Alabama overcomes inspired Southern Miss 30-21

By Mike Medina  |   Saturday, September 10, 2005  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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The Alabama Crimson Tide defeated the Southern Miss Golden Eagles 30-21. The once mighty Tide seemed more like a small splash recording 10 total yards rushing in the first half. To counter their lack luster ground game early on, they relied on the arm of Brodie Croyle, who threw for two touchdowns and 330 yards. Croyle's favorite targets were wide outs Tyrone Prothro and D.J. Hall. Prothro finished the game with 7 receptions for 135 yards, averaging 19.3 yards per reception. Hall finished with 4 receptions for 144 yards and a touchdown.

The game looked like an Alabama blowout from the beginning. Less than a minute in, Hall caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Croyle that was set up by Croyle's 52-yard pass to Prothro on the opening play. Jamie Christensen added a 33-yard field goal to put the Tide up 10-0.

Southern Miss fought back valiantly and took control of the game going into the half 21-17, by capitalizing on Alabama mistakes. Gerald McRath returned an interception 32 yards for a TD off a Croyle floater. Junior DB Jasper Faulk also contributed, returning a 24-yard punt to the Alabama 12 that set up a touchdown pass by Dustin Almond to Anthony Perine on the next play.

After a little intermission pep talk from their coach, the Alabama Crimson Tide recaptured the lead for good on a 2-yard run by Tim Castille on its opening possession. The Tide finished strong creating an 85-yard, 12-play drive capped by another 2-yard Castille scoring run to put the game away. While Castille put the game out of contention by scoring on short plays, Alabama's rushing workhorse in the second half was Kenneth Darby. Darby finished the game with 78 yards on 21 attempts, but failed to score.

Southern Mississippi, located just 70 miles from the golf-coast, was supposed to open the season at home last week against Tulane, but the game was rescheduled until Nov. 26 because of hurricane Katrina. With no power, water, and hardly any food, the Golden Eagles moved the football program north from Hattiesburg about 300 miles to Memphis, Tenn., on September 1st. Just like all the other Gulf Coast teams who were affected by Katrina, the Golden Eagles came into Alabama hungry for a victory. Unfortunately, they fell short but played well enough to make their state proud.

The Eagles recorded 200 total yards from scrimmage, mostly passing, but their Achilles heel was the rushing game. They managed to accumulate a game total 7 yards rushing, despite a very low combined effort of 41 yards from their running backs. Four sacks for negative 34 made up the difference.
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