2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

The 2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles were led by fourth-year head coach Larry Fedora and played their home games at M. M. Roberts Stadium. They are a member of the East Division of Conference USA. They finished the season 12–2, 7–2 in C-USA play. They were champions of the East Division and defeated undefeated Houston, 49–28, in the C-USA Championship Game to become conference champions. They were invited to the Hawaii Bowl, where they defeated Nevada, 24–17.

2011 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
Conference USA champion C-USA East Division champion Hawaii Bowl champion
C-USA Championship Game, W 49–28 vs. Houston
Hawaii Bowl, W 24–17 vs. Nevada
Conference	Conference USA
Division	East Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 19
AP	No. 20
Record	12–2 (6–2 C-USA)
Head coach	Larry Fedora (4th season)
Offensive coordinator	Blake Anderson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Co-defensive coordinator	Dan Disch (1st season)
Co-defensive coordinator	David Duggan (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	M. M. Roberts Stadium
Seasons ← 2010 2012 →

2011 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 20 Southern Miss x$		6	–	2					12	–	2
Marshall		5	–	3					7	–	6
East Carolina		4	–	4					5	–	7
UAB		3	–	5					3	–	9
UCF		3	–	5					5	–	7
Memphis		1	–	7					2	–	10
West Division
No. 18 Houston x		8	–	0					13	–	1
Tulsa		7	–	1					8	–	5
SMU		5	–	3					8	–	5
Rice		3	–	5					4	–	8
UTEP		2	–	6					5	–	7
Tulane		1	–	7					2	–	11
Championship: Southern Miss 49, Houston 28
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions As of January 10, 2012 Rankings from AP Poll

Fedora resigned at the end of the regular season to become the head coach at North Carolina. He stayed on and coached the Golden Eagles in the Hawaii Bowl and finished at Southern Miss with a four-year record of 34–19. South Carolina assistant head coach Ellis Johnson took over as head coach in 2012.

Pre-season

Top 25 rankings

During the pre-season, Southern Miss was ranked in several notable top 25 polls. Phil Steele ranked the team as No. 20.^[1] Outside the Top 25, Southern Miss was ranked as No. 55 by Sporting News, No. 31 in the AP Poll, and No. 42 in the Coaches' Poll.^[2][3][4]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	9:00 pm	Louisiana Tech*		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Rivalry in Dixie)	FSN	W 19–17	22,356
September 10	2:30 pm	at Marshall		Joan C. Edwards Stadium Huntington, West Virginia	CSS	L 20–26	24,247
September 17	6:00 pm	Southeastern Louisiana*		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi		W 52–6	27,433
September 24	3:30 pm	at Virginia*		Scott Stadium Charlottesville, Virginia	FS South	W 30–24	43,220
October 1	6:30 pm	Rice		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi	CSS	W 48–24	28,656
October 8	3:30 pm	at Navy*		Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium Annapolis, Maryland	CBSSN	W 63–35	33,462
October 22	7:00 pm	SMU		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi	CBSSN	W 27–3	32,685
October 29	7:00 pm	at UTEP		Sun Bowl El Paso, Texas	CBSSN	W 31–13	24,906
November 5	3:00 pm	at East Carolina		Dowdy–Ficklen Stadium Greenville, North Carolina	CSS	W 48–28	50,345[5]
November 12	7:00 pm	UCF	No. 25	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi	CBSSN	W 30–29	32,925
November 17	7:00 pm	at UAB	No. 22	Legion Field Birmingham, Alabama	CBSSN	L 31–34	14,103
November 26	3:00 pm	Memphis		M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, Mississippi (Black and Blue Bowl)	CSS	W 44–7	26,347
December 3	11:00 am	vs. No. 7 Houston	No. 24	Robertson Stadium Houston (C-USA Championship)	ABC	W 49–28	32,413
December 24	7:00 pm	vs. Nevada*	No. 22	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI (Hawaii Bowl)	ESPN	W 24–17	32,630
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Poll rankings

See also: 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	22	RV	24	22	20
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	25	24	23	20	RV	23	21	19
Harris	Not released						RV	RV	RV	RV	23	20	RV	23	21	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	25	22	20	—	24	21	Not released

References

1. Steele, Phil (May 17, 2011). "Top 30 Countdown Begins!". Phil Steele's College Football Blog. Archived from the original on September 20, 2011. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
2. Hayes, Matt (August 29, 2011). "College football preseason top 120: A closer look after a busy offseason". Sporting News. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
3. "2011 NCAA Football Rankings – AP Top 25 Preseason". ESPN. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
4. "2011 NCAA Football Rankings – USA Today Coaches' Poll Preseason". ESPN. Retrieved November 13, 2011.
5. "Southern Miss Golden Eagles vs. East Carolina Pirates Box Score". ESPN.com. November 5, 2011.