2018 Football Preview – Conference USA – Golden Eagles
Looking for 2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles predictions? The Golden Eagles will have a tough time replicating their 2017 season. Can their experience QB lead them to another bowl?
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2018-19 College Football Preview – Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Head Coach: Jay Hopson
2017 Record: 8-5
Southern Miss Golden Eagles Odds to win the 2018 FBS Championship: +75000
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The Golden Eagles bring back one of the best offenses in the conference, will it be enough to take down FAU in a possible C-USA Championship game rematch?
2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles Predictions: Team Strengths
The linebackers all return: Southern Miss’s front seven is led by their excellent trio of linebackers.
All three starters return from last years team that yielded only 3.8 yards per carry to opposing running backs. As a unit, the defense only allowed 138 yards on the ground.
The linebackers are led by senior Jeremy Sangster Sr, who is the second leading returning tackler after posting 56 (with 5 tackles for a loss) last season,
Sophomore linebacker Racheem Boothe is the leading returning tackler and can make plays all over the field. He had 79 tackles, 3.5 sacks, and 6 QB hurries last year. If he stays healthy he could potentially pick up 7 sacks on the year.
After giving up just 24 points per game last season it wouldn’t shock me to see them hover around 21 or 22 this year with such an experienced group.
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Bigger improvement from the QB: One of the biggest things going for Golden Eagles football next year is the play of their quarterback.
Kwadra Griggs Sr. has the potential to put over 3,000 yards through the air and over 500 yards on the ground. You heard it here first.
Why am I making such a bold claim? Look at the numbers.
In 7 starts he threw for over 1800 yards and ran for 268 with 3 touchdowns. He is a dual-threat weapon that this offense will need to rely on after losing its star running back.
The only knock on Griggs is his inability to stay healthy. He missed 5 games with a wrist injury but if he can stay on the field he should be a potential darkhorse for offensive player of the year in the conference.
Backing him up is Keon Howard, who is a former top 50 QB recruit that took over the 5 games Griggs was out. He is a turnover machine and if he is put back into the starting lineup it may be risk vs reward for the offense.
2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles Predictions: Team Weaknesses
Inexperience across the board: The Golden Eagles lost a lot of talent from last year’s team.
The Golden Eagles come in with one of the most inexperienced teams in the country. The offensive line returns just 48 total starts and that lack of experience will hurt them in conference play.
Looking at things from a unit by unit standpoint it seems even more troubling for Southern Miss.
They have to replace their start running back Ito Smith (1,415 rush yards and 13 TDs), their star receiver Korey Robertson (76 rec, 1,106 yards and 12 TDs) and have to replace 2nd team all-conference safety Tarvarius Moore (87 tackles and 10 passes broken up).
Replacing that type of production isn’t easy and it will be one of the key factors in how successful the team will be in 2018.
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Southern Miss Golden Eagles Prediction: 8-4
Even with the lack of experience, this schedule does not seem as daunting as it could be.
I expect the Golden Eagles to steamroll FCS Jackson St. and ULM, and keep going to a 4-0 record until they meet up with SEC powerhouse Auburn.
As conference play goes into full swing the toughest matchups will be La Tech and UNT.
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If they can get through those games it may be smooth sailing to another bowl.
2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles Football Schedule
- 9/1/18 7:00 PM ET JKST
- 9/8/18 7:00 PM ET ULM
- 9/15/18 3:30 PM ET @APP
- 9/22/18 7:00 PM ET RICE
- 9/29/18 TBD @AUB
- 10/13/18 2:00 PM ET @UNT
- 10/20/18 7:00 PM ET UTSA
- 10/27/18 2:00 PM ET @CHAR
- 11/3/18 3:00 PM ET MRSH
- 11/10/18 7:30 PM ET @UAB
- 11/17/18 3:30 PM ET LT
- 11/24/18 3:00 PM ET @UTEP
What do you think about our 2018 Southern Miss Golden Eagles predictions? Please leave us a comment below telling us how you think they’ll do in 2018!
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