Southern Miss looking for a few good men

Southern Miss was 0-12 last year, so open tryouts may not be a terrible idea.

Think you have what it takes to play division one college football bu could never land a scholarship? Southern Miss may have the opportunity for you.

Southern Mississippi, the 2011 Conference USA champions who are coming off an unfathomable 0-12 season in 2012, will hold open tryouts next Wednesday, February 6. Of course, this is also National Signing Day, which might lead some to think head coach Todd Monken is struggling to put together a decent recruiting class in his first year on the job. … Continue Reading

Detmer Award Ballot: One last time to praise Kellen Moore

The final weekly ballot

With the conclusion of the regular season in college football (Army-Navy Game not included), we have one last ballot to cast for the Detmer Award, organized by our friends over at Saturday Blitz. The top five candidates will be formally announced later this week and all voting members will be asked to cast one final vote but if I had to take a guess as to who will be on that last ballot, I would guess a few players on my final weekly ballot will make an appearance.

1. QB Kellen Moore, Boise State

To me, Kellen Moore is the favorite for the Detmer Award. In his final regular season game Moore did what Moore does best, and that is slice and dice weak defenses to near perfection. Moore completed 28 of his 33 passes for 313 yards and three touchdowns and he once again avoided throwing an interception. At the time Boise State still felt as though they might be heading to the BCS with a little help round the country, but the BCS had other plans. So we won’t get to see Moore and Boise State on the big stage one more time against one of the big boys of college football (Michigan, I’m looking at you). It would have been the best way to see Moore’s collegiate career come to an end, win or lose. Instead Boise State will take on Arizona State in the MAACO Bowl Las Vegas.

2. QB Chandler Harnish, Northern Illinois

It took a while for Chandler Harnish to settle down under center for Northern Illinois in the MAC Championship Game Friday night, but once he found a rhythm the Ohio Bobcats found him difficult to stop, as many MAC opponents have learned this season. Harnish didn’t have a huge day running the football, with 31 yards on 13 attempts, but he was effective throwing the football, going 16 for 26 and 250 yards and three touchdowns. Harnish completed two touchdown passes in the final half of the fourth quarter to rally the Huskies to the MAC Championship. Next up is a match-up with the Sun Belt champions, Arkansas State, in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. Should be fun to watch.

3. WR Tracy Lampley, Southern Mississippi

Southern Mississippi played tough and pulled out a Conference USA championship on the road against a team looking to go to the BCS as the conference’s first BCS-representative. Wide receiver Tracy Lampley played a key role in the winning effort. He had six catches for 125 yards and two touchdowns, essentially half of the passing offense for the Golden Eagles on Saturday. His early second quarter touchdown gave Southern Mississippi a 14-0 lead and his 61-yard touchdown reception may have served as the final nail in the coffin for Houston, giving Southern Miss a commanding 42-21 lead late in the third quarter. The 125 receiving yards was  a season and career high for Lampley.

4. RB Ronnie Hillman, San Diego State

San Diego State running back Ronnie Hillman put together one more fine outing on the ground for the Aztecs, rushing for 178 yards and four touchdowns in a 35-28 win against Fresno State. His two-yard run with just over a minute left in the game gave the Aztecs the touchdown lead, after his two third-quarter touchdown runs brought San Diego State back from a 21-14 deficit to take their first lead of the game. Hillman now heads to New Orleans for shot to shine in the Superdome against Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl.

5. QB Riley Nelson, BYU

We’ll give a nod of approval to BYU quarterback Riley Nelson, who completed 25 of 37 pass attempts at Hawaii and recorded 363 yards and three touchdowns as the Cougars prevented Hawaii from becoming bowl eligible. Nelson did not play in BYU’s previous game, against New Mexico State, after cracking a rib against Idaho the week before. Safe to say he was feeling good on the big island this weekend. BYU and Nelson will take on Tulsa in the Armed Forces Bowl next.

No Case Keenum?

Not this week. Case Keenum put up the usual gaudy passing numbers with 41 completions for 373 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but he also threw two interceptions in Houston’s home loss in the Conference USA Championship Game. While Keenum is left off my final weekly ballot, I feel confident in saying he will be one of the top five candidates for the Detmer Award, and I cannot say I would not vote for him as a result of his final (regular season) game at Houston. He is clearly a deservng player.

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Crystal Ball Run Podcast: Championship Week Preview

With Michael Felder

Today I took on the responsibility of putting together The Crystal Ball Run Podcast to recap the weekend’s action and take a look to the conference championship games that are all set up. To do so I was joined by my co-staff writer on The Crystal Ball Run Michael Felder, of In The Bleachers. Together we take a look at LSU vs. Georgia in the SEC championship, Wisconsin vs. Michigan State in the Big Ten championship, Oregon vs. UCLA in the Pac 12 championship, Virginia Tech vs. Clemson in the ACC championship and Houston vs. Southern Mississippi in the Conference USA championship. In addition we touch on this weekend’s Bedlam game, which serves as the Big 12 championship game between Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, Urban Meyer and his new job at Ohio State.

We will have more on these championship games this week on The Crystal Ball Run as well as right here on this site. Be sure to check them out.

The Crystal Ball Run Podcast is available on Podomatic but I’ll be feeding any episodes I am a part of on the No 2-Minute Warning Podcast feed to get it out there.

Have a listen to the podcast below, then make sure you are subscribed to the No 2-Minute Warning Podcast on iTunes, and follow the show on Get Glue! Follow Felder on Twitter (follow me too). And don’t forget, this podcast can be heard at anytime on Stitcher Radio (and click here for a promo code to get started and a chance to win $100)!

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Episode 077: Memphis mess

Ryan Hancock from Southern Pigskin

Can Memphis turn things around? Uncredited photo.

We have talked a little bit about some of the better football programs in Conference USA this week, but what about the Memphis Tigers? I know, you probably forgot that Memphis played football. Well, technically they have not.

The Tigers have won a total of three games over the past two years and have gone down in total wins each of the last four seasons. Did Memphis peak in the early 2000′s, reaching three straight bowl games and winning two? Is it possible that Memphis can get back on a winning track any time soon?

Ryan Hancock from Southern Pigskin checks in to sound off on his home-town program’s futility and what it will take to turn things around.

You would think that putting together a winning program where Memphis is located would not be too difficult. The Tigers are right in SEC country so there is plenty of talent to choose from, but competing in the same state as two SEC programs (Tennessee and Vanderbilt) makes it a little more difficult. Memphis also has to battle Middle Tennessee State from the Sun Belt Conference as well in the state, and they tend to win some games every now and then compared to Memphis.

The Tigers may be a basketball school, but what kind of blame can be put on the school for not putting in the resources to produce wins in football? Hancock offers his take in this podcast.

Have a listen to the podcast below, then make sure you are subscribed in iTunes, and following the show on Get Glue! Follow Hancock on Twitter (follow me too). And don’t forget, this podcast can be heard at anytime on Stitcher Radio!

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Bowl Predictions – Beef O'Brady's Bowl

Overall: 3-0

I got off to a good start in predicting bowl games over the weekend, going 3-0 on the first day of the bowl season. Now things start to get a little trickier, I believe. Troy, Northern Illinois and BYU all scored sound bowl victories against their opponents. Each won by a minimum of 23 points. Talk about some yawners. This week the games become more exclusive with one game per night this week. Today we start with the Beef O’Brady’s Bowl between Louisville and Southern Mississippi, which we took a peak at yesterday on the podcast with Mark Ennis from The Collision Course.

Southern Miss (8-4) vs. Louisville (6-6)

Preview

I knew from the minute I got a chance to talk to new Louisville head coach Charlie Strong that Cardinals fans were in for a special season. Why? Because I could see the disgust in his face when talking to reporters about being picked last in the Big East. The man looked visibly sick to his stomach just thinking about being picked to finish on the bottom of the conference. Now, maybe Louisville wasn’t a team to beat in the Big East (clearly they were not) but in this conference why not Louisville? The Cardinals are heading in the right direction and I have a feeling they finish the season on a winning note.

But beating Southern Miss will not be easy. The Golden Eagles have the kind of offense that could cause Louisville some problems. The Cardinals cannot afford to get in to a shootout with their old conference rivals because they do not appear to have the fire power capable of keeping up. Now, the running game is completely different. I’m looking for Bilal Powell to get going early and take over the school record for rushing yardage in a single season before the game is over.

I’m going with Louisville to pick up a bowl win for the Big East. What about you?

Previous Picks

• New Orleans Bowl, New Mexico Bowl, Humanitarian Bowl