It’s a new week for Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles face rival Tulane in the 34th Battle for the Bell.
“Huge rivalry game against the best group of five teams in America right now,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for their program and their head coach, their coordinators, their quarterback, and just how they do things. I was blessed to be a part of it for two years, and I’m very thankful for that. This game means a lot to a lot of people at Southern Miss, and our kids certainly understand that – our staff does – and we’re looking to respond this week.
“We don’t play again until 2026, so whoever wins this game is going to have this bell for a while.”
Getting over FSU
The Golden Eagles’ mantra for this week is to simply put behind last week’s loss to No. 4 Florida State and focus on Tulane.
“We had a six-hour bus ride to talk about it and flush it,” Hall said. “I hope it doesn’t have a lingering effect. It wasn’t fun to go through, but we got our check.
“We didn’t play so well early. We had some costly penalties with some of our younger guys in a great environment. It was a mismatch in every way. We are glad to get through it. We are excited to be getting back to our domain.”
One silver lining from the game was Southern Miss’ secondary matchup against Florida State’s wide receivers. It may not show in the final stats, but the defensive backs broke up seven passes, which included two potential touchdowns.
“We want to learn and grow from mistakes, and we want to reward any good plays,” Hall said. “There was some good in that game. I thought our young defensive backs showed they can play.”
Quarterback Injury
In last week’s loss to No. 20 Ole Miss, Tulane was without star quarterback Michael Pratt. In the first game of the season against South Alabama, Pratt was 14 of 15 and threw for 294 yards and four touchdowns; however, towards the end of the South Alabama game, he suffered a knee injury. Notably, Hall coached and recruited Pratt during his tenure at Tulane.
“If there’s any way possible Michael can play, Michael will play,” said Hall on Pratt’s potential return. “Michael’s a winner in every sense of the word. If he can’t play, then nobody on planet Earth can play. That’s all I know. I don’t know anything else except that. I know Michael. I know what Michael’s about. If Michael can play, Michael will play.”
Backup quarterback Kai Horton filled in for Pratt against Ole Miss, as he threw for 231 yards and a touchdown while going 15 of 37.
“He played decent versus Cincinnati two years ago as a true freshman,” Hall said. I thought he played really well versus Ole Miss to give them a chance.”
Tulane football coach Willie Fritz told reporters this week that he will play his quarterback if possible. Pratt took limited practice reps on Tuesday.
“He is looking better and better,” Fritz said. “Time is a good thing. He did a bunch of throwing and ran some units. He did all of his drill work.
“When we get to Thursday, Friday, we have to see if he can do the things that we need him to do and protect himself. If he can, then we’ll play him. If he can’t, then we won’t…If he’s healthy to play, then we are going to play him.”
Familiar Defensive Coordinator
Tulane’s newly-hired defensive coordinator Shiel Wood is a familiar face for the Golden Eagles, as he spent last season at Troy in the same role.
In his one season with the Trojans, the defensive unit ranked eighth nationally in turnovers gained, 14th in sacks, eighth in scoring defense, 19th in total defense and 24th in rushing defense, while finishing ranked in the top five in the Sun Belt Conference for scoring defense, total defense, sacks and interceptions.
Through two games this season, Tulane has allowed an average of 314 yards per game, which tied as the 49th-best mark in the country. The Green Wave have held teams to 2.5 yards per carry on the ground, which is the 25th best in the nation, as the team’s nine sacks are tied for the fifth-best.
“He’s done a good job,” Hall said. “We’ve gone against Shiel several times through the years when he was at Army, and we were at Tulane. Last year, he was at Troy. He’s a good defensive coach that’s very sound in what he does. Very rarely out of position. Now he’s with Willie Fritz and Willie Fritz’s teams play hard. Our fans will see a similar style of defense from the standpoint of their sound in how they play; they can apply pressure in multiple ways, and they play really hard. Our programs are built very similar in that fashion.”
Southern Miss will host Tulane at M.M. Roberts Stadium, with kickoff set for 3 p.m.
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