HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Southern Miss and No. 3 Alabama meet for the 43rd time in the two schools history and the first time since 2005 when the two teams meet on the field at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
Kickoff is slated for 6:00 p.m. ET and will be aired on ESPN2 and available on the WatchESPN app. In addition, lives stats and in-game tweets (@USMGoldenEagles / @SouthernMissFB) will be available throughout the game. Follow Live Stats Here.
he Crimson Tide hold a 34-6-2 record (USM’s win total includes one forfeit victory) and have won the last five in the series.
Alabama enters the weekend with a 2-0 record on the season, while Southern Miss is 1-1, coming off of a 26-20 home victory over Alcorn State on Sept. 6.
The win snapped the Golden Eagles’ 11-game home losing streak and the Black and Gold have now won two of their last three games dating back to last season.
The Golden Eagles forced a season-high four turnovers (two fumbles, two interceptions) against Alcorn State, the most since collecting five at UAB in the finale last season. USM has had multiple turnovers in each of their last three games.
The last time Southern Miss played a game in Alabama, the Golden Eagles snapped a 23-game losing streak with a 62-27 win over UAB.
The Golden Eagles trailed by eight points at the start of the third quarter, but quarterback Nick Mullens, a Hoover, Ala. native, led a 28-0 rally with three touchdown passes and a 1-yard touchdown rush to put Southern Miss ahead by 20 points at the start of the fourth. He threw for 370 yards.
The game at Alabama will be the second of two contests that Southern Miss plays against the SEC this season and also the second game played on natural grass. The other came at Mississippi State.
Southern Miss will play its highest ranked opponent in the Associated Press rankings this week since taking on No. 2 Florida on Aug. 30, 1997, dropping that contest, 21-6, in Gainesville. The Golden Eagles’ last victory coming over a Top 25 team coming at No. 7 Houston, 49-28, in the 2011 Conference USA Championship contest. The Golden Eagles boast a pair of wins against AP Top 10 opponents in their history.
The Golden Eagles last victory against Alabama came on Sept. 16, 2000, when Southern Miss shut out the Tide 21-0 at Legion Field in Birmingham. It is the Eagles’ only shutout of Alabama in the series.
Every game in the series has been played in the state of Alabama, including 21 in Tuscaloosa. While one of the wins was a forfeit from the 1993 season, the other was a 38-29 triumph on Nov. 13, 1982, in legendary coach Paul “Bear” Bryant’s final home game at Bryant-Denny Stadium, snapping a 57-game winning streak.
This series has never been played outside the state of Alabama, as the game has been played in Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, Montgomery and Mobile, dating back to the 1947 campaign.
Before the series went into a hiatus, the two schools played each season between 1992 and 2005.
