Southern Miss hosting first FBS game of season

Leave it to Southern Mississippi football coach Jay Hopson to sum up 2020 with a front-runner for understatement of the century: “It’s been a different spring. It’s been a different summer. This year everything has been different.”

However understated he may be, Hopson is right: 2020 has been different. Nearly six months after the spread of novel coronavirus, there’s no indication when normalcy might come.

But on Thursday, Hopson’s Southern Miss team has the opportunity to be a beacon of hope. The Golden Eagles host South Alabama (CBSSN, 9 p.m., ET) in the first college football game of the year between Bowl Subdivision schools. Not only that, but they’ll be doing so in front of about 9,000 fans.

It’s a big responsibility for Southern Miss. But someone has to be first. Might as well be a program that can take all the attention it can get.

“We don’t always play in an arena where all eyes are on from the standpoint of really being the only show in town,” athletic director Jeremy McClain said. “It’s a unique opportunity, it’s a huge opportunity. I know our coaches and student-athletes understand that, and the plan is to go out and take advantage of that. I just feel blessed to lead the way and have all eyes on our program.”

Six months of meetings and conference calls and conversations with medical experts all revolved around the simple goal of being comfortable enough to play football games on campus. As conferences and programs across the country canceled and postponed their seasons, McClain says Southern Miss never wavered from its goal to make college football a reality in 2020.

“What we had to stay focused on was that everyone’s situation was a little bit different. “Even though you might be hearing the same things from conference to conference and from medical experts, working through the information you’re receiving and being willing to take it slowly was the key for us.”