Southern Miss will open its season this weekend against Alcorn State.
The Golden Eagles and Braves will meet for a fourth time in the two programs’ histories, with USM holding a 3-0 all-time record.
The previous meeting between the two programs was in 2019, which saw Southern Miss come out with a 38-10 season-opening win in front of a crowd of 31,076 in attendance.
HALL’S FAVORITE TO WIN SWAC
Southern Miss coach Will Hall has said throughout the offseason that Alcorn State is the favorite to win the SWAC.
“I think they’re going to win the SWAC,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. “They’ve won the SWAC several times over the last few years; they haven’t in the past two, but I think with this team they have coming back, they’re going to have a really good football team.
“They’re going to be really fired up to play us. I know Coach [Fred] McNair well, and I know their D-coordinator really well, Coach [Cedric] “Cat” Thomas, me and I go way back through the Mississippi JUCOs. I’ve just got a good friendship with him, a lot of trust built through recruiting through the years.”
The Braves finished 5-6 last year but were picked to finish second in the SWAC. Four of Alcorn’s losses were decided by 11 or fewer points, with one being a 52-0 loss to Tulane, whom USM defeated last year.
Alcorn averaged just 20 points of offense but surrendered 24 points per game on defense. Anchoring the defense is preseason SWAC first-teamer Malachi Bailey, who put up 9.5 sacks and 11.5 tackles for loss.
“They’re going to be fired up to play here and play us,” Hall said. “Their players are going to spill it. They play so hard on defense. They win with defense. They hit hard; they run to the ball. It’s a deal where we feel like in the kicking game, we’ve got to really make some plays, but we know they’re going to spill it.”
ALCORN’S TRANSFER QB
Expecting to take over the quarterback job is Missouri transfer Tyler Macon.
“Our defensive staff knows his skill set,” Hall said. “We’ve got friends at Missouri, so we kind of know where he’s from and what he did while he was there. Obviously, he was a big-time recruit. When you sign in the SEC, usually you’ve got something to you. We’re prepared for what we think his skill set is based on his high school film and what we’ve heard.”
In two seasons at Missouri, Macon saw action in six games, three in each year. In his career, he was 9 of 17 and threw for 143 yards and a touchdown, and ran for 39 yards and a touchdown.
“He presents a lot of problems,” Hall said. “You’ve got to be able to tackle and get him down. You can’t just throw hits on him; you’ve got to squeeze him and get him down because he can really make plays with his feet, which is scary. They’ve got receivers that can really get behind you and make plays. They’ve got some other transfers there like we talked about earlier in the week, that can get behind you. They take shots. They try to get it over your head. That’s been a point of emphasis for us this offseason—is to minimize that. So, that’s going to be a good matchup for the fans, and everybody to look at is can they get behind us and can we keep them from getting behind us.”
Another key name to know on the Braves’ roster is running back Jarveon Howard, who was a nominee for the Conerly Trophy, an award given to Mississippi’s best collegiate football player, and was a preseason All-SWAC first-team selection. Howard ran for 1,251 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.
Southern Miss and Alcorn State will kickoff at M.M. Roberts Stadium at 6 p.m.
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