USM expects packed house Aug. 31

[bernard]

http://www.clarionledger.com/news/0207/28/s03.html

July 28, 2002

USM expects packed house Aug. 31


By Tim Doherty
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer

The number of times Southern Miss has seen Roberts Stadium filled to the skyline has been the exception rather than the rule.

But athletic director Richard Giannini expects to add another sold-out football game to USM's list come Aug. 31, when Jackson State travels down U.S. 49 south.

As of Thursday, Giannini said less than 2,500 tickets were available in Hattiesburg for the 6 p.m. kickoff to the 2002 season-opener for both teams. He added that he doesn't expect any of the 4,000 tickets JSU received for the game to be returned unsold.

In fact, USM will hear this week which company has a won a bid to install another 2,100 to 2,500 bleacher seats in the south end zone, bringing the number of seats to more than 34,000.

"We're excited about it, and about the season in general," Giannini said.

Bleachers were installed the first time USM and JSU met in 1987, when the Golden Eagles claimed a 17-7 victory over the Tigers before 33,687 on Oct. 31, 1987.

The remaining reserved tickets are available for $25. The bleacher seats will cost $20. Those seats will not go on sale until all reserved tickets are sold, Giannini said.

For more information, call the USM Ticket Office at (601) 266-5418, Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

[J-State Tiger]

This is sad. The game shoulda been played in jackson.

 

[Fiyah]

Originally posted by J-State Tiger
This is sad. The game shoulda been played in jackson.

Is this a home & home series or is this just a 1 time event?

 

[MACHIAVELLI]

Originally posted by Fiyah


Is this a home & home series or is this just a 1 time event?

come on fiyah..you know this will never be home & home series. The game will never be played in jackson, unless usm has control of the gate. Which they could...The stadium is for rent.:idea:

 

[G-QUE]

.....Another interesting article....

July 28, 2002

Who has the most favorable schedule? This fall, no doubt, it's USM


By Rick Cleveland
Clarion-Ledger Staff Writer


CONFERENCE USA had its big media deal in Memphis last week. The SEC and the SWAC do their big publicity bashes in Birmingham this week.

These days, our poor mail carrier is loaded down with package after package of college football media guides, which have grown to approximately the size of Webster's unabridged dictionary.

Look around you. The most avid fans are starting to get this anxious, almost gleaming look in their eyes. No matter what they begin talking about ? the economy, the pennant races or the congressional race ? the conversation eventually gets back to college football.

Shows or Pickering? How 'bout them Dawgs?

All these are sure signs that football is upon us.

We hear so much conjecture this time of the year. Fans ? and media ? talk so much about what they don't know. Will Ole Miss finally have a defense that can at least rest its offense? Can State retool its offensive line? At USM, will the real quarterback please step forward? Is this a make-or-break season for Jackson State coaches?

Seems to me, we should discuss what we do know. We know who they play, where and in what order. Always, a team's chances for success depend as much on the schedule as any other factor. The coaches and players still have a job to do. Athletic directors have done theirs.

So let's examine the schedules. Which schedules give teams the best opportunity for success?

Six home games

You ask me, Southern Miss' schedule gives the Golden Eagles the best chance to succeed. USM gets six home games for the first time in history. And that's not all.

USM will play its most difficult conference games ? Cincinnati, Louisville and East Carolina ? at home. The non-conference schedule is manageable. Yes, the Eagles face defending Big 10 champion Illinois, but the Eagles play the Illini at 11 a.m. on Sept. 7 in Hattiesburg. Jeff Bower will hope for 95-degree heat and 75 percent humidity ? and probably get it.

Bower's most difficult task will be preparing his team to play Louisville on a Thursday night, five days after playing on the road at Alabama-Birmingham.

Conversely, Ole Miss faces a brutal schedule. John Shafer did some good things at Ole Miss; this schedule wasn't one of them. Of course, the conference part is built in.

The Rebels begin with a patsy ? Louisiana-Monroe ? but the ending looks like the Bataan Death March. Seven of the last eight games are these: Florida, Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, Georgia, LSU and Mississippi State. Given that, this probably wasn't the year to be playing a really difficult road game at Texas Tech as part of the non-conference schedule.

Bus time at JSU

Mississippi State opens with a doozy ? at Oregon ? and ends with Alabama, Tennessee, Arkansas and Ole Miss. In between, there are few bargains.

Oregon will be tough duty. Nevertheless, the really key early games will be Sept. 19 (Thursday night) with Auburn and Sept. 28 at LSU. Those will determine the direction of this State season. The normal inclination would be to pronounce games with Jacksonville State and Troy State as breathers. We won't go there.

Jackson State's schedule is the most difficult the Tigers have faced, perhaps ever. Here's why: Not only do the Tigers open at USM, they play only four games at Mississippi Veterans Memorial Stadium.

What's up with that?

The first four are on the road and only one of the Tigers' first eight games will be played in Jackson.

The Tigers are going to be spending much of September and October on a bus.

That doesn't bode well.

 

[Bartram]

Sad in a minute aspect, but good stuff overall.

This could get mared down in the classic "us vs them"/"we don't needs to play no white school to beez legit" debate, but this is good stuff if you ask me. It's just like ASU and Troy State; of coarse the game is going to sell out because it is an intriguing matchup that people want to see and/or go to and just hang out and see both schools play each other in the state. You get all the black Troy State fans who come out and/or blacks in the city of Troy that come out who normally would not simply because ASU (a black college) is coming to town and it's more of a social event than anything.

Plus I think that more events like this are invaluable in exposing both sides to the cultures of the other side which is ultimately a good thing.

Not suprised at the USM predictions. I would, however, agree that JSU should push to get a home and home series. Go JSU.

 

[Sonic98]

I think we should regularly play the PWC every couple years even if it's just the better 1AA schools rather than 1A. It is another chance for people to see the schools and bands on display. Not all SWAC schools have household names. IF you mention the names of a few schoools, people will be like "who?"