Just two plays into the game, a 42-yard Southern Miss football trick play provided early hope that the Golden Eagles could upset visiting USF on Saturday. The 14 unanswered points that followed were encouraging as well.
It disappeared minutes later as USF (1-2) rattled off three straight scores against Southern Miss (1-2) for a comfortable 49-24 win at M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg.
“We just didn’t play a complete game for four quarters,” Southern Miss coach Will Hall said. “We came out hot with a great start and two great offensive drives, and got a great fourth down stop defensively.”
Three quarterbacks — Tate Rodemaker, Ethan Crawford and John White — saw action for the Golden Eagles.
“Tate’s ankle was banged up,” said Hall. “Two drives before that, he turned his ankle. That next drive, we had a wide-open corner route. We were backed up on about the 9-yard line around a sprint out pass. He had a wide-open corner out, and he missed it, and he just didn’t look like himself. He didn’t have good stability and a foundation right there. And so we felt like we needed to go with Ethan, and so that’s what we did.”
Crawford provided a spark upon entering late in the second quarter, making big plays through the air and on the ground. That spark fizzled quickly after the halftime break as the visitors outscored Southern Miss 21-3 in the second half.
Crawford, a sophomore, finished 6-of-13 passing for 183 yards. He had 19 rushing yards, one touchdown and an interception. Rodemaker was an efficient 10-of-15 passing for 120 yards and two scores in his nearly two quarters of work.
Southern Miss was unable to slow quarterback Byrum Brown and the USF offense which put up 562 yards of total offense.
“I just feel like everybody just needs to do their job,” said Southern Miss linebacker Tre Pinkney. “I feel like we would be all right down the stretch, but we end up giving over 300 rushing yards, so that was a big problem. You take those explosive plays, I don’t think they have as much success as they did throughout the night, but if everybody does their ‘1-11’, we’ll be just fine.”
The Golden Eagles produced 487 yards themselves but also lost two fumbles which translated into 14 points for the Bulls.
“I am disappointed that we had a chance to win a big game right here at home versus a really good football team, but that’s not good enough,” said Hall. “It’s not why we came here. We came here to build this program into a place that competes for conference championships, which I think this team has a chance to do.”
Southern Miss vs USF score updatesFourth quarterUSF 49, Southern Miss 24: Gibbs 31-yard field goal (4Q, 7:05)
A new quarterback, John White, saw action for Southern Miss. He was 2-of-4 passing for 69 yards on the drive but was unable to get six in the red zone. Connor Gibbs struck true on a 31-yard field goal.
USF 49, Southern Miss 21: Joiner 50-yard rush TD (4Q, 9:25)
Joiner made it two touchdowns on the day, and it was another long one. USF has 530 yards of offense on the night.
Third quarterUSF 42, Southern Miss 21: Wright 33-yard rush TD (3Q, 1:04)
USF is running away with this one. Nay’Quan Wright was the sixth different Bull to find the end zone.
USF 35, Southern Miss 21: Keith 3-yard rush TD (3Q, 8:12)
A fake field goal caught Southern Miss off guard on fourth down, taking the Bulls inside the 5-yard line for an easy rushing score for Ta’Ron Keith.
Second quarterUSF 28, Southern Miss 21: Crawford 8-yard rush TD (2Q, 2:31)
Backup quarterback Ethan Crawford subbed into the game and immediately made an impact. His first play of the drive was a 56-yard strike to Tiaquelin Mims. Three plays later, Crawford scored himself on a quarterback draw.
USF 28, Southern Miss 14: Brown 1-yard rush TD (2Q, 4:29)
After going down 14-0 early, USF has moved the ball at will on offense. A good punt return set up the easy score for the QB Brown who has now scored with his arm and his legs. Southern Miss has ample time to respond and take some momentum into the break.
USF 21, Southern Miss 14: Hardeman 3-yard TD (2Q, 10:52)
That’s 21 unanswered points now for the visitors after a 13-play drive. Brown got it wide to his big target Hardeman who hauled it in while falling out of bounds.
First quarterSouthern Miss 14, USF 14: Joiner 43-yard rushing TD (1Q, 0:32)
This game has been a shootout to start. USF running back Kelley Joiner broke through the middle of the line of scrimmage and ran scot-free to the end zone to tie the game. There were over 300 yards of combined offense between the two teams in the first quarter.
Southern Miss 14, USF 7: Singletary 4-yard TD (1Q, 2:55)
Two plays after a crucial fourth-down conversion, USF got on the board when quarterback Byrum Brown found tight end Payten Singletary in the middle of the end zone.
Southern Miss 14, USF 0: Kenyon Clay 37-yard TD (1Q, 7:05)
The big plays continued for the Golden Eagles after forcing a USF turnover on downs. Rodemaker hit Clay on a screen pass and the running back evaded several tacklers on the way to an early two-touchdown lead.
Southern Miss 7, USF 0: Kyirin Heath 19-yard TD (1Q, 12:22)
Following the trick play, the Golden Eagles’ offense moved swiftly down the field. Rodemaker found Heath in the flat who broke a tackle and walked in for the touchdown to cap a 67-yard drive.
Golden Eagles start fast with trick play
Southern Miss received the ball to begin the game and dug into its bag of tricks on the second play from scrimmage. Ethan Crawford hit Tate Rodemaker for a 42-yard gain to give the Golden Eagles some early momentum.
Southern Miss vs USF time todayDate: Sept. 14Time: 6 p.m.Location: M.M. Roberts StadiumWhat channel is Southern Miss vs USF game on today?TV channel: N/AStreaming: ESPN+Southern Miss vs USF historySeries record: Southern Miss leads, 3-1Southern Miss last win: Oct. 2, 2004 (32-20)South Florida last win: Oct. 12, 2002 (16-13)Southern Miss vs USF predictions
The Hattiesburg American’s prediction for Southern Miss vs South Florida can be found here.
Southern Miss vs USF betting odds
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Saturday:
Spread: South Florida -11.5Over/under: 58.5Southern Miss vs USF weather update
Accuweather predicts a high of 89 degrees with an 8% chance of precipitation.
Southern Miss football 2024 scheduleAug. 31: at Kentucky (31-0 L)Sept. 7: vs Southeastern Louisiana (35-10 W)Sept. 14: vs South FloridaSept. 21: at Jacksonville StateOct. 5: vs. LouisianaOct. 12: at Louisiana MonroeOct. 19: vs Arkansas StateOct. 26: at James MadisonNov. 9: vs MarshallNov. 16: at Texas StateNov. 23: vs South AlabamaNov. 30: at Troy
Buy Southern Miss football tickets this season with StubHub
USF football 2024 scheduleAug. 31: vs Bethune Cookman (48-3 W)Sept. 7: at Alabama (42-16 L)Sept. 14: at Southern MissSept. 21: vs MiamiSept. 28: at TulaneOct. 11: vs MemphisOct. 19: vs UABNov. 1: at Florida AtlanticNov. 9: vs NavyNov. 16: at CharlotteNov. 23: vs TulsaNov. 30: at Rice
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Wendell Shepherd Jr. is the high school sports beat writer for The Commercial Appeal. Contact Wendell at [email protected]. Follow Wendell on X, formerly known as Twitter, @wendellsjr_.
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