Golden Eagles entertain North Texas for homecoming

Published 5:12 pm Friday, October 11, 2019

HATTIESBURG — Expected an offensive explosion this Saturday when Southern Miss welcomes North Texas for homecoming at M.M. Roberts Stadium for an early season key Conference USA West Division contest.

Game time is set for 6 p.m., and can be seen via Stadium on Facebook as well as heard on one of the affiliates of the Southern Miss Sports Network from Learfield IMG College.

Two of the league’s top quarterbacks lock horns in the affair with Southern Miss junior Jack Abraham and Mean Green senior Mason Fine.

Abraham leads C-USA in passing average per game (303.0), passing efficiency (172.9) and total offense (306.2), while Fine ranks No. 4 in average yards passing per game (258.2), sixth in passing efficiency (137.0) and sixth in total offense (253.8).

Earlier this week, Abraham and Fine both garnered one of the 20 finalist spots for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm award and the North Texas signal caller also is a two-time all-league performer.

With both teams coming off an open week, the Mean Green rank first in the league in total offense (451.4), while the Golden Eagles are tied for fifth at 420.8.

This game enjoys a history of scoring with the winning team having scored at least 29 points in each of the last seven meetings, while the Golden Eagles look to snap a three-game losing streak to the Mean Green who hold 7-6 advantage in the series.

Southern Miss, though, plays well at home, having won its last seven contests at The Rock including a 31-13 win over UTEP two weeks ago. The Golden Eagles enter the game with a 3-2 overall record and 1-0 in C-USA play.

North Texas dropped a 46-25 decision at home to Houston in its last contest to hold a 2-3 mark and are 1-0 in league play.

The defenses for each team has also played with North Texas giving up 378.2 yards of total offense a contest, while the Golden Eagles surrender 390.2.

Prior to the game, former Southern Miss baseball student-athlete Adam Doleac will perform his country music stylings with a free concert in Spirit Park starting at 3 p.m.