Thursday, November 9
Lafayette, La. / Cajun Field
6:30 PM
Southern Miss
at
Louisiana
Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com
Football Takes to Road for Thursday Night Showdown at Louisiana
11/8/2023 8:48:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss football team underwent a short preparation week to get ready for its Thursday road showdown at Sun Belt Conference foe Louisiana in Lafayette. Game time is set for 6:30 p.m., at Cajun Field.
The game can be seen via ESPNU, along with being heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network as well as online.
The Golden Eagles take to the road following a 24-7 home victory over ULM last Saturday. The game snapped a seven-game losing streak for Southern Miss (2-7 overall, 1-5 Sun Belt). Frank Gore, Jr., rushed for a game-high 131 yards and a touchdown as the Golden Eagles used a 17-point first quarter to defeat the Warhawks for the second-straight year as league foes.
Gore, Jr. recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season to creep closer to the 1,000-yard seasonal mark for the second consecutive year. With 812 yards on the ground this season, Gore, Jr. averages 90.2 per game and looks to join Damion Fletcher (4 times), Ito Smith (3 times), Derrick Nix (3 times) and Ben Garry (2 times) as the only Southern Miss running backs with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
During the ULM contest, Gore, Jr., also moved up into upper echelon of Southern Miss runners, moving ahead of Nix (3,584) and Garry (3,595) into third place on the career rushing chart with 3,703 yards.
Also on offense, quarterback Billy Wiles has thrown for 1,746 yards on 143-of-269 passes. Wiles looks to throw for over 2,000 yards in 2023, which would account for the 17th time that this has happened for a Golden Eagle quarterback in its history.
Wiles has thrown to the trio of Ti Mims, Latreal Jones and Jakarius Caston, who continue to help lead the Golden Eagle receiving corps. Mims leads the team with 32 catches for 369, while Jones has 31 grabs for 450 yards and Caston holds the team lead with 460 receiving yards on 27 catches.
On defense, Dylan Lawrence continues to pace the squad in tackles with 58. Despite missing a game, Jay Stanley ranks second in tackles with 43, to go along with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The senior linebacker duo of Swayze Bozeman and Hayes Maples also have collected 37 and 34 stops, respectively.
Place kicker Andrew Stein headlines the Golden Eagle special teams, holding the team lead in scoring with 69 points, which includes hitting 16-of-21 field goals and 21-of-22 extra points. Stein also has made at least one field goal in all nine games for the Golden Eagles this season. Returner Antavious Willis also ranks No. 4 nationally in combined yards between kickoffs and punts with 566.
The UL game marks the 53rd meeting between the two schools with the Golden Eagles leading 40-11-1, including capturing the last 10 contests. Last year's meeting was a Thursday night tilt in Hattiesburg with the Golden Eagles taking a 39-24 decision.
The Ragin' Cajuns (5-4, 2-3) enter the game having dropped a 37-17 decision at Arkansas State last weekend.
Following the UL contest, the Golden Eagles play out of conference for the final time when they travel to in-state foe Mississippi State for a Saturday, Nov. 18, game. Game time is set for 11 a.m.
The game can be seen via ESPNU, along with being heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network as well as online.
The Golden Eagles take to the road following a 24-7 home victory over ULM last Saturday. The game snapped a seven-game losing streak for Southern Miss (2-7 overall, 1-5 Sun Belt). Frank Gore, Jr., rushed for a game-high 131 yards and a touchdown as the Golden Eagles used a 17-point first quarter to defeat the Warhawks for the second-straight year as league foes.
Gore, Jr. recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season to creep closer to the 1,000-yard seasonal mark for the second consecutive year. With 812 yards on the ground this season, Gore, Jr. averages 90.2 per game and looks to join Damion Fletcher (4 times), Ito Smith (3 times), Derrick Nix (3 times) and Ben Garry (2 times) as the only Southern Miss running backs with multiple 1,000-yard rushing seasons.
During the ULM contest, Gore, Jr., also moved up into upper echelon of Southern Miss runners, moving ahead of Nix (3,584) and Garry (3,595) into third place on the career rushing chart with 3,703 yards.
Also on offense, quarterback Billy Wiles has thrown for 1,746 yards on 143-of-269 passes. Wiles looks to throw for over 2,000 yards in 2023, which would account for the 17th time that this has happened for a Golden Eagle quarterback in its history.
Wiles has thrown to the trio of Ti Mims, Latreal Jones and Jakarius Caston, who continue to help lead the Golden Eagle receiving corps. Mims leads the team with 32 catches for 369, while Jones has 31 grabs for 450 yards and Caston holds the team lead with 460 receiving yards on 27 catches.
On defense, Dylan Lawrence continues to pace the squad in tackles with 58. Despite missing a game, Jay Stanley ranks second in tackles with 43, to go along with three interceptions and a fumble recovery. The senior linebacker duo of Swayze Bozeman and Hayes Maples also have collected 37 and 34 stops, respectively.
Place kicker Andrew Stein headlines the Golden Eagle special teams, holding the team lead in scoring with 69 points, which includes hitting 16-of-21 field goals and 21-of-22 extra points. Stein also has made at least one field goal in all nine games for the Golden Eagles this season. Returner Antavious Willis also ranks No. 4 nationally in combined yards between kickoffs and punts with 566.
The UL game marks the 53rd meeting between the two schools with the Golden Eagles leading 40-11-1, including capturing the last 10 contests. Last year's meeting was a Thursday night tilt in Hattiesburg with the Golden Eagles taking a 39-24 decision.
The Ragin' Cajuns (5-4, 2-3) enter the game having dropped a 37-17 decision at Arkansas State last weekend.
Following the UL contest, the Golden Eagles play out of conference for the final time when they travel to in-state foe Mississippi State for a Saturday, Nov. 18, game. Game time is set for 11 a.m.
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