Southern Miss falls to South Alabama in heartbreaking loss at the Rock

South Alabama dealt Southern Miss another heartbreaking loss when the Jaguars came into the Rock Saturday afternoon. Balls on players’ fingertips, running backs tripped up at the last second and huge plays for opposing South Alabama highlight Southern Miss’s 27-20 loss to South Alabama. The loss marks the third consecutive year Southern Miss falls to the Jaguars.

“It wasn’t a bad effort by the defense. It wasn’t a bad effort by the offense. It wasn’t even a bad effort by the kicking game. It just wasn’t enough.” Head Coach Will Hall said after the game.

It seems like the same story for every loss. Southern Miss does not do enough to win the game, even when given opportunities. You can argue that Southern Miss has improved on every front since this game last season, but at some point, they have got to start showing the verbiage on the field.

Hall said after the game that it is “with development and coaching” to get to that next step to winning these close games. The Golden Eagles have had six games this season where the game finished a one-possession game. They are 3-3 in those matchups, with three losses to the teams with winning records.

“I think we’re going to end up playing five teams this year that won nine games or more. We beat one of them, and we took the other four to the wire.” Hall said.

The schedule has been hard, but the team has been getting so close so many times.

“A really tough game, we were just a few plays away. Wish I could have made a few more play,” starting quarterback Trey Low said.

South Alabama started with the ball and on the game’s second play. Jaguar running back Braylon McReynolds ran right up the seams for a 64-yard gain. The Golden Eagle defense held firm and forced a South Alabama field goal to make the score 3-0 in favor of the Jaguars.

Southern Miss went three and out right out of the gate and gave the ball right back to South Alabama. On third down of the ensuing drive, Jaguar quarterback Carter Bradley tried to squeeze it into Caullin Lacy, but Jay Stanley intercepted the ball and returned it to near midfield.

The offense cashed in the interception a couple of plays later thanks to a Frank Gore Jr. seven-yard touchdown run. Southern Miss led 7-3 at the end of the first quarter.

After several drives which did not move the ball much by either team, Southern Miss finally put together an eight-play, 31-yard drive in just over four minutes to finish with a 22-yard field goal by Briggs Bourgeois to put USM on top 10-3.

South Alabama responded with a four-play, 64-yard drive in just over a minute to tie the game instantly. The Jaguars would put together another drive to lead 13-10 at the half.

The Jaguars led in yardage at halftime 274-91 and had 153 passing yards. Southern Miss just had 53 passing yards, a distinct difference from Lowe and company’s numbers last week.

“We had some opportunities to make some explosive plays that we didn’t make and they did, that’s a credit to them.” Hall said.

There was no scoring in the second half until the Golden Eagles put together a seven-play, 65-yard drive in just over four minutes with one minute remaining in the quarter. In a weird-looking play, Gore Jr and Lowe were not expecting the ball, but the ball was snapped anyways. Gore picked the ball up and heaved it deep, and Brownlee came up with the 29-yard touchdown pass to put Southern Miss back in front 17-13.

The lead would not last long. The Jaguars put together a 10-play, 61-yard drive and finished it off with Bradley finding Lacy for a 26-yard touchdown pass to bring the score to 20-17.

The Golden Eagles went for it on fourth and six on their next drive. That decision led to a South Alabama touchdown drive to push the lead to 27-17 and ice the game with under five minutes remaining.

“I felt like if they punt it and have a long drive and then they will never get it back. And if we get it, we win the game. Analytically, it was the right call,” Hall said. “Now that we didn’t get it, I wish I had punted.”

Southerrn Miss has one more shot at reaching bowl eligibility next week at ULM, airing at 4 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.