University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
50 Years of The Rock – Virginia 2009
7/2/2026 10:00:00 AM | Football
Editor's Note: M.M. Roberts Stadium celebrated its first 50 years for the 2025 season since its completion for the 1976 season that opened with a Sept. 25 game against Ole Miss. This summer, we will look back at some of the stadium's best moments over the last half century.
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Down 17 points at halftime, Southern Miss rallied to one of its biggest comebacks in school history as they defeated Virginia in front of 31,170 at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Sept. 19, 2009.
After a rough first half, the Golden Eagles found their form late in the game to capture a 37-34 victory over Virginia in the Cavaliers first and only visit ever to Hattiesburg for football.
The Golden Eagles scored two unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns to win what was their eighth straight game at the time, trailing then only Florida's 13-game winning streak.
"I think it says a lot about our team," said then Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora following the game. "I knew that we would not quit. I knew we would play all the way to the end."
The Southern Miss offense was averaging 507.5 yards per game heading into the contest, but managed only 344 yards against Virginia, despite Damion Fletcher rushing for 115 and Tory Harrison for 101, one of just 24 games in Southern Miss history that two running backs finished over 100 yards on the ground.
Fletcher scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter and a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Harrison capped Southern Miss' rally with a 57-yard touchdown run.
Austin Davis went 14 of 26 for 130 yards and with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hanks in the third quarter.
It was Freddie Parham, though, who sparked the Golden Eagles' rally in the third quarter when he took a kick 3 yards deep in the end zone and sprinted the length of the field to cut Virginia's lead to 34-24.
"Clearly that was a momentum changer," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "I saw it coming. We didn't fit on the blocks properly at a number of spots."
It was then the unanswered scores by Fletcher and Harrison that did the rest.
The Golden Eagles trailed until the fourth quarter, with fumbles and penalties allowing the Cavaliers to surge to a 13-0 lead after one quarter.
Virginia scored on a 69-yard pass from Jameel Sewell to Tim Smith and had two field goals, thanks to Southern Miss fumbles.
A roughing the passer call on Southern Miss set up 4-yard TD run by Sewell to give the Cavaliers a 27-10 lead at halftime.
"I do not know how we could have put ourselves in a worse situation than we did in the first half with balls on the ground, dropped passes," Fedora said. "You name it, we did it. At halftime, there was a lot of yelling and screaming."
Sewell was 24 of 46 for 312 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Kris Burd for a 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Sewell ran for 23 yards and two scores -- a 4-yarder in the second quarter and a 1-yard run in the third.
The game ended a three-game homestand that saw the Golden Eagles open the year with wins over Alcorn State (52-0) and UCF (26-19).
HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Down 17 points at halftime, Southern Miss rallied to one of its biggest comebacks in school history as they defeated Virginia in front of 31,170 at M.M. Roberts Stadium on Sept. 19, 2009.
After a rough first half, the Golden Eagles found their form late in the game to capture a 37-34 victory over Virginia in the Cavaliers first and only visit ever to Hattiesburg for football.
The Golden Eagles scored two unanswered fourth-quarter touchdowns to win what was their eighth straight game at the time, trailing then only Florida's 13-game winning streak.
"I think it says a lot about our team," said then Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora following the game. "I knew that we would not quit. I knew we would play all the way to the end."
The Southern Miss offense was averaging 507.5 yards per game heading into the contest, but managed only 344 yards against Virginia, despite Damion Fletcher rushing for 115 and Tory Harrison for 101, one of just 24 games in Southern Miss history that two running backs finished over 100 yards on the ground.
Fletcher scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter and a 10-yard run in the fourth quarter.
Harrison capped Southern Miss' rally with a 57-yard touchdown run.
Austin Davis went 14 of 26 for 130 yards and with a 2-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Hanks in the third quarter.
It was Freddie Parham, though, who sparked the Golden Eagles' rally in the third quarter when he took a kick 3 yards deep in the end zone and sprinted the length of the field to cut Virginia's lead to 34-24.
"Clearly that was a momentum changer," Virginia coach Al Groh said. "I saw it coming. We didn't fit on the blocks properly at a number of spots."
It was then the unanswered scores by Fletcher and Harrison that did the rest.
The Golden Eagles trailed until the fourth quarter, with fumbles and penalties allowing the Cavaliers to surge to a 13-0 lead after one quarter.
Virginia scored on a 69-yard pass from Jameel Sewell to Tim Smith and had two field goals, thanks to Southern Miss fumbles.
A roughing the passer call on Southern Miss set up 4-yard TD run by Sewell to give the Cavaliers a 27-10 lead at halftime.
"I do not know how we could have put ourselves in a worse situation than we did in the first half with balls on the ground, dropped passes," Fedora said. "You name it, we did it. At halftime, there was a lot of yelling and screaming."
Sewell was 24 of 46 for 312 yards and two touchdowns, hitting Kris Burd for a 29-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Sewell ran for 23 yards and two scores -- a 4-yarder in the second quarter and a 1-yard run in the third.
The game ended a three-game homestand that saw the Golden Eagles open the year with wins over Alcorn State (52-0) and UCF (26-19).
Wednesday, February 04
Wednesday, February 04
Monday, January 19
Monday, December 15