How Southern Miss football is viewing New Orleans Bowl after coaching change
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Southern Miss football interim coach Blake Anderson was clear that the Golden Eagles will be playing to win in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 23.
In fact, that’s exactly what team leaders said immediately after coach Charles Huff told the players he was leaving to take the job at Memphis.
“It’s been very seamless. It’s been as smooth as you could expect it to be in chaos,” Anderson said Dec. 10 of the players’ adjustment to the coaching change. “The leaders stood up immediately following Coach Huff saying, ‘Guys, I’m going to leave . . . ‘ And the message was, ‘We’re playing and we’re winning this damn thing.’ ”
The Golden Eagles (7-5) will play Western Kentucky in the New Orleans Bowl (4:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Caesars Superdome, and according to Anderson, few players have elected not to participate.
“Everybody’s situation is different, circumstances are different. People have reasons that they play, that they don’t play,” quarterback Braylon Braxton said. “I can only speak for what we have going on, and we love the game of football here, and any opportunity we get to play, we’re going to play.”
The Golden Eagles’ motivation to take the game seriously stems from the improbable turnaround they put together this season. They went from 1-11 to 7-5 in just one season, coming within one game of playing for the Sun Belt title.
“Obviously, we set a goal at the beginning of the season to be conference champions, and we fell short of that goal,” Braxton said. “ . . . I feel like this is a chance for us to kind of right that wrong a little bit. Obviously, we would love to have a conference championship trophy, but we could be the champions of something else.”
The game also will be an opportunity for Southern Miss to celebrate its senior class. Anderson said USM is not using a “development approach” with a goal of getting younger players additional playing time or “charity reps.”
Instead, the opportunity will be for the older players to build their profile as potential NFL draft prospects, something Huff pointed out when he encouraged them to play in the bowl game before and after announcing his departure.
“The message Coach Huff had for them (was), ‘Guys, this is a chance . . . This bowl game is important for all of you guys. This is the last, really just a definition of who you are on tape for the next level,’” Anderson said. “And even after he chose to take the job, ‘Guys, y’all need to play this game. Not only do you need to play, you need to play well for you and for the university.”
Tia Reid covers Jackson State sports for the Clarion Ledger. Email her at treid@usatodayco.com and follow her on X @tiareid65.
This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Southern Miss football wants to win New Orleans Bowl without Charles Huff
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