Football Travels to South Alabama for Final Regular Season Road Contest

Saturday, November 22

Mobile, Ala. / Hancock Whitney Stadium

2:30 PM

Southern Miss

South Alabama

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Football Travels to South Alabama for Final Regular Season Road Contest

11/21/2025 11:29:00 AM | Football

Football Press Box

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The closest two opponents in terms of distance between campuses in the Sun Belt Conference meet this weekend when Southern Miss travels to Mobile to face South Alabama in a key West Division showdown.

With just 90 miles separating the two schools, this game takes place at Whitney Hancock Stadium on the USA campus and has a start time of 2:30 p.m. The contest can be seen via ESPN+, as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.

The Golden Eagles (7-3 overall, 5-1 Sun Belt) hold a one-game lead in the West Division of the league with two left to play. Southern Miss completes the regular season, Saturday, Nov. 29, at home against Troy.

Despite its proximity, the two schools have only played on the gridiron five times, as South Alabama did not begin fielding a program until the 2009 season and became a member of the Sun Belt in the sport in 2012.

The two schools first met in the initial contest to open the 2020 collegiate football season – which was the COVID season – and the Jaguars (3-7, 2-4) captured a 32-21 decision in Hattiesburg. USA also won the next four contests – including the last three as conference foes – including a 35-14 decision in Hattiesburg last season.

Southern Miss, which had a five-game winning streak snapped last weekend with a 41-14 loss at home to Texas State, played without the services of senior quarterback and Conerly Trophy finalist Braylon Braxton, who missed the contest with an injury.

In nine games, Braxton has thrown for 2,187 yards and 19 touchdowns with only five interceptions. Braxton has thrown at least one touchdown pass in every game and has led the Golden Eagles to their most wins since the 2022 season.

Jeffery Pittman continues to lead the Golden Eagle ground game with 548 yards on the ground with a team-best seven rushing scores. Matt Jones ranks second at 299 rushing yards, followed by Robert Briggs, Jr. at 234 and then Braxton at 220.

Receiver Elijah Metcalf, who has had 100-yard receiving contests in each of his last two games, leads the team in both catches (40) and receiving yards (541). Micah Davis, who ranks second for catches with 26, has a team-high four touchdown grabs. Nine different Golden Eagles have double digit catches this fall.

On defense, Chris Jones continues to lead the Sun Belt and ranks No. 5 nationally in tackles at 10.7 stops per game. Michael Montgomery is second in the league at No. 12 in the country at 9.7 tackles per contest.

The Golden Eagles sit atop the SBC in turnovers and rank No. 3 nationally with 25 total takeaways this season. Southern Miss also ranks No. 1 in the nation in interceptions and No. 2 total turnovers taken.

The Jaguars enter the weekend having won two of three contests, including a 26-14 road victory at ULM last Saturday. It will be senior day on the South Alabama campus.