Here’s what we learned as Southern Miss topped UTSA to get back in the C-USA hunt
The Southern Miss football team is back in the thick of the Conference USA title mix after watching their chances fade in a loss at Louisiana Tech a little less than a month ago.
After scuffling for much of the first half, the Southern Miss offense kicked into gear late in the second quarter and led the way to a 36-17 victory at Texas-San Antonio Saturday night.
The Golden Eagles improved to 7-3 overall and 5-1 in Conference USA to move into a tie with Louisiana Tech (8-2, 5-1) in the West Division.
“It wasn’t our best performance, but we’ll take the win,” USM head coach Jay Hopson said. “We’re glad to get out of here. This is a good football team we beat tonight. We knew it would be a dog fight, but I felt like we made plays when we had to.”
La. Tech suffered its first conference loss of the season in a 31-10 game at Marshall on Friday night, giving Southern Miss an opening to get back in the hunt in the C-USA West.
La. Tech played the game without senior quarterback J’Mar Smith, who was suspended for two games prior to the trip to Huntington, West Virginia. He was one of three players who sat out due to an unspecified violation of athletic department policy, joining receiver Adrian Hardy and linebacker James Jackson. Hardy and Smith will both sit out next week’s trip to UAB.
If USM wins its next two games and La. Tech falls in either the UAB game or a Nov. 30 home contest against UTSA, the Golden Eagles will be C-USA West champions and earn a bid to the Dec. 7 conference title game.
Offense breaks out
USM lived by the big play on offense Saturday in the Alamodome as senior running back De’Michael Harris and redshirt junior Quez Watkins both had nice days.
Harris ran 16 times for 121 yards, getting in the end zone first on a 56-yard touchdown run up the middle at the 1:55 mark of the second quarter. With 3:12 left in the third, he again broke free off the right tackle for a 33-yard touchdown run.
Watkins pulled in seven catches for 137 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown toss at the 12:51 mark of the third quarter.
“De’Michael and Quez had some big plays, and that’s what those guys can do,” USM head coach Jay Hopson said. “They’re explosive players and they make explosive plays.”
Biloxi native Tim Jones, a junior receiver, had a touchdown catch for the second consecutive week and finished with eight catches for 97 yards.
Also getting in on the action was redshirt junior running back Kevin Perkins, who provided the final score of the night on a 39-yard run up the middle in the fourth quarter. He ran eight times for 65 yards.
USM rushed 38 times for 205 yards and three touchdowns as a team. The rushing total for Harris was the best by a Golden Eagle running back this season.
USM redshirt junior quarterback Jack Abraham completed 22 of 34 passes for 290 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
The USM offense started the game 0-of-7 on third down conversions and finished 3-of-14.
Due to an unspecified injury, Southern Miss redshirt sophomore receiver/return man Jaylond Adams did not make the trip to San Antonio.
After the Southern Miss defense held Rice and UAB to under 200 yards of offense the last two weeks, UTSA managed 422 on Saturday. Roadrunners quarterback Lowell Narcisse, a former LSU player who spent last season at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, completed 21 of 40 passes for 325 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
UTSA dropped to 4-6 and 3-3 in C-USA play.
Southern Miss next hosts Western Kentucky at 2:30 p.m. on Nov. 23.
This story was originally published November 16, 2019 at 8:49 PM.
