University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
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Mississippi State
Southern Miss falls to Mississippi State 34-16
9/6/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
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HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Despite a 311-yard passing performance from Nick Mullens and a M.M. Roberts Stadium record crowd of 36,641, Southern Miss dropped its season opener Saturday night to Mississippi State, 34-16, in front of a nationally televised audience.
Southern Miss, who entertained the Bulldogs for the first time here since 1989, started the game by holding on to the football for 13:15 minutes of the opening quarter to jump out to a 10-7 advantage.
Stephen Brauchle, in his first game for the Golden Eagles, got the Golden Eagles on the board first with a 31-yard field goal, but the Bulldogs bounced right back with a 100-yard return on the ensuing kicoff from Brandon Holloway.
The Golden Eagles responded by taking their last lead of the game when Mullens, who finished 30-of-44 passing, hit tight end Jay'Shawn Washington for his first career touchdown on a 19-yard strike with 2:20 left in the quarter.
The scored remained that way until MSU then took the lead for good on a Justin Johnson 5-yard pass from Dak Prescott with 10:57 to go in the second quarter.
Prescott, who finished with a pair of touchdown passes, added his second scoring strike with 12:15 to go in the third quarter on a four-yard toss to Gus Walley before Westin Graves extended the MSU lead to 24-10 with a 38-yard field goal just under two minutes later.
The two teams then traded field goals after that as Brauchle added a 27-yarder midway through the third, before Graves tallied his second try of the night from 37 yards. Brauchle opened the final period with a 27-yard field goal to cut the margin to 27-16. It was Prescott, though, who added another scoring tally with 5:55 remaining on a seven-yard scoring run.
Golden Eagle running back Ito Smith tallied a team-best 69 yards on eight carries, while redshirt freshman Korey Robertson added six catches for 81 yards for the home squad.
Prescott led the Bulldogs with 72 yards on the ground and 237 in the air on 22-of-38 passing.
The Golden Eagles return to action next Saturday, Sept. 12, when they play host to Austin Peay. Game time is set for 2:30 p.m.
Team Notes:
Attendance: 36,641 (new M.M. Roberts Stadium record)
Junior Nick Mullens threw his 26th career touchdown pass in the first quarter, a 19-yard strike to Jay'Shawn Washington. Nick Mullens topped the 200-yard mark in passing yardage in the first half (208). It was the 15th time in 17 career starts that he passed for at least 200 yards. That ties him with Brett Favre for the fifth-most games with 200+ passing yards.
Ten different Golden Eagles caught a pass in the first half, as Mullens registered 18 completions.
Nick Mullens finished the game with 311 passing yards, his fifth 300-yard passing game. That ties him with Brett Favre for the second-most 300-yard passing outings in school history. Austin Davis holds the record with 17.
Senior Jalen Richard went over the 1,000-yard mark in career rushing yardage in the second quarter. With 48 yards on the night he now has 1,032 rushing yards as a Golden Eagle.
The 44-yard run by sophomore Ito Smith in the third quarter was the longest run of his career. Smith finished the game with 69 yards on 8 carries (8.6 yards per attempt).
Redshirt freshman Korey Robertson had six receptions for 81 yards in his first game as a Golden Eagle.
Redshirt freshman Jay'Shawn Washington scored his first career touchdown late in the first quarter on a 19-yard reception from Nick Mullens.
Junior D'Nerius Antoine forced a turnover in his first series as a Golden Eagle, stripping Ashton Shumpert at the one-yard line, leading to a touchback in the end zone when junior Devonta Foster recovered the fumble. He tied for the team lead in tackles with five and had a pass breakup.
Junior transfer Stephen Brauchle was 3-for-3 in field goal attempts in his first game as a Golden Eagle, connecting from 31, 27 and 27 yards.
The blocked punt suffered by Tyler Sarrazin in the second quarter was the first time Southern Miss has had a punt blocked since Sept. 10, 2011 vs. Marshall. That also ends a streak of 209 snaps without a block for senior long snapper Lance Schuffert.
