‘Back to being physical.’ Highlights from USM football’s final preseason scrimmage

With two weeks remaining until the kickoff to the 2021 college football season, first-year Southern Miss head coach Will Hall believes his team is right where it needs to be.

“I saw some good and bad today,” said Hall. “It was extremely physical. A lot of inside run game, a lot give and take.”

The Golden Eagles went through their final full-scale scrimmage of preseason camp Saturday morning, a longer-than-usual 2½ hours at Roberts Stadium, taking advantage of a relatively low-humidity day.

“We were blessed with beautiful weather today,” said Hall. “The good Lord cooled it down for us a little bit, which we’re so thankful for.”

On the field, the day belonged to the Golden Eagle running backs, who accounted for nearly 500 rushing yards.

Freshman Frank Gore Jr. led the way for Southern Miss, running for 166 yards on 16 carries and two scores. He also hauled in a 20-yard TD pass from Trey Lowe on the opening series to set the tone for the day.

“I thought our o-line really came to play today,” said Hall. “We ran inside gap schemes, inside runs and got some good double teams to get good movement.

“We’re really talented at running back. Obviously, Frank Gore is an unbelievable talent, and we’ve got some other guys who are coming on. And we’re bringing the fullback back into the offense, and our guys there had great days.

Redshirt freshman Darius Maberry also had a fine effort, running for 130 yards on 10 carries. Back-up quarterback Ty Keyes also surpassed the 100-yard rushing mark, with 106 yards and 2 TDs on 11 carries.

Hall wasn’t quite ready to anoint Keyes as the official back-up to Lowe, but he got most of the reps with the second-team offense, completing 10 of 18 passes for 133 yards.

“Ty is a really good football player who is really underwater right now,” said Hall. “So, you give, and you take. Once Ty learns how to be a quarterback at this level, he’s going to be really good, because he wants it. He puts everything he has into getting better.”

Keyes’ best throw came on the final series of the day, a two-minute drill against the second-string defense. Keyes’ 38-yard pass to redshirt sophomore Jalen Mays set up a 12-yard scoring run for the former Taylorsville standout.

While the back-up role is still officially up for grabs, the No. 1 quarterback position is firmly in the hands of Lowe. The transfer from West Virginia looked comfortable running the first-team offense, completing 12 of 18 passes for 135 yards and a score.

“I am the most blessed person in the world,” said Hall. “I’ve got my dream job, I’ve got a beautiful wife who’s a great lady, and I’ve got a great quarterback who loves football and lives life a winner. So, I’m golden. You can’t have a better life than what I’ve got.”

Lowe’s best pass was in the opening two-minute drill, a brisk four-play, 69-yard drive, highlighted by Lowe’s 44-yard strike to junior Antoine Robinson. Gore scored his second touchdown of the day on an 18-yard scamper around the right side to finish the drive.

A big reason for the offensive tilt to the scrimmage was the absence of several starters on defense, who were held out for various nagging injuries.

Among those who sat out the scrimmage were starting defensive tackles Eriq Kitchen and Tahj Sykes, and linebackers Hayes Maples and Swayze Bozeman. Nevertheless, the defense stepped up, especially in the red zone.

“I thought we made some good stops, especially in the red zone, to force field goals,” said Hall. “Especially in the third-down period, I thought the No. 1 defense really stepped up. I think the No. 1 offense was 0 for 4 in that series.”

The Golden Eagles open the season at 7 p.m. Sept. 3 at South Alabama. Southern Miss has its home opener Sept. 10 against Grambling.

“We were able to come out of here pretty healthy, which is what you want,” said Hall. “I think the No. 1 word right now is confidence. We really built some toughness during this offseason.

“We’re back to being a physical program. That’s the way we’re going to play football, and I think we took major strides to being that tough team that we want to be.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 3:04 PM.