Rivalry in Dixie

Rivalry in Dixie is the name given to the Louisiana Tech–Southern Miss football rivalry.^[2] It is a college football rivalry game between the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs and Southern Miss Golden Eagles.^[3]

Rivalry in Dixie

Louisiana Tech Bulldogs Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Sport	Football
First meeting	November 28, 1935 Louisiana Tech 27–0
Latest meeting	November 19, 2021 Southern Miss 35–19
Next meeting	September 20, 2025
Statistics
Meetings total	53
All-time series	Southern Miss leads 36–17[1]
Largest victory	Southern Miss, 52–0 (1952)
Longest win streak	Southern Miss, 9 (1950–1958)
Current win streak	Southern Miss, 1 (2021–present)

120km
75miles

Louisiana Tech

Southern Miss

   

Locations of Louisiana Tech and Southern Miss

History

Louisiana Tech won the first game of the series 27–0 on November 28, 1935. La Tech and USM were conference foes in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association from 1935 to 1941. In addition, La Tech and USM were both founding members of the Gulf States Conference, which began play in 1948. The two football programs competed against each other every season from 1946 to 1972.

The Bulldogs and Golden Eagles played 11 times from 1975 to 1992. The name of the rivalry was coined by Mississippi Southern alumnus and Louisiana Tech head football coach Maxie Lambright. Following the Bulldogs' 23–22 victory over the Golden Eagles in 1976, Lambright declared, "This is the finest rivalry in Dixie." Thereafter, the event became known as "Rivalry in Dixie."

The word "Dixie" refers to privately issued currency from banks in Louisiana.^[4] These banks issued ten-dollar notes,^[5] labeled "Dix", French for "ten", on the reverse side. The notes were known as "Dixies" by English-speaking southerners, and the area around New Orleans and the French-speaking parts of Louisiana came to be known as "Dixieland". Eventually, usage of the term broadened to refer to most of the Southern United States.

Southern Miss is known for the "World-Famous Dixie Darlings." The USM dance team was established in 1954 as the Dixie Maids. However, after only one week of existence, the band director Dr. Raymond Mannoni decided to change their name to the Dixie Darlings after a Mobile reporter remarked "Look at those delightful darlings of Dixie" after seeing the Dixie Darlings perform. The Dixie Darlings debuted at the Mississippi Southern vs. Alabama game in Montgomery on September 17, 1954. Since then, the Dixie Darlings have become a fixture at Golden Eagle football games.^[6] In addition, the Pride of Mississippi Marching Band plays "Are You from Dixie?" following the extra point attempt following a Golden Eagle touchdown.

Dixie Theatre in Ruston, Louisiana.

The historic Dixie Theatre is a landmark in the heart of downtown Ruston, Louisiana. The theater was built in 1928 as the Astor Theater and showed films and presented concerts. The theater was renamed in 1932 as the Rialto and become the Dixie Theatre in the 1950s after being purchased by the Dixie Theater Corporation of New Orleans. The famous flashing star crowning the marquee was added in 1956. In 1996, the Dixie Center of the Arts was established to reinstate the Dixie Theatre as a center for entertainment and the arts in downtown Ruston as it hosts full seasons of events, parties, and concerts.^[7]

In 2008, La Tech athletics director and head football coach Derek Dooley and USM athletics director Richard Giannini signed a four-game contract to renew the rivalry. Giannini stated, "We look forward to renewing our series with Louisiana Tech, one of our oldest rivalries in terms of games, and a quality opponent in the Western Athletic Conference."^[8] In 2010, Southern Miss won the first game of the renewed series, 13–12 on a rainy night in Ruston.^[9] The two teams opened their 2011 season in Hattiesburg in spite of heavy rain and high winds from Tropical Storm Lee on Saturday, September 3, 2011, on Fox Sports Net. Southern Miss won a nail-biter 19–17 thanks to a last minute field goal by Danny Hrapmann.

With Louisiana Tech's move to Conference USA in 2013, Rivalry in Dixie is once again a conference rivalry. Currently, Southern Miss leads the series 36–17 over Louisiana Tech.^[10]

On October 26, 2021, USM announced they were leaving Conference USA for the Sun Belt Conference.^[11] While the game will no longer be a conference rivalry, future matchups have been scheduled; at Louisiana Tech in 2025, 2029, 2032 and at Southern Miss in 2026, 2031, 2033.^[12][13]

Game results

Louisiana Tech victories

Southern Miss victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 November 28, 1935 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 27–0 2 October 16, 1936 Ruston, LA Mississippi State Teachers 12–7 3 October 15, 1937 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 7–0 4 October 3, 1941 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 19–7 5 September 21, 1946 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 7–6 6 October 11, 1947 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 7–6 7 November 13, 1948 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 20–6 8 November 12, 1949 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 34–13 9 November 18, 1950 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 41–20 10 November 17, 1951 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 33–7 11 November 15, 1952 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 52–0 12 November 14, 1953 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 30–0 13 September 25, 1954 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 28–0 14 September 24, 1955 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 7–6 15 September 22, 1956 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 14–0 16 September 21, 1957 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 7–0 17 September 20, 1958 Hattiesburg, MS Mississippi Southern 14–0 18 November 28, 1959 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 16–0 19 November 12, 1960 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 10–7 20 November 11, 1961 Ruston, LA Mississippi Southern 7–0 21 November 17, 1962 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 29–18 22 November 16, 1963 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 10–0 23 November 14, 1964 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 14–7 24 November 13, 1965 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 31–7 25 September 17, 1966 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 14–0 26 November 23, 1967 Shreveport, LA Southern Miss 58–7 27 November 2, 1968 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 27–20 No. Date Location Winner Score 28 November 1, 1969 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 24–23 29 November 14, 1970 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 27–6 30 November 13, 1971 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 24–20 31 September 16, 1972 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 33–14 32 October 25, 1975 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 24–14 33 November 13, 1976 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 23–22 34 November 12, 1977 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 28–10 35 September 20, 1980 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 38–11 36 November 20, 1982 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 13–6 37 September 17, 1983 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 28–10 38 September 15, 1984 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 34–0 39 September 7, 1985 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 28–0 40 November 12, 1988 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 26–19 41 November 16, 1991 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 30–14 42 September 19, 1992 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 16–13 43 September 25, 2010 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 13–12 44 September 3, 2011 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 19–17 45 November 9, 2013 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 36–13 46 October 25, 2014 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 31–20 47 November 28, 2015 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 58–24 48 November 26, 2016 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 39–24 49 October 21, 2017 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 34–272OT 50 November 17, 2018 Hattiesburg, MS Southern Miss 21–20 51 October 19, 2019 Ruston, LA Louisiana Tech 45–30 52 September 19, 2020 Hattiesburg, MS Louisiana Tech 31–30 53 November 19, 2021 Ruston, LA Southern Miss 35–19 Series: Southern Miss leads 36–17[1]

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games