Southern Mississippi @ Central Florida preview
Spectrum Stadium
Last Meeting ( Sep 12, 2009 ) Central Florida 19, Southern Mississippi 26
Ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in the program’s history, Central Florida hosts Southern Mississippi in a Conference USA showdown Saturday.
The 23rd-ranked Knights are undefeated in conference play with a 5-0 record and overall are 7-2. Southern Miss is 6-3 with a 4-2 mark within the conference.
Since making a change at quarterback to true freshman Jeff Godfrey at midseason, the Knights have won five straight games.
Godfrey was named Conference USA Offensive Player of the Week following the Knights’ 40-33 victory at Houston. He completed 15 of 19 passes for 294 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 105 more yards for 399 yards in total offense. For the season, Godfrey is 92 of 140 for 1,300 yards.
The Knights are averaging 33.7 points per game and only giving up 18.3 per contest.
Coach George O’Leary, now in his seventh season in Orlando, has Central Florida playing well on both sides of the ball. The Knights rank 17th nationally in rushing defense and are 21st in rushing offense.
Tailback Ronnie Weaver leads the Knights in rushing with 683 yards and 10 touchdowns. The Knights’ two losses have been by a total of 11 points – 28-21 to North Carolina State and 17-13 to Kansas State.
Southern Miss boasts a high-scoring offense and has scored 40 or more points in five straight games, but two of them resulted in losses.
The Golden Eagles are 21st in the nation in scoring, averaging 34.5 points per game. Quarterback Austin Davis has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 1,970 yards and 10 touchdowns and has two games of 30 or more completions. The two leading rushers – Kendrick Hardy and Desmond Johnson – have combined for 913 yards. The Golden Eagles average 432 yards per game in total offense.
Southern Miss head coach Larry Fedora, now in his third season, has an overall 20-15 record. After an opening loss to South Carolina, Southern Miss reeled off four straight wins. The Golden Eagles then split the last four games, beating Memphis and Tulane but losing to East Carolina (44-43) and Alabama-Birmingham (50-49).
If UAB beats East Carolina on Thursday night and UCF wins Saturday, the Knights clinch Conference USA’s Eastern Division. With two high-powered offenses, the game should be a high-scoring contest.