MEMPHIS, Tennessee (Ticker) -- After one of the best turnarounds in school history, 25th-ranked Utah takes on Southern Mississippi in the Liberty Bowl in a battle of conference champions.
In his first season at Utah, Urban Meyer transformed the Utes from a 5-6 team last year into Mountain West Conference champions. It was Utah's first outright conference title since 1957.
Utah (9-2) is looking to tie a school record for wins set in 1994. In their previous Liberty Bowl appearance, the Utes defeated West Virginia, 32-6, inn 1964 to finish 9-2.
Utah improved to third in the Mountain West in offense this season after finishing last a year ago. The turnaround can be traced to the play of sophomore quarterback Alex Smith, who completed 66.8 percent of his passes (165-of-247) for 2,121 yards with 15 touchdowns and two interceptions. Smith's completion percentage was the second-best mark in school history behind only Lee Grosscup, who completed 68.6 percent of his passes in 1957.
Brandon Warfield, the MWC's leading rusher after seven games, returned for the regular season finale after missing parts of three contests with a knee injury. He rushed for 885 yards and 10 TDs on 210 carries.
Utah blanked Brigham Young, 3-0, in its regular-season finale, ending the Cougars' NCAA record of 361 games without being shut out.
Southern Mississippi (9-3) won its fourth Conference USA title after finishing unbeaten in league play. The Golden Eagles handed Texas Christian its only loss of the season, a 40-28 victory that may have knocked the Horned Frogs out of the Bowl Championship Series.
Southern Miss relies heavily on its defense, which is ranked 12th against the run (178.1) and 16th in scoring defense (17.4). Anthony Harris was the Golden Eagles' leading rusher with 632 yards and seven TDS while Dustin Almond passed for 1,755 yards and 13 TDs.
Southern Miss is making its sixth bowl appearance in seven years, losing to Oklahoma State, 33-23, in last year's Houston Bowl. The Golden Eagles are 4-4 in bowl games under coach Jeff Bower, who is 89-61-1 in 13 seasons at his alma mater.
Utah is playing Southern Miss for the first time and is 5-0 against Conference USA teams since 1996.
