Ask the Expert: Glance at USM's special teams and offensive game plan
Ask the Expert continues with a look at the Southern Miss special teams unit and what offensive game plan they might bring into the season opener.
Southern Miss had a lot of success last season but it wasn't all due to Nick Mullens' strong, accurate arm and the explosive offense he orchestrated. The Golden Eagles were unique, to say the least, on special teams.
We're taking a look at that with Lanny Mixon of BigGoldNation.com, and he'll also help us break down what offensive game plan we might expect to see from UK turned USM offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson.
Cats Illustrated: Take us through the Southern Miss special teams unit and what Kentucky fans need to know about that part of the Golden Eagles' squad.
Lanny Mixon, BigGoldNation.com: Southern Miss ran 17 trick plays on special teams last season. They ran a fake field goal and a defensive tackle scored a touchdown on a hand off. The same special teams coordinator is back and the difference is (Jay) Hopson has taken the handcuffs off him. I can tell you this -- special teams will be fun to watch at Southern Miss this year. You're never going to know what's coming.
Cats Illustrated: What offensive game plan do you expect to see from Southern Miss and Shannon Dawson? Do you think they're going to throw down the field a lot and test Kentucky's talented secondary, which would be in line with what Dawson likes to do?
Mixon: I see no reason not to. Southern Miss is on the road. They're the underdog. Nobody thinks they have an opportunity to win the game, other than themselves. At the same time, Southern Miss is going to be really balanced. They've got a 1,000-yard rusher coming back. They've got some talent in that backfield.
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Do I expect them to throw down the field? Absolutely. They've got some big wide receivers who can run. They've got a kid in the slot who's a 4.38 (40-yard dash) kid. He can really run. They've got 6'3, 6'4 receivers on the outside. There should be some great match ups to watch. The corners are going to have receivers out there who are as big as they are, only they're more experienced and older. Even going against bigger corners (like Kentucky has), I don't think there will be any handcuffs on (Dawson). I don't know if that was the case for him last year (at Kentucky). He's going to have free reign to run the offense the way he wants to run it.
I think it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.
Cats Illustrated: Kentucky's roughly a 7-point favorite in this game in spite of the fact that Southern Miss returns a big-time quarterback and they had a better season than Kentucky record-wise last season. Do you think they feel disrespected and do you think they'll have a chip on their shoulders?
Mixon: I don't think Southern Miss looks at it that way. They have their own expectations for the game. I can tell you, Jay Hopson doesn't care what media or Kentucky fans think. The team takes on the same personality as the head coach. Jay Hopson's a Mississippi guy. He's had a couple of stints down here in the past and he knows the lay of the land. He's extremely popular in town. The fan base loves the guy. He's been everywhere. He's coached at Florida, Michigan and LSU. He understands the full gamut.
It's understandable that Kentucky would be a favorite in this game. But if Kentucky fans think this is going to be an easy game like they're playing a team that's slightly a step up from an FCS team then they're really going to be surprised.
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If you go back and look at last year, physically, Southern Miss played Mississippi State right down to the line. Southern Miss turned the ball over on the 2-yard line late and allowed Mississippi State to get a late touchdown or that's a 3-point game going into the final four minutes. If Kentucky fans think this is the Southern Miss team of two, three or four years ago they're really going to be surprised.
I'm not saying Southern Miss is going to win the game. But from a physical standpoint -- if you went to the bowl game between Washington and Southern Miss and you looked at the teams warming up, Southern Miss was the bigger team of the two. They've got a really, really good strength and conditioning guy and I don't know how much longer they're going to be able to keep him. But when they run out on the field they're not going to look like a big underdog.