Southern Miss coach Blake Anderson lit the fuse after his team’s loss to UConn, and Huskies athletic director David Benedict didn’t let it sit.
Anderson, speaking Sunday on the Sun Belt Conference coaches’ media call, argued that Southern Miss had opened the season against three teams with heavily funded defenses. In his view, the Golden Eagles were facing a mismatch before the ball was even kicked.
“We played three really well-built and bought defenses,” said Anderson, a veteran head coach. “The defensive front in all three of those games is their strength.
Auburn has got 20 million (dollars) in their defense, and UConn spends 13 million on their team, probably over half of that is on their defense. Tulane spends somewhere around eight to 10 million on their team, and I'd say probably five to six million on their defensive front.”
Benedict responded directly, calling Anderson’s estimate off the mark.
“I guess it’s a compliment, but a wildly inaccurate take,” Benedict wrote. “I guess facts don’t matter anymore.”
The back-and-forth traces back to UConn’s 48-20 win over Southern Miss on Sept. 19 in Hattiesburg, Miss. That was UConn’s second victory of the season, and it came with the Huskies controlling the game for just over 34 minutes. By halftime, UConn had built a 27-6 lead and forced Southern Miss away from its running game.
The Golden Eagles ended up leaning almost entirely on the pass, piling up 299 passing yards but doing so on 29 completions in 51 attempts with two interceptions. Southern Miss also struggled badly on money downs, converting only five of 15 third downs and failing on both fourth-down tries.
A week later, Southern Miss was back in action against Tulane in New Orleans, and the game followed a much tighter script. The teams were tied 14-14 at halftime, and Southern Miss carried a 21-14 lead into the fourth quarter. Tulane answered with a field goal and a 74-yard touchdown run by Maurice Turner.
The Golden Eagles still had a chance late. Creighton Wilbanks missed a 44-yard field goal with 5:44 remaining, then had a 21-yard try blocked four minutes later that would have tied the game. Tulane held on, 24-21.
Anderson said Southern Miss will continue playing a “buy game” - the kind of road matchup that brings a large payout, such as Auburn’s $1.85 million payment for this year’s game, according to AL.com. But he also said the ideal setup would be different.
In his words, Southern Miss would rather be matched with programs operating in the same financial lane, teams “that are kind of in the same market we're in, that's spending what we're spending somewhere in the million-dollar range a year and rev share or something in ballpark.”
In Other News...
UConn Gets A Syracuse Test Shaped By Two Huge Unknowns
UConns home matchup with Syracuse in East Hartford brings a familiar opponent back into the picture, and this one comes with an extra layer of intrigue for the Huskies. It will be the 15th all-time meeting between the programs, and there is a real coaching crossover in the game as well, with Vince Kehres now leading Syracuses defense and Nunzio Campanile calling plays for UConns offense.
What makes this one tougher to sort out is how much of Syracuses early-season identity is still taking shape. The Orange are expected to settle in around quarterback Steve Angeli after his return from an Achilles injury, and they also have a fresh weapon in wide receiver Calvin Russell III, who is set for his first collegiate game. For UConn, that means preparing for a team with a little history, a little newness and a couple of moving parts that could change the feel of the afternoon quickly. [Read more 🡒]
Andre Drummond Lands In A Role That Could Shape A Title Race
Andre Drummond has landed in a spot where the margins are thin and the expectations are clear. The veteran center is stepping into the Knicks frontcourt as the only major new addition after their championship season, bringing the kind of rebounding, physicality and locker-room presence teams lean on when the calendar gets tougher. Mike Brown and the players around him have already shown confidence that he can fit quickly and help steady a group that does not have much time for a long adjustment period.
For Drummond, this is also a return to a franchise he once watched from the outside as a Knicks fan, only now the responsibility is different. He is being asked to help fill the minutes and role left by Mitchell Robinson, and the fit could matter more than a routine roster move because New York is trying to stay at the top of a crowded race. The early sense around the team is that Drummonds experience gives them a real chance to keep the front line intact, even if the final answer will come only after he starts logging meaningful games in the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
Dan Hurleys Rival Pickup Is Facing An Immediate UConn Test
Na'jai Hines arrives in Storrs with a familiar kind of baggage for a Big East transfer, and this one carries a little extra edge. Dan Hurley went into the portal and brought in a player who had been a key piece for Seton Hall, tying UConn to a program and a coach, Shaheen Holloway, that Hurley knows well from his own past association with the Pirates and current rivalry with Holloway.
For Hines, the immediate challenge is less about old loyalties than learning how quickly he can fit into UConns way of doing things. The Huskies practices are known for being demanding, and the system has already asked him to adjust to a style that is both physically taxing and complicated, making his transition as much about survival as it is about opportunity. [Read more 🡒]