2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

The 2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles were led by fourth-year head coach Larry Fedora and played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium. They are a member of the East Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 12–2, 7–2 in C-USA play. They were champions of the East Division and defeated undefeated Houston, 49–28, in the C-USA Championship Game to become conference champions. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl, where they defeated Nevada, 24–17.

2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
Conference USA champion
C-USA East Division champion
Hawaii Bowl champion
Hawaii Bowl, W 24–17 vs. Nevada
ConferenceConference USA
DivisionEast Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 20
2011 record12–2 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBlake Anderson (2nd as OC, 4th overall season)
Co-defensive coordinatorDan Disch (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinatorDavid Duggan (1st as DC, 4th overall season)
Home stadiumM. M. Roberts Stadium
(Capacity: 36,000)
2011 Conference USA football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
No. 20 Southern Miss x$  6 –2     12 –2  
Marshall  5 –3     7 –6  
East Carolina  4 –4     5 –7  
UAB  3 –5     3 –9  
UCF  3 –5     5 –7  
Memphis  1 –7     2 –10  
West Division
No. 18 Houston x  8 –0     13 –1  
Tulsa  7 –1     8 –5  
SMU  5 –3     8 –5  
Rice  3 –5     4 –8  
UTEP  2 –6     5 –7  
Tulane  1 –7     2 –11  
Championship: Southern Miss 49, Houston 28
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
As of January 10, 2012; Rankings from AP Poll

Fedora resigned at the end of the regular season to become the head coach at North Carolina. He stayed on and coached the Golden Eagles in the Hawaii Bowl and finished at Southern Miss with a four-year record of 34–19. South Carolina assistant head coach Ellis Johnson took over as head coach in 2012.

Pre-season

Top 25 rankings

During the pre-season, Southern Miss was ranked in several notable top 25 polls. Phil Steele ranked the team as No. 20.[1] Outside the Top 25, Southern Miss was ranked as No. 55 by Sporting News, No. 31 in the AP Poll, and No. 42 in the Coaches' Poll.[2][3][4]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 39:00 pmLouisiana Tech*
FSNW 19–1722,356
September 102:30 pmat Marshall
CSSL 20–2624,247
September 176:00 pmSoutheastern Louisiana*
  • M. M. Roberts Stadium
  • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
W 52–627,433
September 243:30 pmat Virginia*
FS SouthW 30–2443,220
October 16:30 pmRice
  • M. M. Roberts Stadium
  • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
CSSW 48–2428,656
October 83:30 pmat Navy*
CBSSNW 63–3533,462
October 227:00 pmSMU
  • M. M. Roberts Stadium
  • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
CBSSNW 27–332,685
October 297:00 pmat UTEP
CBSSNW 31–1324,906
November 53:00 pmat East Carolina
CSSW 48–2850,345[5]
November 127:00 pmUCFNo. 25
  • M. M. Roberts Stadium
  • Hattiesburg, Mississippi
CBSSNW 30–2932,925
November 177:00 pmat UABNo. 22
CBSSNL 31–3414,103
November 263:00 pmMemphis
CSSW 44–726,347
December 311:00 amvs. No. 7 HoustonNo. 24
ABCW 49–2832,413
December 247:00 pmvs. Nevada*No. 22
ESPNW 24–1732,630
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Poll rankings
See also: 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Final 
AP RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 22 RV 24 22 20 
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 25 24 23 20 RV 23 21 19 
Harris Not released RV RV RV RV 23 20 RV 23 21 Not released 
BCS Not released NR NR 25 22 20 NR 24 21 Not released

References
  1. Steele, Phil (2011-05-17). "Top 30 Countdown Begins!". Phil Steele's College Football Blog. Archived from the original on 2011-09-20. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  2. Hayes, Matt (2011-08-29). "College football preseason top 120: A closer look after a busy offseason". Sporting News. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  3. "2011 NCAA Football Rankings – AP Top 25 Preseason". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  4. "2011 NCAA Football Rankings – USA Today Coaches' Poll Preseason". ESPN. Retrieved 2011-11-13.
  5. "Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs. East Carolina Pirates Box Score". ESPN.com. November 5, 2011.
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