How Southern Miss has used more quarterbacks than any team in the country
Southern Miss used four different players behind center in Saturday’s loss to nationally ranked UTSA and have now used a total of 10 different players at the quarterback position.
That is easily more than any other Football Bowl Subdivision team in the country. How did the Golden Eagles get here?
First-year head coach Will Hall inherited a young offense that was ready to be molded into the image of Hall’s long-term plans. That plan quickly went awry as a string of unfortunate luck and inconsistent offensive line play knocked the Golden Eagles off their growth plan and onto a whole new odyssey through the 2021 season.
Of the 10 players used behind center, only five began the season as quarterbacks on the roster. One began the year as a coach, two are listed as running backs and two more as wide receivers.
The most experienced of the bunch is Trey Lowe, a redshirt sophomore. Lowe began his career at West Virginia as a reserve for both the Mountaineer football team and baseball team.
Lowe got the call as the Week 1 starter ahead of true freshman Ty Keyes and Louisville transfer and second-year freshman Tee Webb.
South Alabama handled the inexperienced Golden Eagle offense with a fair amount of ease in the season opener, but Lowe would remain the starter for the next week against Grambling.
Lowe would play well out of the gates but only made it through the first half before leaving the game with a foot injury. He was lost for the year and isn’t expected to be cleared in time for spring practice in 2022.
In stepped Keyes. The Taylorsville native was a highly recruited prospect who arrived at USM as one of the two highest-rated quarterback signees in Golden Eagles history, according to recruiting service 247sports.
Keyes made his first career starts against Troy, Alabama and Rice. Southern Miss averaged just 14 points per game across the three contests. In an effort to provide a spark to the offense, Hall introduced a Wildcat formation against Alabama, placing wide receiver Chandler Pittman at quarterback primarily to run the ball.
In the conference opener against Rice, the injury bug struck again. This time Keyes was lost for the season. Keyes will be able to take a redshirt for the season and return in 2022 as a second-year freshman.
In the meantime, the ball was handed over to former scout teamer and walk-on quarterback Jake Lange. The Jackson Prep product was never the full-time starter in high school and was never expected to be needed to start games for USM in just his second year on campus.
The next five games would spin an unfortunate situation on its head as the revolving door at quarterback began to pick up speed. Lange started in four games that saw five different players take a snap. One of those players, the aforementioned Pittman, suffered his own season-ending injury against UAB.
Junior college transfer Jack Walker participated against UTEP. He threw his first career collegiate passes against UAB and former student coach Jake Smithhart was given pads and attempted his first pass attempts against North Texas.
To exasperate the problem, USM couldn’t find the right starting five along the offensive line due to injuries and inconsistent play. By game nine, the Golden Eagles had used five different configurations up front.
The result has been a conference-worst 43 sacks allowed so far. Southern Miss needed a new plan and Hall knew it.
When the Golden Eagle offense took the field on Saturday against undefeated UTSA, it did so with their fourth different starting quarterback of the season: star running back Frank Gore Jr.
Hall made the decision with idea of taking possessions away from UTSA by keeping the football on the ground and using as much clock as possible.
Gore was lost in the third quarter with a calf bruise, but Hall says the team’s leading rusher is expected to play on Friday. Wide receiver Antavious Willis was Gore’s primary spell at quarterback, but it was running back Dajon Richard who became quarterback number 10 for the Golden Eagles after Gore left the game.
After the contest, Hall said he told his team during the week they were going to hang around with the Roadrunners throughout the game thanks to the new game plan. He was right as USM held a second-half lead and lost late after UTSA found the end zone with roughly four minutes left in the game.
Southern Miss has just Louisiana Tech and Florida International remaining on its schedule. What tricks Hall has up his sleeve to keep the Golden Eagles competitive remains to be seen. But one thing is for sure: Southern Miss will find a way forward regardless of who is taking the snaps.
