Southern Miss Football: Predicting the Outcomes of the Season's Final 6 Games

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles entered the season hungry for a conference championship in 2011, something they have been starved of since 2003.

This year's edition of the football team came into the season with high hopes and high expectations.

With a lethal combination of senior leadership and young talent, the group looked poised to bring home a championship to Hattiesburg.

After beginning the season on the wrong foot, Southern Miss has reached the season's halfway point while compiling a 5-1 (1-1 C-USA) record.

The Golden Eagles' first two games were unnecessarily close, with Southern Miss pulling out a 19-17 win over Louisiana Tech and losing 26-20 to Marshall. Head coach Larry Fedora's team seemed to pick up the pace in recent weeks, however, winning four straight contests.

With a strong second-half finish to the season, the Golden Eagles can put themselves in a situation to contend for the conference title.

Coming off of a bye week, Southern Miss will play host to SMU and the high-powered offense of June Jones. With the Golden Eagles' leading tackler and best player, Korey Williams, out, SMU will look to spread first-year coordinator Dan Disch's defense all over the field.

SMU quarterback J.J. McDermott has been solid throwing the ball this season after stealing the starting job from Kyle Padron, and will continue his success if Southern Miss cannot hurry him and force mistakes.

Southern Miss will need help from its own offense. The Golden Eagles currently hold the 19th spot in points per game, averaging 38.7. SMU holds the 39th spot, averaging just under 33 points per game.

The Golden Eagles offense seemed to find its rhythm lately, posting 48 points or more in consecutive games. This success comes largely with the development of the running game in order to assist four-year starting quarterback Austin Davis.

This game looks like it will be a shootout.

Prediction: SMU 38, Southern Miss 42

UTEP was close to pulling out a win against undefeated C-USA West foe Houston two weeks ago, but came up short in the end.

UTEP has been down on its luck lately, ranking in the lower half of most statistical categories this season. With a bad defense and a shaky offense, things don't appear to be getting better any time soon.

Prediction: Southern Miss 45, UTEP 17

Although the Pirates of ECU chalked up two losses to start the season, they looked impressive doing it.

After good games against South Carolina and Virginia Tech, the Pirates failed to make any more noise and appear to have fallen to new lows.

The Pirates are currently last, at 120th, in rushing, 104th in points for, and 116th in points against, leaving fans with many questions as the season starts to wind down.

This matchup favors Southern Miss heavily, but the heated rivalry will keep this game close. In the last five years, this game has been decided by seven points or less four times.

Look for the Pirates to stay in it, with Dominique Davis throwing the ball around.

Prediction: Southern Miss 34, ECU 30

This showdown in Hattiesburg has been marked on many calendars as the game that will determine the champion of the C-USA East division.

UCF's run game and defense have been the keys to their success. While UCF is undefeated at home this season, they also have not won a game on the road. On the other hand, Southern Miss has not lost a home game.

Southern Miss will have an entirely different beast to handle in the Golden Knights defense, which holds the No. 2 spot in points against, giving up only 10 points per outing. UCF trails only the Alabama Crimson Tide in the category.

The Golden Eagles will need to fire on all cylinders to grab this win.

Prediction: UCF 17, Southern Miss 21

On paper, this game appears to be a blowout. Unfortunately, games aren't played on paper.

UAB is having a disappointing season and sits at 0-5 (0-2 C-USA), and doesn't appear to be getting any better. The Blazers rank 97th in passing offense, 106th in rushing offense, 120th in points for, and 96th in points against.

Under usual circumstances, this game would be given to Southern Miss before the game even started. However, UAB would have something to say about that.

The Golden Eagles have surrendered two consecutive losses to the Blazers, including a 50-49 loss last year in Hattiesburg. Southern Miss looks to avenge the loss and bring a win back before the final game of the season. Without any weapons for UAB, this shouldn't be a problem.

Prediction: Southern Miss 52, UAB 10

Contrary to some beliefs, the Memphis Tigers do field a football team this season.

In dark times for the program, Memphis has stumbled to a 1-5 (0-2 C-USA) record, its only win over Austin Peay. The Tigers have been bad in all aspects of play this season, ranking 87th in passing offense, 108th in rushing offense, 116th in points for, and 115th in points against.

In a rivalry game that was once huge, look for the "Black and Blue Bowl" to get ugly in a hurry.

Prediction: Memphis 6, Southern Miss 42