Table set for big 2016 for USM

Southern Miss’ season came to an end Saturday with a 44-31 loss to Washington in the Heart of Dallas Bowl.

Now it’s time for some season-ending housekeeping.

First things first: Todd Monken put it best Saturday night when he said this year’s class of seniors at Southern Miss will “always be revered … for bringing our program back.”

Couldn’t have said it better myself.

Monken, who just put the finishing touches on his third season at the helm of the football Golden Eagles, and his coaching staff deserve an awful lot of credit for their role in the turnaround so many have been longing for since, oh, roughly mid-September 2012.

But Southern Miss’ seniors – from the stars to the subs – should always be remembered as the class that cleaned up the mess the program had become and re-established it as one of the preeminent powers in Conference USA.

Kudos, gentlemen.

Next up: A small group of Golden Eagles broke the rules Monken laid out for them during the week leading up to Saturday’s game. As a result, they were promptly removed from the rest of the week’s team activities. Two were starters (Brian Anderson and Cornell Armstrong), while two more were not (Xavier Marion and Garry Lawrence Jr.).

I have two points to make here and I’ll keep them brief. Monken’s complete intolerance for riff-raff and across-the-board implementation of consequences should be applauded. Secondly, it’s disappointing when college football players don’t abide by the rules so clearly laid out for them by their head coach. But it happens. Always has, always will. Hopefully the underclassmen will learn from their mistake. Unfortunately for Anderson, a senior, he won’t get the chance to redeem himself with the Golden Eagles. But it should not stain an otherwise stellar career the middle linebacker put together at Southern Miss.

Now, the 2015 season is over and it’s never too soon to turn the page.

Coming off a 9-5 campaign, which includes a C-USA West Division title, the Golden Eagles could very well be in for a monster 2016 season. A big reason why is the amount of starters and significant contributors that are set to return, quarterback Nick Mullens being chief among them.

Aside from him, take a look at the major guys that are set to be back in a Southern Miss uniform in 2016: Ito Smith, D.J. Thompson, Cameron Tom, Brandon Farmer, Devin Farrior, Oliver Bates, Jacob Fleming, Korey Robertson, Jordan Mitchell, Daythan Davis and Taylor Marini. And that’s just on offense.

Defensively, Dylan Bradley, Darian Yancey, Xavier Thigpen, Ja’Boree Poole, Elijah Parker, Sherrod Ruff, D’Nerius Antoine, Deshadrick Truly, Picasso Nelson Jr., Devonta Foster, Armstrong, Trae Collins, Evan Osborne, Rod Crayton, Draper Riley, Naim Mustafaa, Jeremy Sangster and LaDarius Harris return.

There’s also a boatload of experience coming back on special teams, including punter Tyler Sarrazin and kicker Stephen Brauchle.

Not to mention guys like Wil Freeman, Jerry McCorvey, JayShawn Washington and Julian Allen – four players who were expected to play very large roles for Southern Miss this season but either missed the entire season or all but one game due to injury.

The schedule sets up well for the Golden Eagles. Kentucky is one of the more beatable teams in the SEC and of the rest of the team’s non-conference opponents (Troy, Savannah State and LSU), only LSU should be favored.

It’s been reported all C-USA teams will face the same league foes they did this season with the only change being the host sites will be flipped. That means Marshall and Louisiana Tech – the only legitimate threats to an undefeated C-USA campaign for the Golden Eagles – must travel to M.M. Roberts Stadium in 2016.

Point is, if Southern Miss plays the way it is capable of next season and gets a break or three, 2016 could turn out to be a landmark year for the Golden Eagles.

Contact sports writer Jason Munz at 584-3107. Also, follow @munzly on Twitter.