Aug. 6, 2008

Conference USA: New era at Southern Miss promises more victories

By Brian De Los Santos | CBSSports.com Staff Writer

At the beginning of last season, we wrote glowingly of Southern Miss and coach Jeff Bower, who was entering his 17th season as the team's head coach -- making him the fourth longest-tenured active coach at one school in the nation.

But despite leading the Golden Eagles to their 14th consecutive winning season (albeit with a somewhat disappointing 7-6 record) and 10th bowl berth in 11 seasons, Bower is not back for an 18th year at the school.

Southern Miss' Larry Fedora: 'The thing that we're going to do is we're going to be explosive.' (AP)

He's one of three new coaches in Conference USA this season joining SMU's June Jones and Houston's Kevin Sumlin.

Fedora comes to Southern Miss via Oklahoma State, where he was the offensive coordinator the past three seasons.

In each of the past two years, the Cowboys averaged more than 30 points per game, ranked in the top 10 in the nation in rushing yards per game and were in the top 20 in total offense per game. In 2006, Oklahoma State was one of just two teams to average over 200 yards per game both rushing and passing.

Golden Eagles fans can expect a vastly different offense from the one run under Bower. While the running game has been a strength the past several seasons for Southern Miss, the passing attack didn't keep up and ranked second-worst in the conference last year.

"General George S. Patton said, 'Instead of waiting to see what might develop, attack constantly, vigorously, and viciously,'" Fedora said upon taking the job.

"Never let up, never stop, always attack. And that is what our program is going to be built on. We're going to spread the field. We're going to throw it around. Now that doesn't mean we're going to throw it every down. I've had a back go over 1,000 yards just about every year and I understand we have a great one (Damion Fletcher) here.

"The thing that we're going to do is we're going to be explosive. We're going to fatigue the defense, and we're going to put the ball in the playmakers hands and put some points on the board."

Offensive excitement is also expected at SMU, where Jones will install the run-and-shoot.

The Mustangs jumped at the chance to snag Jones after Hawaii dragged its heels locking him up with a contract extension.

Jones resurrected a Hawaii program that had managed a total of 12 wins in the five seasons prior to his arrival. In 1998, he took over a team that went winless the previous year and led them to a 9-4 record, the biggest turnaround in NCAA history. In his nine seasons in Honolulu, Jones led the Warriors to 76 victories, two Western Athletic Conference Championships and six bowl games.

He takes over a similarly downtrodden program at SMU, which went 1-11 last season and is seeking its first bowl berth since 1984.

"My goals for this team are not in numbers," said Jones, attempting to temper fan expectations for the 2009 season. "They're in learning how to win, learning how a winning team acts. Putting together those intangibles and learning how to handle those things."

In Houston, Sumlin becomes the first African-American head coach in school history, replacing Art Briles, who left for Baylor after five seasons at the helm.

Like Fedora and Jones, Sumlin also has an offensive background, serving as co-offensive coordinator the past two seasons at Oklahoma. The Sooners ranked third in the nation in scoring last season at 44 points per game.

"I think there's a special enthusiasm right now, because everything's new," Sumlin said. "We have three new systems, offense, defense and special teams so the guys are anxious to get going for two-a-days and that's usually not the case."

Of the three new coaches, Sumlin inherits the most experienced squad, returning six starters on offense and eight on defense to a team that just missed the C-USA Championship Game. And that followed a 2006 season in which the Cougars captured the conference title.

Offensive Player of the Year

Damion Fletcher, Southern Miss: Although Southern Miss plans to open up the passing game a bit more in 2008, coach Fedora promises it won't come at the expense of junior RB Fletcher, the conference's top returning rusher (1,586 yards, 15 TDs in 2007). Fletcher may have to carry much of the load early as the Golden Eagles adjust to their new spread offense and could prove to be a very strong receiving threat out of the backfield as well. Conference USA is teeming with offensive talent, especially at the wide receiver position where Rice's Jarrett Dillard, Memphis' duo of Duke Calhoun and Carlos Singleton and Tulsa's trio of Brennan Marion, Trae Johnson and Charles Clay are among the league's standouts.

Defensive Player of the Year

Phillip Hunt, Houston: The senior defensive end has been named to all the major defensive award watch lists (Lombardi, Nagurski, Hendrick, etc.). Last season, the 6-foot-2, 260 pound Hunt led the conference with 10.5 sacks and was second with 18 tackles for losses. He also forced two fumbles and had 10 pass breakups, which led the nation among defensive linemen. Other top defenders to watch include Southern Miss LB Gerald McRath, the reigning C-USA Defensive Player of the Year, and Marshall's Albert McClellan, who missed all of last season after taking top honors in 2006.

Predicted order of finish (East)

2. Memphis: The Tigers improved from 2-10 in 2006 to 7-6 in 2007 and, if they can find a quarterback, could prove a very dangerous team in 2008. Whoever wins the QB battle will have a bevy of tall and experienced receivers to work with, most notably 6-foot-4 junior Calhoun, who has caught a pass in 24 consecutive games and led the Tigers with 62 catches for 890 yards in 2007, and Singleton, a 6-8 junior who hauled in 11 TDs. The defense was middle of the road last season, but that was a young unit which should continue to develop with the return of nine starters.

3. East Carolina: Even with the loss of Chris Johnson to the NFL, the Pirates should continue to feature one of the most explosive offenses in C-USA. They ended 2007 scoring 30 or more points in six of their final seven C-USA games. The Pirates are led by a two-headed monster at QB with Rob Kass and Patrick Pinkney both returning. Whomever has the hot hand, that's who coach Skip Holtz puts in charge. Nine starters return to a defense that led the conference with 31 takeaways a season ago.

4. Southern Mississippi: Although fans may be excited about the promise of a more explosive offense than the one Bower ran all those years, expect some growing pains in 2008. The biggest concern is at quarterback where redshirt freshman Austin Davis and sophomore Martevious Young have thrown but one collegiate pass between them. Fortunately, Fedora has a proven commodity in the backfield, Fletcher, the conference's top returning rusher. The defense is also undergoing a major makeover and will feature only four returning starters, one of which is 2007 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year McRath, who led the conference with 139 tackles a season ago.

5. Marshall: The jump to C-USA so far has not been a successful one for the Thundering Herd, going 4-7, 5-6 and 3-9 since the move which coincided with Mark Snyder's arrival as head coach. But expectations are somewhat higher for the Herd faithful this season with the return of eight starters on both sides of the ball. Coaches think sophomore Darius Marshall could become one of the top running backs in C-USA, but haven't yet decided on a QB to hand him the ball. On defense, the Herd welcome back DE McClellan, who missed all of last season with a knee injury. McClellan was the 2006 C-USA Defensive Player of the Year.

6. UAB: It could be another ugly season for the Blazers, who, despite the return of eight starters on offense and nine on defense, remain a very young, sophomore- and junior-laden squad. The Blazers know they need to get more physical as running the ball on offense (104th in the nation in 2007) and stopping the run on defense (119th -- dead last) were especially troublesome last season. Coach Neil Callaway hopes that moving Joe Webb to QB on a permanent basis -- he also saw action at wide receiver in 2007 -- will help lead to more consistency on offense.

Predicted order of finish (West)

1. Tulsa: The offense returns nine starters to a unit that led the nation with an average of 543.9 yards per game, but how much will All-Conference QB Paul Smith be missed? Whoever takes command under center –- and senior David Johnson is the favorite -– will have several weapons at his disposal. Marion, Trae Johnson and Clay all finished last season with over 1,000 yards receiving with Marion setting an NCAA record with an average of 31.9 yards per catch. A defense which surrendered an average 452 yards of 33 points per game last season will feature at least six new starters in 2008.

2. Houston: New offensive coordinator Dana Holgorsen has installed a pass-happy spread offense, but the QB battle is on-going. Last season, Case Keenum, C-USA Freshman of the Year in 2007, and Blake Joseph split snaps, but coach Sumlin would prefer to name a full-time starter. Defensively, Houston looks to be in good shape returning eight starters -- including all four in the secondary -- to one of the league's stingier units. Senior DE Hunt is on the Lombardi Award preseason watch list after recording a conference high 10.5 sacks last season.

3. UTEP: After the Miners finished with the 117th ranked defense in the nation last season, coach Mike Price brought in New Mexico's Osia Lewis who has installed a 3-3-5 scheme for the Miners. Lewis' Lobos defense ranked 14th in 2007. At the very least, Lewis has an experienced unit to work with as it returns seven starters (SS Braxton Amy will miss the season due to a knee injury). If sophomore QB Trevor Vittatoe continues to make strides, the offense could be potent and has a nice weapon in WR Jeff Moturi (13 TD catches in 2007). Kicker Jose Martinez is one of the best in the nation. He was one of three finalists for the Lou Groza award last year.

4. Rice: With QB Chase Clement and WR Dillard, the offense is explosive, setting nearly 40 school records in 2007. And in addition to Clement and Dillard, six other starters return on offense. Dillard currently ranks eighth all time with 40 TD catches and needs 11 more to set the NCAA record. Unfortunately for the Owls, the defense has been abysmal and was the worst in C-USA in 2007 giving up an average of 511 yards and 43 points per game.

5. SMU: Entering 2007, there was talk of SMU reaching its first bowl game in 23 seasons. Instead the Mustangs finished 1-11 leading to the dismissal of coach Phil Bennett and the hiring of Jones away from Hawaii. Receiver Emmanuel Sanders could have breakout season in Jones' offense, but the most important position in Jones' run-and-shoot scheme -– quarterback –- is undetermined with the most experienced options, junior Justin Willis and sophomore Zack Rhodes, missing spring ball due to suspensions. The defense ranked as one of the worst in the conference in 2007 and will be young and inexperienced in 2008 returning only five starters.

6. Tulane: Last season, the Green Wave could only manage a 4-8 record with Matt Forte, the nation's second-leading rusher. That doesn't bode well for this upcoming season without him. Andre' Anderson will attempt to fill Forte's big shoes in the backfield, but if the passing attack doesn't show signs of life, Tulane will be in for another long season. The defense returns seven starters after mixed results in 2007. The unit ranked first in the conference against the rush, but was second worst against the pass.