Southern Miss will square off with Big East foe Louisville in St. Pete

Golden Eagles get shot at ninth win versus former CUSA member

Following back-to-back 7-6 campaigns in Larry Fedora's first two seasons in Hattiesburg, Southern Miss has already secured eight wins this year.

Now, after consecutive trips to the New Orleans Bowl, the Golden Eagles find themselves in Florida with an opportunity to collect a win over a BCS foe in former CUSA rival Louisville.
They failed to win the East Division, but finished strong after a couple of disappointing mid-season home losses to East Carolina and UAB. Before dropping a heartbreaker in the season finale' at Tulsa, USM took down East champ UCF in Orlando.

Louisville (6-6) made significant strides, especially defensively, under first-year coach Charlie Strong. The former Florida defensive coordinator guided the Cardinals to their first postseason berth since the 2006 campaign. Five of their six losses came by eight points or less. UL allowed just 18.7 points and just over 300 yards per game. A relatively balanced offense attack was led by senior running back Bilal Powell. Powell's breakthrough year featured him rushing for 1,330 yards and ten touchdowns.

Southern Miss' success was founded more on its offense. Despite minimal contributions from star wideout DeAndre Brown, the Golden Eagles put up nearly 38 points per contest behind veteran signal-caller Austin Davis. Davis threw for nearly 2,900 yards and 18 touchdowns while also rushing for more than 400 yards and ten scores. They produce nearly 460 yards and more than 200 on the ground.

Davis' top targets were Johdrick Morris and Kelvin Bolden, each of whom caught more than 40 passes for over 600 yards.

Despite its strong defensive improvement, Louisville struggled to slow down Cincinnati. The Bearcats employ an offense that resembles the attack used by Southern Miss.

The Golden Eagles captured a win over Central Florida and the Knights' formula for success was similar to that of Louisville in that they possessed a strong defense and potent rushing attack.

Therefore, don't be surprised if the first bowl game matching a BCS team against a non-BCS opponent concludes with the non-AQ team coming out on top.