a year of experience under his belt. The same can be said for fellow sophomore DeAndre Brown. The 6-6 receiver caught 67 passes for 1,117 yards and 12 touchdowns. Add the experience of Gerald Baptiste to the mix and the Golden Eagles have plenty of receiving threats. However, it is not just the passing attack that will be impressive. Damion Fletcher is back for his senior season and he already holds the career rushing record at USM. Last season he tallied 1,347 yards on the ground and ten romps into the end zone.
The defense was not bad at all last year, ranking second in the conference in scoring defense. The unit gave up quite a few yards, but they would make it very difficult for anybody to get into the end zone. Eight starters are back, but two of the missing pieces are linebackers Gerald McRath and Tokumbo Abanikanda. Those two were the team’s top two tacklers and McRath left early for the NFL. Finding replacements for them in the middle of the field will be a tough task for defensive coordinator Todd Bradford.
The return game should be sound. Freddie Parham averaged 22.1 yards per kickoff return a year ago and Andre Watson ranked third in C-USA with a 7.7-yard punt return average. The kicking game must recover from the loss of Britt Barefoot, who handled both the placekicking and punting duties. Justin Estes is a placekicking candidate.
Bet on College Football Predictions this season at Sportsbook.com and receive a 100% WIN Bonus.
