Will Southern Miss keep its super back formation around? Here’s what Hall had to say
Southern Miss head coach Will Hall chose to get creative when faced with a severe lack of quarterback depth and staring down the barrel of a one-win season.
After playing more quarterbacks than any other team in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Hall introduced a new position for the road battle against undefeated UTSA: the super back.
The result was a competitive battle that saw the offense control the ball and even hold a stunning fourth quarter lead against the Roadrunners.
Though the Golden Eagles would lose that game, the super back package would lead USM to back-to-wins over Louisiana Tech and Florida International to end the season. Southern Miss scored 35 and 37 points in the respective wins after averaging just 14 points per game in the previous 10 contests.
Hall expects to have season-opening starter Trey Lowe and former highly-touted recruit Ty Keyes back at some point over the offseason, leading us to the biggest story of the season.
Will the super back continue to be part of the Golden Eagle offense? According to Hall, don’t expect it to be shelved for good.
“Desperate times are usually when extraordinary things are discovered all throughout life,” Hall said following the FIU game. “This will be a part of what we do because we’ve got the kids to do it.”
Hall points to the recruiting the staff has been doing as a reason to continue rolling out the formation, citing the athletes coming in with experience at more than one position.
“This will be a package of what we do because we’ve got too many (athletes),” Hall said. “We’ve got two kids committed that are unbelievable athletes that play quarterback at their high schools. We’re only adding to it and it’ll always be a little mix of something we do now.”
Southern Miss will use a normal quarterback going forward and Hall expects to develop them into NFL-caliber players. The Golden Eagles have the top quarterback in the state of Mississippi committed in Zach Wilcke and, according to Hall, may add another out of the transfer portal before the next season begins.
Fan-favorite super back Frank Gore, Jr. will return to his normal duties at running back but expect to see him periodically reprise his role behind center again.
“He’ll play some quarterback and it’ll be a part of what we do,” Hall said. “Frank is a winner. He’s a tough guy. He played these last two games battered and bruised. He wanted to do this, he wanted to give us a chance to win.”
Gore was arguably the most effective passer the Golden Eagles used this year, completing 62.5 percent of his throws for 189 yards and four touchdowns to just one interception.
Antavious Willis handled some of the passing duties out of the super back, as well, and completed nine of his 11 attempts with a touchdown.
The unique position tallied five touchdown passes to two interceptions across three games while the players listed at quarterback threw nine touchdowns and 15 interceptions.
The run-based formation also led to Dajon Richard recording his first two career 100-yard games over the final two contests of the season.
In what otherwise would have been a forgetful season, the innovative super back position created by Hall and staff created momentum and a reason to remember the 2021 Golden Eagles.
