LAFAYETTE, La. -- Arkansas State's improbable season is
finally over, and coach Steve Roberts can look back on it with
pride.
"There is nobody outside of our locker room that felt we could
accomplish what we accomplished this year," Roberts said after the
Indians' 31-19 loss to Southern Mississippi in the New Orleans Bowl
-- the first of the season's 28 bowl games.
"There's nobody outside of our locker room that predicted that
we could be in the situation that we were in," he said.
Shawn Nelson caught two second-half touchdowns, and Cody Hull
added 161 yards rushing Tuesday night to lead Southern Mississippi.
But Arkansas State performed admirably, preventing the Golden
Eagles from taking control until well into the second half.
Arkansas State (6-6) was in its first bowl since moving back up
from Division I-AA before the 1992 season. The Indians tied for the
Sun Belt Conference title and became the first team besides North
Texas to represent the league in the New Orleans Bowl. North Texas
went the last four years, winning once.
"I am proud to be a football coach of champions," Roberts
said. "I am very pleased with the way they represented Arkansas
State University tonight."
For Southern Miss, the win was a happy ending to a season of
turmoil. The Golden Eagles had two games postponed in September
because of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, had to relocate temporarily
to Memphis and played nine games in nine weeks to end the regular
season.
Fittingly, they ended their season with a struggle in Lafayette,
where the New Orleans Bowl was moved because of Katrina.
"We became closer as a football team and we rallied behind each
other," coach Jeff Bower said. "It's been a long time since we
have seen the kind of emotion that this football team displayed
this season."
Arkansas State tied the game at 17 in the third quarter on Nick
Noce's 2-yard pass to Manuel Burton, but Dustin Almond answered
with a 29-yard toss to Nelson to make it 24-17.
The Indians scored on a safety when Southern Miss punter Luke
Johnson knocked the ball out of the back of the end zone after a
bad snap. The Golden Eagles made it 31-19 on Almond's 6-yard pass
to Nelson with 8:22 remaining in the game.
Southern Mississippi (7-5) beat North Texas 31-10 in last year's
New Orleans Bowl. The Golden Eagles were a double-digit favorite in
this year's game, and appeared on their way to an easy win when
Almond found Nelson for a 37-yard completion on the first play from
scrimmage.
But after Southern Mississippi drove to the 1-yard line, Almond
fumbled a snap and the Indians recovered. The Golden Eagles' next
drive ended with another fumble, this one at the Arkansas State 48.
"I'm just disappointed we didn't take care of the ball any
better that first quarter," Bower said. "I thought we had a
chance to do a lot of good things."
Cole Mason put the Golden Eagles ahead 10-3 with a 5-yard run
with 2:05 to play in the first half. The Indians answered with an
eight-play, 80-yard drive, capped by Noce's 4-yard run with 5.8
seconds remaining.
Southern Mississippi went ahead early in the third quarter.
Kevis Coley recovered Noce's fumble at the Arkansas State 15 and
returned it to the 10, setting up Hull's 1-yard scoring run.
The Indians came back again. On first-and-goal from the 2, Noce
faked a quarterback draw, then backed up and threw to an open
Burton in the back of the end zone.
Antonio Warren rushed for only 20 yards for Arkansas State,
finishing the season with 1,066. Warren left in the first half
after reinjuring the ankle he sprained earlier in the year. He
returned in the third quarter but wasn't much of a factor.
Warren's fumble at the Arkansas State 25 set up Southern
Mississippi's final touchdown.
"It was very hard," Warren said of being injured. "I am still
shaken up right now because there was nothing more that I wanted to
do than go out there and play in this game. It was unfortunate that
I could not go out there and help my team win."
Noce went 10-of-19 for 213 yards with an interception. He also
ran for 55 yards.
Almond went 17-of-32 for 253 yards in his final college game. He
set several season school records, including yards passing (2,860),
completions (216), passing attempts (394) and total offense (2,763
yards).
Brett Favre set the previous record for attempts with 381 in
1989.
Hull, a sophomore, surpassed 100 yards rushing for the first
time. Nelson, a freshman, had six catches for 121 yards -- both
career highs. He was named the game's MVP.
Arkansas State's Darren Toney had a scintillating kickoff return
nullified by a holding penalty in the second quarter. Toney ran
about 25 yards upfield, retreated several steps, then streaked down
the sideline for what would have been a 93-yard touchdown.
The attendance was 18,338. Last year's game drew 27,253 in the
Superdome.