Larry Fedora Has Southern Miss on Right Track

There’s a common denominator here, folks, in case you haven’t noticed. And I touched on it briefly in my column last week. It’s the defense. The defense has had as much to do with Southern Miss’ current eight-game winning streak as anything. During the winning streak, which is the longest one by any Golden Eagle squad since 1958, the Southern Miss defense (formerly known as the ‘Nasty Bunch’) has held its opponent to less than 100 yards rushing each and every time out. This essentially is the same defense that allowed 34 points against Marshall last year, 40 to UTEP, 45 to Rice and 36 to Memphis. Now, when Fedora was hired as head coach of the Southern Miss football team, he awed Golden Eagle fans with promises of outscoring opponents by lots and lots of points. I believe his exact words were, “We’re going to spread the field. We’re going to throw it around. We’re going to spread it horizontally and create vertical seams in the defense.” So far, he’s made good on that. But that wasn’t all he said. There was more to it, that I’m not sure a lot of people paid attention to – or if they did, they might not have believed him after last year’s five-game losing streak. About defense, Fedora said, “I know what the ‘Nasty Bunch’ is. And we’re going to continue to build on that reputation.” Don’t get me wrong – the current Golden Eagle defense isn’t there just yet. I don’t think they’re quite as feared as some of those defenses from the ‘90s were. The ones with Bobby Hamilton, Adalius Thomas and Patrick Surtain – now those were some dominant defenses. But they are getting there. Obviously, it took a little longer to get there than some may have anticipated. But, so far this year, it’s been worth the wait. – Hattiesburg American