Page 136 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2015

SPORTS & OUTDOORS are you ready for some football? SEASON PREVIEW
story by F. Cliff Kirkland A Optimism abounds for 2015 football season
cross the Mississippi Saints fans have gargled away the and three starting offensive lineman. Coast, August’s arrival bitter aftertaste of a disappointing 7-9 Returning quarterback and Heisman with triple-digit heat season in 2014 and are ever certain Trophy candidate Dak Prescott is indices and four-alarm of another postseason run for Sean enough to lift expectations, though. tropical storm warnings Payton. At USM, hopes for renewed program
is often overshadowed by a more visceral measure of public interest — the start of football season. Last year’s results are carefully tucked away
in the rationalization closet, only to
be partially referenced if needed to reinforce the optimism and unbridled promise of the new season.
From New Orleans to Perkinston to Hattiesburg to Starkville to Oxford, the faithful are “talking trash” and planning family tailgate parties around rival matchups or “creampuff” breaks in challenging schedules that stretch through at least the next four months.
Head coach Hugh Freeze has the Ole Miss Nation expecting big things as well. Freeze returns most of his best players from a 9-4 squad that started strong but faded down the stretch, save a compelling and convincing victory over hated adversary Mississippi State.
Dan Mullen’s Bulldogs have stirred the alumni, too, as evidenced by a record number of season ticket sales following a year in which State was ranked No.1 in the nation for five weeks. State heads into 2015 with a few uncertainties, though, having lost five of its top defensive players
respectability rest on the shoulders of third-year head coach Todd Monken, who has won only four games in
two seasons, but still talks boldly about his team, its talent level and its determination. This will be a critical season for Monken, who has somehow rallied alumni despite being unable to completely wash away the lingering stench of the Ellis Johnson 0-12 debacle in 2012.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, with a football pedigree exponentially longer than its name, once again has to reshape a team hit hard by sophomore graduation.
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