Dasher Carries Middle Tennessee to New Orleans Bowl Win Over Southern Miss

Another great game to the young bowl season happened in New Orleans on Sunday night as Middle Tennessee State handed Southern Miss their first loss ever in the New Orleans Bowl, 42-32.

The Big Easy certainly didn't start off easy for the Blue Raiders as they found themselves trailing 14-0 after the first quarter. That all changed after a steady dose of Dwight Dasher began to take effect.

Dasher finished the game with an amazing 366 yards of total offense, but it wasn't easy for Dasher. Perhaps his biggest opponent wasn't anyone on Southern Miss's roster. It was the Louisiana Superdome's turf.

With the Blue Raiders trailing 14-0, disaster nearly struck any hopes of a comeback. Dasher suffered what appeared to be a season ending, and maybe even career ending, knee injury. He only left the field for one play and later on that drive threw a touchdown pass to get some of the momentum back on the Blue Raiders' side.

What initially looked like a knee sprain was actually an ankle sprain that would continue to bother Dasher throughout the game. Dasher kept the heart of a champion and played through what can only be guessed was a lot of pain.

That same injury forced him to sit out for a few more plays in the second half and backup Brent Burnette did what no one thought he would do. He threw a touchdown pass of his own that put the Blue Raiders up, 28-20.

Dasher was shown cheering his team on as he was being taped up by the medical staff on the sideline. He would go on to set the record for most rushing yards by a quarterback in a bowl game.

The defense deserves a lot of credit as well. They started off shaky and looked to be a little timid out of the gate. Once they settled down, they managed to contain the high-octane offense of Southern Miss.

Most of that can be contributed to holding running back Damion Fletcher to a modest 78 yards on the ground. Fletcher is now eighth on the all-time list in NCAA history for FBS football.

It might be safe to say that the Sun Belt has moved ahead of Conference USA as far as who is the better football conference. Sun Belt teams have now beaten Conference USA teams three of the last four times in the New Orleans Bowl.

It's easy to say that this is the biggest win in the program's history. They finished on a seven-game winning streak, which is one of the longest current streaks in the nation.

Game MVP: Dwight Dasher-366 total yards, 4 touchdowns

Defensive MVP: Alex Suber-5 tackles, 1 interception, 2 tackles for loss

Unsung Hero: Brent Burnette-23 yard touchdown pass in third quarter