Southern Miss ends season on high note behind quirky but effective superback offense
Frank Gore Jr. totaled four touchdowns for Southern Miss as the Golden Eagles ended the 2021 season with a 37-17 win over Florida International.
Southern Miss (3-9) scored three touchdowns on its first three drives and scored a pair of insurance touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure its second conference win of the year.
Gore ran for 68 yards and two touchdowns and completed four of his five pass attempts for 81 yards and two scores.
Here are our takeaways from the Golden Eagles’ season finale win over the Golden Panthers (1-11).
The superback strikes again
Southern Miss has not only fully leaned into the superback behind center, it’s perfected the position. Gore threw two perfect strikes to Jason Brownlee for touchdowns and Dajon Richard recorded his second straight game over the century mark in rushing with a 107-yard performance.
The only use of an actual quarterback came on a gimmick play that resulted in Jason Goldstein throwing an interception and led to FIU scoring its first touchdown of the game.
In total, the Golden Eagles got 322 rushing yards out of the superback, the most in a game since running for 363 against Charlotte in 2017.
Gore and Antavious Willis combined to throw for 122 yards on 8-of-9 passing.
Defense rewards offense
The USM defense has fed off any offensive success the Golden Eagles have found this season and Saturday’s bout was no different.
The Golden Eagles had four takeaways, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries, and the offense scored two of its early touchdowns off of FIU turnovers.
In the last two weeks, USM has forced its opponents into nine turnovers.
The unit came up big in the fourth quarter, allowing just 8 yards while the Golden Eagle offense played keep-away, averaging 8.9 yards per carry in the final 15 minutes.
Santrell Latham led USM with a season-high eight tackles and a sack.
Southern Miss carries momentum into offseason
The Golden Eagles made it two wins in a row to end the season and took an undefeated UTSA team to the wire just before starting the short streak.
This is the first time since 2018 that USM has finished the season with back-to back wins.
Southern Miss’ offense has ranked near the bottom of Conference USA in nearly every category but finished the year with a 400-yard output for the first time against an FBS opponent all year.
The Golden Eagles’ 8.9 yards per play is the most efficient the offense has been in a game since reaching 8.98 against UTSA in 2017.
Head coach Will Hall adapted and innovated in a lost season and created the momentum necessary to build upon in the offseason.
Southern Miss is scheduled to open the 2022 season at home against the Liberty Flames.
This story was originally published November 27, 2021 at 6:52 PM.
