USM football releases its depth chart for the season opener. There are a few surprises.
Southern Miss football has released its depth chart in advance of its Sept. 3 season opener against South Alabama, and it comes with a few surprises.
USM practice has been off limits to media since its start in early August, meaning this depth chart gives the best indication of who will be in the starting lineup for Thursday night’s 8 p.m. kickoff against the Jaguars on CBS Sports Network in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
To nobody’s surprise, redshirt senior Jack Abraham is the USM starting quarterback to begin the third straight season.
While it appears likely that Southern Miss will have a by-committee approach at running back, highly-touted junior college signee Don Ragsdale is listed as first-string at running back. Three other players are listed behind him with Kevin Perkins, a redshirt senior, the one with the most experience.
Junior college transfer Jason Brownlee has backed up the buzz and earned a starting spot at wide receiver and he will be joined on the first-string by three-year starter Tim Jones, who has worked mostly out of the slot during his career.
Northwest Mississippi Community College transfer DeMarcus Jones is listed as the other starter at receiver in a bit of an upset. He was a player who hadn’t generated much talk entering fall camp.
As expected, Arkansas graduate transfer Grayson Gunter has stepped in immediately as a starter at tight end.
The starting lineup along the offensive line stacks up about as you would expect with the only uncertainty coming at left tackle with a pair of seniors, Tre Johnson and Khalique Washington, both listed as first-string.
While there are plenty of new names on the defensive depth chart, one thing that stands out is that returning starter senior Rachuan Mitchelle is listed as second string at corner behind junior college transfer Eric Scott, Jr. Camron Harrell, another junior college transfer, is the starter at the other corner.
Redshirt junior Santell Latham appears to have stepped up his game and taken over at middle linebacker. He’s currently backed up by former Gulfport High School quarterback T.Q. Newsome, who switched to linebacker during fall camp.
Southern Miss lost six players who decided to opt out for the 2020 season, including redshirt senior defensive end Jacques Turner. The man replacing him at the moment is junior college transfer Dominic Quewon.
On special teams, there’s still a battle for the place-kicking duties between Briggs Bourgeois and Andrew Stein.
Here’s a look at the full depth chart for Southern Miss:
Starters’ names are in all caps.
USM offense
WR
5 TIM JONES 6-1, 202, SR.
16 Brandon Hayes 6-2, 199, Fr.
WR
17 JASON BROWNLEE 6-3, 192, Jr.
87 Marquis McCoy 6-4, 216, RJr.
LT
78 TRE JOHNSON 6-7, 303, Sr.
70 KHALIQUE WASHINGTON 6-5, 339, Sr.
LG
68 BRYCE FOXWORTH 6-3, 307, Sr.
79 Tykeem Doss 6-5, 379, Jr.
C
57 TRACE CLOPTON 6-2, 283, Jr.
52 Louis Smith 6-3, 281, RFr.
RG
60 COKER WRIGHT 6-4, 282, So.
64 Hayden Sturdevant 6-4, 315, RJr.
RT
63 ARVIN FLETCHER 6-3, 313, Sr.
65 Gerquan Scott 6-4, 331, RFr.
WR
26 DEMARCUS JONES 5-11, 200, RJr.
11 Antavious Willis 5-10, 173, RFr.
TE
89 GRAYSON GUNTER 6-5, 247, GS
38 Naricuss Driver 6-3, 266, RJr.
88 Luke Baker 6-5, 240, RFr.
QB
15 JACK ABRAHAM 6-0, 209, RSr.
6 Tate Whatley 6-2, 198, RSo.
RB
3 DON RAGSDALE 5-10, 205, Jr.
33 Kevin Perkins 6-0, 234, RSr.
23 Dee Baker 6-0, 182, RFr.
21 Frank Gore, Jr. 5-8, 185, Fr.
USM defense
DE
47 DOMINIC QUEWON 6-3, 254, Jr.
24 Terrence Cherry 6-2, 263, Fr.
NT
3 TAHJ SYKES 6-3, 308, RJr.
95 Andrew Cole 6-4, 317, RJr.
DT
2 ERIQ KITCHEN 6-2, 286, Sr.
93 Josh Ratcliff 6-0, 302, So.
WOLF
46 AVERIE HABAS 6-3, 231, Jr.
37 Devin Thomas 6-1, 222, RJr.
NICKEL
18 NATRONE BROOKS 5-11, 161, Jr.
25 Tyler Barnes -or- 5-10, 189, Sr.
36 Tyrek Moody 5-10, 191, RJr.
MLB
6 SANTRELL LATHAM 6-2, 213, RJr.
35 T.Q. Newsome 6-1, 233, RFr.
SLB
28 SWAYZE BOZEMAN 6-3, 228, Sr.
32 Hayes Maples 6-2, 221, RSo.
CB
12 ERIC SCOTT, JR. 6-2, 192, RJr.
1 Rachuan Mitchell 5-11, 179, RSr.
SS
9 MALIK SHORTS 6-0, 192, RSo.
31 J.D. Rutherford 5-9, 182, Jr.
FS
19 KY’EL HEMBY 6-1, 182, RSr.
8 Josh Perry 6-0, 200, GS
CB
29 CAMRON HARRELL 5-10, 178, Jr.
20 Vinson Brown 6-0, 175, Fr.
Southern Miss special teams
KICKOFF
40 BRIGGS BOURGEOIS 6-1, 220, RJr.
98 Andrew Stein 5-9, 166, So.
PK
98 ANDREW STEIN -or- 5-9, 166, So.
40 BRIGGS BOURGEOIS 6-1, 220, RJr.
P
92 PAYTON SNYDER -or- 6-3, 181, RSo.
81 PARKER COLBURN -or- 6-0, 187, RFr.
16 MASON HUNT 6-2, 200, RJr.
DS
61 T.J. HARVEY 6-0, 212, RSo.
59 Justin Hulett 6-0, 194, RSr.
H
92 PAYTON SNYDER 6-3, 181, RSo.
11 Thomas Morton 6-4, 232, RJr.
KR
23 DEE BAKER 6-0, 182, RFr.
3 DON RAGSDALE 5-10, 205, Jr.
PR
5 TIM JONES 6-1, 202, Sr.
18 Natrone Brooks 5-11, 161, Jr
This story was originally published August 27, 2020 at 2:01 PM.
