New Orleans Bowl Preview

In college football, the bowl game experience is much larger than strapping on the pads for 60 minutes and especially in a city like New Orleans.
Today was media day for Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette leading up to the final practice of the week for both teams.
While there’s plenty of extracurriculars going on prior to Saturday’s game, USM remains focused on the task at hand of winning its first bowl game since 2011. USM Head Coach Jay Hopson said, “I grew up my whole life coming down to New Orleans and there’s no sports town like it. Just to be here and it’s just something that we feel blessed and we’re appreciative of the opportunity.”
Southern Miss wide receiver D.J. Thompson said, “The biggest thing for me was just being down here with my teammates and celebrating it with my team, but we’re still down here for business and we’re still thinking about football. I mean, I think it’s our biggest focus is playing in that dome.”
The Golden Eagles played in the New Orleans Bowl four other times from 2004-2009, compiling a record of 3-1 in those games. Most recently, they lost to Middle Tennessee State in 2009.