The Blake Anderson era at Southern Miss opens with a New Orleans Bowl loss
Blake Anderson’s first win will have to wait until next year.
Western Kentucky spoiled the new Southern Miss head coach’s debut in the New Orleans Bowl on Tuesday, beating the Golden Eagles, 27-16.
Southern Miss led for much of the game and even dominated defensively in the first half. But a quarterback change on the opposite sideline ignited the Hilltoppers’ offense while a nasty case of the injury bug chewed through the Golden Eagles’ secondary.
Western Kentucky backup quarterback Maverick McIvor led two second-half touchdown drives of 65 yards each to turn a 13-6 USM lead into a 20-16 WKU advantage before Marvis Parrish iced the game with a 54-yard rushing touchdown in the fourth.
“Great effort, just poor execution and that falls on me,” Anderson said after the game. “I told the guys in the locker room this is on me, all me. My responsibility.”
The Hilltoppers had gained only 84 yards — just 2.5 yards per play — and converted one third down out of eight in the first half. With McIvor behind center, WKU produced 338 yards in 39 plays and converted on eight of its nine third down attempts.
Southern Miss quarterback Braylon Braxton threw for 258 yards and one score against one interception, but the Eagles could not take advantage of three WKU turnovers and the play of USM safety Corey Myrick.
McIvor nearly opened the second half with an explosive touchdown to tight end Noah Meyers on the Toppers’ second play of the quarter. Meyers raced across more than 60 yards of open grass until being tracked down by Myrick, who punched the ball free before Meyers could cross the plane of the end zone.
Southern Miss recovered the fumble in the end zone. Myrick saved the offense later in the quarter when he picked off McIvor two plays after USM turned the ball over on downs deep in its own territory.
In seven trips across midfield, though, the Eagles’ offense came away with only one touchdown. A holding call forced a punt on a drive that had reached the Hilltopper 30-yard line.
There was a failed double pass in the second quarter that led to a missed 48-yard field goal try. Southern Miss then attempted another double pass in the third quarter and it resulted in a 12-yard loss on a possession that had reached the 24-yard line, forcing USM to settle for a field goal.
“We had plenty of opportunities to win and just didn’t get it done on offense,” Anderson said. “Our defense played lights out... Offensively we have struggled down the stretch. I think there’s plenty of reasons for that and we’ll address that in the offseason.”
While Anderson’s offense struggled, his secondary started taking hits. Cornerback Anthony Richard was lost in the first quarter. His opposite field compliment Josh Moten left the game early in the third quarter. And then All-Conference nickel Ian Foster had to leave the game ahead of what would be WKU’s go-ahead scoring drive in the fourth quarter.
McIvor earned MVP honors after throwing for 199 yards and running for another 48.
Anderson is the second coach at USM to debut in a bowl game along with Jeff Bower at the end of the 1990 season. Both coaches lost the game.
What’s next?
Southern Miss heads into a critical offseason with a hefty amount of promised attrition.
More than 30 players have exhausted their availabilities and that includes a majority of the seniors. The losses will only stack when the transfer portal opens Jan. 2.
“I have met with every player that has the possibility to return,” Anderson said. “A handful have said they’re coming, they’re staying. A handful have said they’re going with coach (Charles) Huff, which is expected. He brought a lot of those guys here. There’s a lot of undecideds. There’s a lot of noise outside our building, guys being tugged in a million different directions.
“We’ll keep some that maybe you didn’t think we would and we’ll lose some that we probably shouldn’t, just because the voices are loud.”
Until every decision is made, Anderson and his new staff won’t have exact knowledge of every need.
But there is one position group that Anderson circled as high priority and pointed to the failed fourth and one run in the second half as an example why.
“We have to beef up our O-line and allow us to run the ball when we need to,” Anderson said. “We’ve got to put some time, energy and money into building up the O-line... If we can’t get a first down on third and one and a half and on fourth and one, we do not deserve to win. And that’s where it starts in the offseason. We’ve got to be able to move the pile.”
There are a number of key players whose decisions will be watched closely. Chief among them being linebacker Chris Jones and safety Corey Myrick.
Jones is a Jackson area product and a true sophomore who led the Sun Belt in tackles this season. When pressed on his future, Jones said he has spoken with Anderson and hinted his decision may already have been made.
“Right now, you just got to do what’s best for you and make business decisions,” Jones said. “That’s just what it is with how college football is right now. At this point in my career, I got to do what’s best for me.”
Myrick is also a sophomore and arrived with Huff from Marshall last offseason. In a defensive backfield loaded with talent, Myrick emerged as one of the more consistent performers. He finished the season as the fifth highest graded player on the roster, according to PFF.com.
Myrick was more vague when asked the same question.
“Anderson’s got some more things going on and I’m pretty sure he’s going to bring more winning seasons together in the future,” Myrick said. “Just being where your feet are, I haven’t met with Anderson yet, so there’s more to talk about with that. I know he just hired a defensive coordinator, defensive staff, so just seeing how everything will look in the future like Chris (Jones) said, the best opportunity for you and just make sure everything is everything.”
The makeup of the next iteration of USM football will come together over the next 60 days with the 15-day portal window in January and signing day in February.
And it’ll likely be the third entirely unique roster in three years.
“We’ll go to work in the offseason, recruit like crazy, develop like crazy and see where we turn the page and move forward and hopefully look a lot different in every phase, but especially offensively,” Anderson said.
Southern Miss finishes the year with a 7-6 record after dropping each of its final four games. It heads into the first offseason under the former Arkansas State and Utah State head coach after he agreed to a four-year contract shortly after the departure of Huff to Memphis.
This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 8:32 PM.
