Southern Miss turned matters around in Saturday’s second half to secure a 38-10 season-opening win over Alcorn State. But if you walked away from last weekend thinking USM is equipped to take down rival Mississippi State, you’re probably banking on some serious breaks or a breakout performance from someone rather unexpected.
Redshirt sophomore Jaylond Adams gave the Golden Eagles an early jolt with a kickoff return for a touchdown right out of the gate and added a punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter to put icing on the cake. Without heroics from Adams and the return units, this picture may have looked much different down the stretch.
“[Head coach Jay Hopson] put a big emphasis on special teams,” Adams said. “Pretty much coming into the game, that’s all we talked about: special teams is going to be the difference maker in this ballgame. We bought in as a team and got the job done.”
Braves quarterback Noah Johnson ended the matchup 17-of-31 for 143 yards and one interception while his offense logged 219 yards as a whole. Alcorn State trailed 13-0 at halftime but drove 75 yards down field in the third to score the game’s first offensive touchdown and inject some extra life into the contest. Once the Southern Miss offense started to gel from that point forward though, there was no looking back.
“I was pleased in spurts, but I thought we had a pretty okay game defensively.” Hopson said after the win. “Offensively, we kind of had some sputtering in the first half. We picked it up a little bit in the second, but we’re in search each and every week of that complete game. We know we’ve got work to do.”
USM’s offensive ‘sputtering’ came due to the search for an offensive line grouping that could generate some type of surge up front, which started to click later in the second half. The Black and Gold offense is also missing All-Conference USA junior receiver Quez Watkins (for the final week), along with sophomore running back Trivenskey Mosley who went down with a right leg injury in the first quarter.
Losing Mosley was a sure momentum killer to a group that will now have to narrow the options and fill a feature role in the running game.
“It’s next man up,” USM quarterback Jack Abraham said. “We’ve got a bunch of guys that can get in there and play. I trust everybody that gets in there. We’ve got a lot of depth.”
Southern Miss relied heavily on Abraham to carry them through uncertain waters when the front line and backfield weren’t quite in a groove against Alcorn State. He finished the game 18-of-28 for 293 yards, two touchdowns and one tipped-ball interception.
Redshirt sophomore Steven Anderson will likely be the go-to replacement at running back with junior Kevin Perkins and freshman Dee Baker garnering quality touches as well - while redshirt freshman Jordan Kempf takes over third-down responsibilities. Baker had a team-high 35 yards rushing on the Braves defense, and Kempf picked up 20 yards on three carries.
The next test for Southern Miss comes on the road in the form of in-state rival Mississippi State at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday. Southern Miss’ most recent victory in the series came in 1988 (38-21; Jackson, MS) as MSU has taken the previous four meetings.
Mississippi State’s downfall will be its defensive line if anything, but taking advantage of that is a matter of how effective the USM offensive front and running back group can be across four quarters. Neither were at the level they should’ve been against a SWAC defense.
“You’re looking at a lot of different personnel changes from a year ago,” USM offensive coordinator Buster Faulkner said. “You still see the same structure with what [Mississippi State] is doing defensively. They’re young in some spots and have some guys out. But the biggest thing with us is cleaning up the things we can control.”
On the opposite side of the ball, Southern Miss takes on what will likely be the most complete running back it’ll see all season in MSU junior Kylin Hill – the 5-11, 215-pound standout who rushed for 197 yards and a touchdown against the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns last week.
The Bulldogs also saw a successful debut from multi-talented, graduate transfer quarterback Tommy Stevens. Stevens completed 20 of his 30 passes for 236 yards and two touchdowns. He’s the type of quarterback that will make Southern Miss work harder than normal, and Hopson actually acknowledged Stevens’ resemblance to former MSU signal caller Nick Fitzgerald.
Regardless of week one concerns surrounding the defense getting stuck on the field too long, due to either situational lapses or the offense’s inability to stay on the field, it’s really the traditional defensive mindset of Southern Miss that will have to continue to make the difference. In rivalries especially, unavoidable circumstances don’t exactly yield justification for mediocrity.
“We’re the Nasty Bunch,” Hopson said. “We’ve got to be on the field 59 minutes - just don’t let them cross the line. That’s the mentality we have. As long as I’m a part of defensive football, that’s our mentality. Put the ball on the one-yard line. No excuses.”
