Football Closes Regular Season with West Division on the Line versus Troy

Saturday, November 29

Hattiesburg, Miss. / M.M. Roberts Stadium

2:30 PM

Southern Miss

Troy

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Southern Miss Golden Eagles tight end Kyirin Heath (88) heading down the field after a catch in a game between Southern Miss Golden Eagles and South Alabama and in the NCAA Men’s Basketball game. November 22, 2025 (Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com)

Photo by: Joe Harper/bgnphoto.com

Football Closes Regular Season with West Division on the Line versus Troy

11/28/2025 9:56:00 AM | Football

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HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss football team closes out the regular season Saturday with the Sun Belt Conference West Division title on the line when they meet Troy in a 2:30 p.m. contest at Carlisle-Faulkner Field at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

The game can be seen via ESPN+ as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network. Tickets also remain for the game and can be purchased by going online at SouthernMiss.com/Tickets.

Both teams enter the game with a 7-4 overall record, while also owning a 5-2 league mark. The winner will advance to next Friday's Credit Union 1 Sun Belt Championship presented by Visit Pensacola at James Madison – the East Division champion.
The Golden Eagles look to rally after dropping their last two games, while Troy enters the game comes off a 31-19 home victory over Georgia State.

Redshirt senior quarterback Braylon Braxton returned last week for the Golden Eagles and registered the school's first 400-yard passing game since Jack Abraham threw for 421 against North Texas in 2019. His passing total also tied for the eighth-most yards for a Southern Miss quarterback.

This season, Braxton has thrown for 2,587 yards on 210-of-318 throws with 22 touchdowns and only six interceptions.

Jeffery Pittman continues to lead the Southern Miss ground game with 589 yards, averaging 65.4 a game, to go along with a team-best eight rushing touchdowns. Matt Jones ranks second at 306 rushing yards, followed by Robert Briggs, Jr., at 238.

Six Golden Eagle players have caught 20 or more passes this season, marking the first time that has happened since the 2018 campaign. Elijah Metcalf leads the way with a team-high of 46 catches and 615 receiving yards, while both Micah Davis and Carl Chester lead with five touchdown grabs each. Davis is second in catches with 28 for 393 yards and Chester has 26 catches for 456 yards.

On the defensive side, Chris Jones continues to lead the Golden Eagles at 10.7 per game which ranks No. 1 in the Sun Belt and No. 5 nationally. Michael Montgomery ranks No. 11 in the country and second in the league at 9.7 per contest.

Defensive back Josh Moten has posted five of the team's 20 interceptions which help him rank No. 2 nationally in total picks and No. 3 in interceptions per game (0.45).

This game marks the first time since 2015 that Southern Miss will play for a divisional title in the final game of the regular season. In that contest, the Golden Eagles defeated Louisiana Tech, 58-24, in Ruston to capture their third Conference USA division crown.

Southern Miss and Troy meet for the 15th time in their history with the first game taking place in 1935. The Golden Eagles lead the series 8-6, but have dropped the last four games to the Trojans. The two schools finish the regular season with each other for the three-straight season.

The game will also mark Senior Day on the Golden Eagle campus.