Southern Miss
1-10 , 0-7
South Alabama
6-5 , 5-2
Football Falls on Senior Day to South Alabama
11/23/2024 7:24:00 PM | Football
The Golden Eagles (1-9 overall, 0-6 Sun Belt) lost for the ninth-straight time as they finish their regular season next week at Troy.
"I was happy with the way we came out in this game," said Southern Miss interim head coach Reed Stringer. "Our guys were locked in and they were playing with a lot of passion. They were excited to be here. There were times in this game where we could have done some things to put us in a position to win the game and that's the ultimate goal."
Southern Miss opened the game with a season-best 7:06 scoring drive on 14 plays that was culminated in a Tate Rodemaker seven-yard pass to Davis Dalton. After a two-point conversion, the Golden Eagles led 8-0.
Lopez, though hit two second-quarter touchdown passes, one to Kentrel Bullock for 21 yards, before Jeremiah Webb for a 32-yard strike later in the quarter.
The Golden Eagles, though, cut the gap to 14-11 as Connor Gibbs converted a stadium-record 59-yard field goal as time expired to give the home squad momentum going into the second half. The make also became the second-longest field goal in school history.
The Jaguars, who improved to 6-5 and 5-2 to become bowl eligible, took the opening kickoff and scored four plays later on a 40 pass from Lopez to Jamaal Pritchett to make the score 21-11.
USA then put the game away on a 57-yard interception of John White by Wesley Miller to put the game out of reach at 28-11.
Gibbs, who hit a 30-yard field goal in the third quarter wide right for his first miss of the season, came back to convert a 28-yarder with 11:34 remaining.
Fluff Boutwell, who finished with 104 yards on the ground on six carries, ended the scoring with 8:48 remaining with a two-yard run.
Golden Eagle running back Dreke Clark registered the team's first 100-yard rushing game of the season with 115 yards on 12 carries.
Team Stats
USA 0, USM 8
USM - Dalton,Davis 7 yd pass from Rodemaker,Tate (Jesiolowski,Reed rush) 14 plays, 75 yards, TOP 07:06
USA 7, USM 8
USA - Bullock,Kentrel 21 yd pass from Lopez,Gio (Marjan,Laith kick) 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 03:21
USA 14, USM 8
USA - Webb,Jeremiah 32 yd pass from Lopez,Gio (Marjan,Laith kick) 7 plays, 77 yards, TOP 02:44
USA 14, USM 11
USM - Gibbs,Connor 59 yd field goal 1 plays, yards, TOP 00:04
USA 21, USM 11
USA - Pritchett,Jamaal 40 yd pass from Lopez,Gio (Marjan,Laith kick) 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:35
USA 28, USM 11
USA - Miller,Wesley 57 yd interception (Marjan,Laith kick)
USA 28, USM 14
USM - Gibbs,Connor 28 yd field goal 13 plays, 54 yards, TOP 06:02
USA 35, USM 14
USA - Bothwell,Fluff 2 yd run (Marjan,Laith kick), 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 02:46
