Southern Mississippi Golden Eagels @ Tulsa Golden Hurricane Football Preview

This is the biggest potential big game of week 13, if that means anything to you. Welcome to the cluttered and confused but always interesting world of Conference USA.

Two teams whose Conference USA title game hopes are not in their own hands will square off on Friday in what amounts to an elimination game. When Southern Miss travels to Oklahoma to take on the Tulsa Golden Hurricane, a moment of significance will arrive… but with conditions attached.  Both Southern Miss and Tulsa need a win Friday and a loss by either UCF, in the case of Southern Miss, or Southern Methodist (for Tulsa’s sake) to claim their respective C-USA division titles and advance to the C-USA Championship Game on Saturday, Dec. 4.  

The casual observer might look at this and conclude that it’s a classic offense versus defense matchup, with the key being whether the Golden Eagles’ defense can stifle the Golden Hurricane’s high-powered attack.  Such a conclusion would be dead wrong, as Southern Miss enters Friday’s contest at fourth in C-USA in terms of scoring offense, averaging 36.5 points per game. USM also rates third in total offense, piling up 448.6 yards per game.  The last time coach Larry Fedora’s squad was held to fewer than 40 points was in the team’s best all-around game of the season, a 31-21 upset of (then-) 25th-ranked UCF.  

Golden Eagle signal caller Austin Davis, a former walk-on, has emerged as one of the top playmakers in C-USA, throwing 16 touchdown passes and running for another 10 touchdowns.  The most impressive thing about Davis is that he has thrown only five interceptions all season and has been picked off a mere two times since a 13-12 win over Louisiana Tech on Sept. 25.  Don’t blame Davis if he’s chomping at the bit to face a Tulsa pass defense that is among the worst in the nation, having conceded 28 touchdown passes and giving up an average of 299.7 passing yards per game.

Tulsa will counter with a playmaking quarterback of its own, junior G.J. Kinne, who has completed 235 of 392 passes for 2,901 yards and 24 touchdowns with only eight interceptions.  Kinne has also proven to be a surprisingly capable runner, scoring five rushing touchdowns and racking up 509 yards on 131 attempts.  As good as Kinne has been this season, it is junior wideout Damaris Johnson that is the Golden Hurricane’s big play guy, accounting for 1,697 total receiving and return yards this season to go along three scoring receptions and both a kickoff and punt return for a touchdown.

This game is a test of nerves for two teams who have shown themselves to be utterly capable of both brilliance and sloppiness. The steadier hand at quarterback will do much to shape this game, and the team that displays more composure will ultimately pull through at Chapman Stadium.