Southern Miss upset bid comes up short at Coastal Carolina
The upset winds rolled into Conway, South Carolina but died on the Surf Turf in the final quarter of Southern Miss’ bout with Coastal Carolina.
Playing without All-Conference quarterback Grayson McCall, the Chanticleers survived, 26-23, despite watching a 17-0 advantage disappear in the first half.
Quarterback Jarrett Guest led Coastal to a quick three-score lead in the first quarter, but the Golden Eagles answered with 20 unanswered points, guided by Trey Lowe in his first start of the season.
Southern Miss (5-5, 3-3) had an opportunity in the final minutes to tie the game, but Lowe was sacked near midfield on fourth down.
Coastal Carolina (9-1, 6-1) scored on a Reese White, two-yard touchdown run with nine minutes remaining to take the lead for the final time.
Lowe threw for 295 yards with a touchdown toss to Ty Mims in the second quarter. That was the play that wrapped up a furious comeback that saw USM outgain Coastal 82 yards to seven in the second frame.
Golden Eagle running back Frank Gore Jr. ran for 46 yards, had 90 receiving yards and completed an 18-yard pass to Mims. Gore became the first Sun Belt player to ever reach those figures in a game.
Jason Brownlee caught six passes for 123 yards, eclipsing the century mark for the fourth time this season. Brownlee’s big day was largely thanks to Lowe, who provided USM with its first game without an interception thrown since the win over Tulane on Sept. 24.
Lowe is the first Golden Eagle to throw for at least 290 yards without a pick since Jack Abraham against South Alabama in 2020. His 295 yards are the most by a USM quarterback this season.
Southern Miss returns home to face South Alabama next week needing one more win to reach bowl eligibility.
This story was originally published November 12, 2022 at 10:30 PM.
