Perhaps Southern Miss defensive back Kelsey Douglas put it best. “The time is near,” he said.
And Douglas is right.
The Southern Miss football season will open at 3 p.m. Saturday when the Golden Eagles host the Kentucky Wildcats at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
It will be the second season for Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson, and it will be the first in four seasons for Southern Miss to be without quarterback Nick Mullens in the lineup.
As to the biggest question of the preseason — who will be the starting quarterback? — USM coaches don’t know. Or they aren’t saying.
Keon Howard got a little experience last season when Mullens was injured, but the results were not all good. Howard ran for 138 yards and passed for 365 in his freshman season, but he also threw four interceptions and lost five fumbles in his two starts, both losses.
Kwadra Griggs sat out last season because of academic issues, but is also in the running for the starting job at quarterback.
“We’re going to let them compete it out this week,” Hopson said. “I think it’s only fair to Kwadra because he did have an injury (last week). So, we’re going to let these guys battle it out. It’ll probably be, to be honest with you, Friday or Saturday (before deciding). We’ll play it up to game time. I think that’s the fair thing to do.”
Probably, both Howard and Griggs will get their chances on the field against Southeastern Conference member Kentucky.
“Yeah, I think they’re both going to play,” Hopson said. “I do. If you’re hot, you’re hot. If you’re not, you’re not. We’ll let them line up and play and see how that goes.”
Golden Eagle offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson didn’t rule out true freshman Marcello Rodriguez getting his feet wet, although that isn’t the plan at this point in time.
“We played three last year,” Dawson said. “He’s proven over the course of camp that he can play. The kid’s talented.”
Of course, the good thing is that whoever is the starting quarterback, he can hand the football off to running back Ito Smith, who averaged 113.2 yards per game in 2016. Smith also had 43 receptions last year.
Allenzae Staggers is the top receiver returning for the Golden Eagles. A junior college transfer, Staggers caught 63 passes for 1,165 yards and 7 touchdowns last season as a junior.
Defensively, the backfield should be strong and the line will be deep, as it has 10 players who will see action.
Southern Miss defeated Kentucky 44-35 in last season’s opening game at Lexington, Ky., a game in which the Eagles erased a 35-17 halftime deficit.
“They’ll have a chip on their shoulder,” Douglas said. “We’ve got to execute and limit the big plays.”
Stephen Johnson will be the Wildcats’ quarterback. He did not play against USM last year, but came on and led Kentucky to a 5-4 record in his nine starts.
Sophomore running back Benny Snell Jr., also did not play in last year’s opener, but went on to gain 1,091 yards rushing and scored 13 touchdowns.
“Kentucky is a good football team,” Hopson said. “They are a team that has our utmost respect. They’ve got playmakers on offense. The quarterback did a good job for them. They’re a team that runs well and so, certainly, that caught my eye last year. We know we have a good football team coming into town.”
