Southern Miss extends winning streak to four and attains bowl eligibility
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- Southern Miss clinches bowl eligibility at 6-2 after 49-21 rout of ULM
- Braylon Braxton throws four TDs, completes 18 of 23 for 248 yards
- Team records four-game win streak, uses three takeaways and two 21-point runs
Southern Miss will play at least one extra game this season.
The Golden Eagles (6-2, 4-0) got a career-high four touchdown passes from Braylon Braxton in a 49-21 rout of Sun Belt West foe ULM and clinched bowl eligibility for the first time since 2022 in the process.
It’s the quickest USM has reached six wins since the 2011 team needed just seven games to hit the magic number and comes a year removed from a 1-11 campaign.
“I don’t want everyone to get to the point where we get so win snobby that we don’t recognize the value and how hard it is to win,” USM coach Charles Huff said of the importance of reaching bowl eligibility. “There always should be an expectation, but we can’t become victory snobs and all of a sudden wins don’t matter or who we beat doesn’t matter. That’s not how it works when you’re trying to get back to the top.”
Southern Miss used three takeaways and two different runs of 21 unanswered points to keep its conference record spotless halfway through the league slate.
Braxton completed 18 of 23 passes for 248 yards with touchdown passes to Kyirin Heath, Tychaun Chapman, Carl Chester and Bralon Brown. Ole Miss transfer Matt Jones found the end zone for the third straight game, doing so twice.
The Eagles have extended their win streak to four games, their longest since winning six consecutive in 2015.
“We still got work to do, don’t get me wrong. But I think this is a good time for us to take a breath, because we’ve got a long stretch against some really good teams coming up,” Huff said.
Secondary continues being the difference maker
Southern Miss is now the nation’s leader in interceptions with its 14th and 15th snagged Saturday. But it took some time to lure ULM into its trap.
The Warhawks found running lanes aplenty, scoring twice on the ground in the first half and picking up over 200 yards rushing on the night. The efficiency of Braxton and an explosive offense that produced 10 plays of at least 15 yards eventually forced ULM’s hand.
“In order to take the strain off our defense we have to be efficient on offense,” Huff said. “I thought today we were efficient, which ultimately loosened it up on the defense. Even going into the half being up one score, it didn’t feel like there was a lot of strain. Then we went up two scores. Now you start to say, well, they can run it, but their time is starting to run. Then you go up three scores, and you’re starting to get them into what we do well, which is defend passes.”
Linebacker Chris Jones jumped a third quarter pass that led directly to USM’s leading ballooning to 35-14 when Braxton connected with Chester’s back shoulder in the end zone.
Three plays later it was Anthony Richard Jr who made his second interception of the season. The secondary would break up six passes and hold ULM’s pass game to three completions on 12 pass attempts made at least 10 yards downfield.
“It just comes from our preparation and knowing that the focus of the game is the ball,” safety Corey Myrick said. “Make plays on the ball and play with cohesion.”
Extending drives
Southern Miss’ ability to convert on late downs hit a low point in last week’s win at Louisiana. The Golden Eagles converted on just two of the 13 third downs they faced and that sunk the season conversion rate to 38.5%.
The offense improved to 5-of-11 against ULM and converted two fourth down attempts in the first half. The second resulted in a 34-yard shovel pass touchdown to Heath.
Huff credited his quarterback for operating an offense that was turnover-free for the first time since week two.
“I thought (Braxton) did a great job scrambling, activating his legs to create some first downs and ultimately not making bad decisions with the ball,” Huff said. “I thought that helped the offense and helped the defense, as well.”
Braxton, in turn, downplayed his own performance and pointed to his playmakers.
“I thought I played OK,” Braxton said. “There’s some throws that I want back. I had five incompletions and I know for sure three were on me... Our slot receivers Elijah Metcalf and (Tychaun) Chapman, when we get those guys going and get them touches I feel like we’re a different offense.”
Metcalf and Chapman hauled in all 10 of their combined targets Saturday for 159 yards.
Southern Miss gets its second bye next week and will open the final month of the regular season at Arkansas State on Nov. 8.
This story was originally published October 25, 2025 at 5:50 PM.
