University of Southern Mississippi 2012 Football Preview
Most people that read this blog will read the other prediction blogs, so I will say this just one time. Preseason predictions are almost impossible because of the large number of unknowns heading into a new football season. The unknowns are part of what makes the anticipation so great. If I knew these predictions were going to all be spot on I would be on an airplane to Las Vegas right now. With all that being said… here we go!
The 2012 USM team heads into the season with new people in important positions. The most obvious is new head football coach Ellis Johnson. I was/am a fan of this hire by USM. Ellis Johnson was the sole reason why Sylvester Croom ever went to a bowl game at MSU. He will do a great job leading the football program at USM. The only possible negative I can see in the hire of Johnson is his age (60 years old).
The departure of long term QB (Austin Davis) leaves another new situation in Hattiesburg at quarterback. It is going to be weird for me not seeing Davis at QB because it feels like he has been the QB there for 10 years. It looks like redshirt junior Chris Campbell is getting the nod at QB Saturday against Nebraska. No matter who is the starting QB for USM they will benefit from a solid offensive line (4 potential seniors starting) and good defense under Johnson & Tommy West. I look for USM to rely on their running game and defense this season, especially early.
I have seen a couple of different comments from Nebraska that say "Respect your opponent". I believe this rallying cry is directly pointed at USM. The current line on this game has Nebraska favored by 19-20.5 points. The line came out at 17.5 so the public has been on Nebraska early. USM winning in Lincoln would be a major upset. I would not be shocked by a close game, but the QB situation is going to be a tough mountain for this team to get over playing at Nebraska. That comment is no indication as to how well the overall season will be for the quarterbacks at USM. The fact is playing at Nebraska in your first start is a tough draw.
All is not lost with an opening season loss to Nebraska because one positive in playing Nebraska early is that every opponent following that game will have less talent. Second week of the year is an open date for USM. This will give them a chance to regroup for a strong push through the rest of their 2012 season. Normally I am not a fan of early season open weeks, but this may serve well for USM with the unsettled QB situation.
USM has 2 really fun home games this year on back to back weekends. The two games are Louisville and Boise State. Louisville was once a heated rival of USM. Boise State has recently been a national powerhouse. If USM can take wins from both of these teams the best case scenario definitely starts to look like a possibility.
Best case scenario for USM (10-2)
Worst case scenario for USM (7-5)
Prediction for 2012 Season (8-4) I swayed back and forth between 8 and 9 wins for this, but I finally decided on 8 wins because USM slips up and loses to an inferior team every year. USM would have been in a BCS bowl game last year if they had not dropped the ball against UAB. Vegas will have USM favored in 9 or 10 of their games. A couple of those games will almost be picks with lines of less than 3.
Fun fact about USM: The incoming freshman students at USM are all around 18 years old. It has been 18 years since there has been a losing season in Hattiesburg, so the current freshman class has never seen USM have a losing season.
Head
Coach: Ellis Johnson
Defensive Coordinator: Tommy West
Offensive Coordinator: Steve Buckley
Returning Starters: (Offense 6, Defense 4, Specialist 2)
Returning Letterwinners: (Offense 22, Defense 18, Specialist 2)
Letterwinners Lost: (Offense 7, Defense 13, Specialisty 3)
2012
Football Schedule
That's a pretty good analysis Wally. Good read. Thanks
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