Western Kentucky will host Southern Miss in the Conference USA Championship on Saturday. The game figures to be an explosive shootout between two of the best offenses in the country, regardless of conference.
Southern Miss vs. WKU, 2015 C-USA Championship: Time, TV schedule, live stream and 3 things to know
The Hilltoppers and Golden Eagles will duke it out for Conference USA supremacy. Here’s how you can tune in, and what to watch for.
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This is the Hilltoppers’ first appearance in the Conference USA title game since joining the conference in 2014 from the Sun Belt. They’re favored to win the game and it’s not difficult to see why. WKU’s only two losses of the season are to bowl teams from power conferences in Indiana and LSU, and it only lost to the Hoosiers by three in Bloomington. Their resume also includes a win over Vanderbilt in the season opener, which looks better now than many figured it would.
For Southern Miss, their 2015 season was a return to the top of the conference after some dark years. They won the 2011 Conference USA title game with Larry Fedora at the helm, but his departure for North Carolina led to a precipitous fall. They went from 11-2 in Fedora’s last year to 0-12 in Ellis Johnson’s one year in Hattiesburg, then Todd Monken was 4-20 in his first two years before the Golden Eagles broke through to go 9-3 this year.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: Noon ET, ESPN2
Radio: Southern Miss | Western Kentucky
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Western Kentucky is favored by 7.5 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Underdog Dynasty.
Three big things to know
1. Get ready for fireworks. Both of these offenses can really go. They’re two of eight teams in the entire country to average over seven yards per play this year, occupying the same air as Baylor, North Carolina, Oregon, Notre Dame,Texas Tech, and Ole Miss. They’re both top 10 teams in terms of scoring offense as well. WKU’s offense comes in fourth in Offensive S&P+, a good distance ahead of Southern Miss at No. 36, but that’s still a very respectable showing. This game is going to feature a lot of points, so strap in.
2. Can either defense make stops? Neither of these defenses are bad, really. Southern Miss is 31st in yards per play allowed and Western Kentucky is 60th, which is perfectly fine when your offense scores as much as theirs does. This game has all the makings of a last-team-with-the-ball-wins situation, so if one defense can come up with a couple stops in a row, that could very easily swing the game.
3. This is a bona fide quarterback dual. He's not Deshaun Watson, but chances are if you're a college football fan, you've heard of Brandon Doughty. The WKU quarterback has been fantastic this year, throwing for 4,184 yards, 42 touchdowns and only six interceptions. He'll be pushed by Southern Miss' Nick Mullens, who has been nearly as good but received much less chatter. Mullens has thrown for 3,964 yards, 35 touchdowns and nine interceptions this year, and will have a chance to show that he's just as good on Conference USA's biggest stage.
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