How Southern Miss nearly toppled undefeated UTSA in a Conference USA showdown
Southern Miss had the No. 23 team in the country on the ropes in the second half but came up short as the UTSA Roadrunners ran by the Golden Eagles in the fourth quarter.
Jeff Traylor’s undefeated Roadrunners scored the final 17 points of the game and shut out USM in the fourth quarter to survive the Golden Eagles’ upset bid, 27-17.
The Golden Eagles built two different, one-touchdown leads behind a run from Frank Gore, Jr and an opportunistic defense.
Th Roadrunner offense proved too much down the stretch, though. Quarterback Frank Harris threw a 24-yard touchdown to tie the game at the end of the third quarter while running back Sincere McCormick took advantage of a USM fumble and iced the game with a nine-yard score in the final minutes.
Southern Miss drops to 1-9 on the year and 0-6 in conference play. Here are our takeaways from the game.
Golden Eagles show fight near the end of down year
Southern Miss entered the game as 32.5-point underdogs, the largest spread the Golden Eagles have ever faced in conference play. That didn’t deter Will Hall’s team.
“Nobody has had a harder year than we have,” Hall said after the game. “(Our players) played for each other, played for this university, they played for the name on the front of the jersey.”
Hall said they entered the game with only 62 scholarship players available and exited with even fewer.
“Our kids played unbelievable, I thought they played great,” Hall said.
Frank Gore, Jr takes over at quarterback
The second-year freshman running back opened the game at quarterback for USM. He represented the FBS-leading ninth different quarterback the Golden Eagles have used.
Gore showed off his arm with a 32-yard pass to Jason Brownlee, but largely stuck to the ground game behind center.
“What else are you going to do?” Hall asked when prompted about Gore’s appearance at quarterback. “There ain’t a whole lot else, it’s kind of our last ditch effort.”
Gore would tally 123 rushing yards and 33 passing yards. He left the game in the third quarter with a bruised calf suffered on an option keeper.
The Golden Eagles used three other players behind center, including another running back in Dajon Richard and a wide receiver in Antavious Willis, to give USM 11 total quarterbacks on the year.
Defense keeps Southern Miss alive
Southern Miss pitched a first quarter shutout thanks to long offensive possessions and timely plays from the Golden Eagles defense.
Eric Scott, Jr intercepted Frank Harris on UTSA’s first possession of the game and the offense held onto the football for over 11 minutes in the first frame.
Natrone Brooks opened the second half with a 34-yard pick six that gave USM a 17-10 lead. Southern Miss joins Middle Tennessee State as the only two teams to record two interceptions against UTSA this season.
Penalties stunt the offense
Southern Miss was hit with six penalties in the first 15 minutes of the game with five of them being committed by the offense.
The Golden Eagles reached the UTSA two-yard line in the first quarter but a false start, delay of game and a pair of bad snaps had USM attempting and missing a 43-yard field goal.
“It’s inexcusable,” Hall said. “We’ve got to get better.”
Hall says Gore and Willis, who took the majority of the quarterback snaps, weren’t loud enough to hear in their cadence and clapping behind center in front of UTSA’s season-high crowd of 30,105.
Southern Miss would commit 16 penalties in the game, the majority being false starts and delay of games. It was the most the Golden Eagles have been penalized since drawing 16 flags against Troy in 2016.
The Golden Eagles remain on the road and will face Louisiana Tech on Friday. The game is set to kick at 7 p.m. and be broadcast on CBS Sports Network.
