Southern Miss football is set to open its season this weekend against Liberty.
The Flames are by no means an easy season opener and have had a successful three years under Southern Miss grad Hugh Freeze, who is 26-11 while leading the program.
“They are a confident team,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. “They are supposed to be one of the best Group of Five teams in America and have been that the last few years. It’ll be one of the bigger challenges we face and could be the best team we play all year, and by record, the last few years they are.”
Here are the top four things to know heading into this year’s season opener.
Recapping Liberty’s 2021 season
Liberty has won three straight bowls games under Freeze. Last season, expectations were high for Liberty after finishing 2020 10-1 and being ranked as high as No. 17 in the national rankings.
The 2021 season was still a success as the Flames finished 8-5 but fell short of the high expectations with the amount of returning talent.
Under former starting quarterback Malik Willis, who was drafted in the NFL Draft, Liberty averaged 255 yards per game, ran for 181 yards, and averaged a total of 436 yards of total offense.
Defensively, Liberty held teams to 320 yards of total offense and held teams to an average of 21.5 points per game.
Liberty lost a great deal of talent but also got busy in the transfer portal. At running back, Liberty snagged Hawaii transfer Dae Dae Hunter, who ran for 650 yards. Liberty also added Campbell transfer Caleb Snead. Snead was an FCS All-American wide receiver who hauled in 73 catches for 1,067 yards and 10 touchdowns.
The Flames also added two transfers to the offensive line that include Colorado State transfer Cam Reddy and Western Kentucky transfer Nassir Watkins.
CHARLIE BREWER
Perhaps the biggest addition to Liberty’s offense is proven veteran Charlie Brewer.
Brewer has five seasons under him, including stints at Baylor and Utah. The Bulk of Brewer’s success came at Baylor, where he posted 11,000 yards of total offense and accounted for 87 touchdowns. Brewer helped lead the Bears to the 2019 Big 12 Conference Championship game and then the Sugar Bowl in 2020.
“He’s a really accurate passer,” Hall said. “He has won. He has seen a lot of football, which I think is an advantage. He has played at Baylor and Utah and played for some really good coordinators. He has seen a lot of different ways of doing things. He has played at a really high level and won. I think he is a young man that has seen it all. He’s a dynamic thrower and really accurate.”
USM’S POTENTIAL BREAKOUT STARS
Like Liberty, Southern Miss was also busy in the transfer portal.
Two of USM’s biggest breakout players are linebacker Daylin Gill and running back Janari Dean.
Gill, who is a transfer from Ole Miss, has impressed all throughout fall camp and looks to be an immediate impact on an already deep linebacker corps.
Dean, who is a transfer from Mississippi State, was named as the Golden Eagles’ No. 2 running back by Hall on Tuesday. Dean complements starter Frank Gore Jr., but Hall did point out on Tuesday that the backfield is plenty deep with Chandler Pittman, Antavious Willis and Dajon Richard.
Another name to watch for is Jakarious Caston. Caston has also shined throughout fall camp and has been pegged by Hall to be the team’s big breakout player of the season. Caston had 13 catches for 201 yards and a touchdown last season.
WHAT A WIN WOULD MEAN
Hall has been adamant about making Southern Miss one of the top Group of Five programs, and he believes that a win against Liberty is a sign of heading in that direction.
“I think it’s a chance to hit fast forward,” Hall said. “We want to be the best Group of Five teams in America. We have made that no secret since we got here. We are building to be and not there yet. To beat a program like Liberty, which you could argue has been the best Group of Five programs in America, would be a huge leap forward for us. It doesn’t define us. It doesn’t get us there whether we win or lose, but it’s a jump forward.”
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. and will be streamed on ESPN+.
