Southern Miss Opens Bowl Season With 31-10 Victory Over North Texas In Wyndham New Orleans Bowl

Michael Boley

Southern Miss made its third-consecutive bowl appearance a good one, defeating North Texas, 31-10, as it won a bowl game for the first time since defeating TCU, 28-21, in the 2000 GMAC Bowl.

With the win, Southern Miss closes out the season with a 7-5 record, marking the 11th-straight winning season. The Golden Eagles also improve to 11-4 since 1975 in the Louisiana Superdome, and lead the all-time series against North Texas, 4-3. Southern Miss has won the last three meetings against the Mean Green.

“I think we played our best football of the season in the last three games,” Southern Miss Head Football Coach Jeff Bower said. “It’s a major win for our seniors. They’ve had a winning season all four years they’ve played at Southern Miss. No one wants to finish 6-6.”

Southern Miss led the entire game, getting a 37-yard touchdown pass from Dustin Almond to Otho Graves to open the scoring, as it took a 7-0 lead with 11:01 to play in the first quarter.

The Golden Eagles added a one-yard run by Almond with 6:13 to play in the first quarter, capping a five-play, 63-yard drive.

North Texas cut the lead to 14-3 on a 24-yard field goal from Nick Bazaldua, with 10:08 to play in the first half.

Southern Miss had an opportunity to answer Bazaldua’s field goal with 6:45 to play in the half, but Darren McCaleb saw his 15-consecutive field goals streak come to an end, as his 26-yard attempt missed left. It also snapped McCaleb’s 20th-consecutive regular season made field goals streak.

But McCaleb connected on a 45-yard field goal from with 15 seconds remaining in the first half, as it led 17-3 at halftime.

The Golden Eagles had two opportunities to extend their lead in the third quarter, but McCaleb came up short on two field goal tries of 33 and 42 yards.

Still protecting a 17-3 lead, Michael Boley returned a 62-yard interception for a touchdown, giving Southern Miss a 24-3 lead. It marked the second time Boley has returned an interception for a touchdown in his career, the first coming on a 54-yard interception return against Alabama on Sept. 21, 2002. It was also the second defensive touchdown in history of the New Orleans Bowl.

Southern Miss added a one-yard touchdown run by Sherron Moore with 1:26 remaining, to take a 31-3 lead.

North Texas got an 11-yard touchdown pass from Scott Hall to Johnny Quinn with one second remaining, to make the final score, 31-10.

Boley was named the 2004 Wyndham New Orleans Bowl MVP, finishing the game with eight tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. With his three tackles for loss tonight, Boley closes out his Southern Miss career with 59.5 tackles for loss, which ranks second in school history. His two sack performance tonight gives him 27 for his career, which also ranks second in school history.

Almond finished with 247 passing yards, his second highest total of the season, as he completed 16-of-30 attempts. Almond now has nine over 200-yard passing performances in his career, which ranks fourth-best on in the school’s history.

Anthony Harris finished the game with 14 carries for 104 yards, marking the second time this season his has ran for over 100 yards, both coming in the Louisiana Superdome, as he had 118 yards on 21 carries against Tulane (9/25). Harris now has seven 100-yard rushing games in his career, which ties him with Reggie Collier and Bubba Phillips for sixth in school history.

Antwon Courington finished the game with five catches for 57 yards. Courington has now caught a pass in 22-straight games. Courington finished the season with career highs in receptions with 47 and receiving yards with 659.

Graves led the team with 58 receiving yards on three catches, bringing his season total to six. Three of Graves’ six catches this season went for touchdowns.

Trevis Coley recorded his fourth interception of the season, as he finished as the team’s leader in interceptions.

Jamario Thomas, the leading rusher in the nation, finished with 92 rushing yards, Quinn finished with eight catches for 92 yards, while Hall finished with 134 passing yards for North Texas.