Southern Mississippi @ Alabama-Birmingham preview

Last Meeting ( Oct 30, 2010 ) Alabama-Birmingham 50, Southern Mississippi 49

THE STORY: No. 20 Southern Miss appears to be on a collision course with 10th-ranked Houston for the Conference USA Championship Game, but both teams still have work left to do. The Cougars have tough games remaining against SMU and Tulsa, while the Golden Eagles merely have to win one of their final two games against bottom-feeders Alabama-Birmingham and Memphis. Southern Miss has won eight straight games since a slip-up at Marshall in Week 2, which is tied for coach Larry Fedora’s longest winning streak since he took over in 2008.
Southern Miss won the first nine meetings in this series, but Alabama-Birmingham has claimed the last two games, including last season’s 50-49 double-overtime win.

TV: CBS Sports Network Line: Southern Miss -23

ABOUT SOUTHERN MISS (9-1, 5-1 Conference USA): The Golden Eagles are off to their best start since 1962, and another win would be only their third 10-win season in school history and first since 1988. Last weekend, Southern Miss barely escaped with a 30-29 home win over Central Florida, which scored a touchdown as time expired but then failed on a two-point conversion that would’ve won the game. The Golden Eagles limited UCF to only 48 yards rushing, holding an opponent under 100 yards on the ground for the fifth time this season. Southern Miss is 20-1 all-time under Fedora when accomplishing that.

ABOUT ALABAMA-BIRMINGHAM (2-8, 2-5 Conference USA): The Blazers snapped a two-game skid with a dramatic come-from-behind win at Memphis last weekend. Trailing 35-17 in the fourth-quarter, Alabama-Birmingham reeled off 24 unanswered points to win 41-35 and complete the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in school history. Jonathan Perry tossed two of his four touchdowns in the final period, and Greg Franklin scored on a 10-yard run that proved to be the game-winner with 1:36 left.

EXTRA POINTS:

1. After running back Bruce Johnson and wide receiver Chris Briggs notched their first touchdowns of the season last weekend, a school-record 21 different players have scored for Southern Miss in 2011.

2. Seven of the 11 games in this series have been decided by seven points or less, but the Golden Eagles are 6-1 in those games.

3. Southern Miss ranks 16th nationally in scoring offense (36.8), while the Blazers are 113th in scoring defense (37.2).