Louisiana Tech (3-1) jumped out early on Southern Miss (2-2) and never looked back, handing the Golden Eagles their second loss of the season on Saturday night.
The final score from Ruston was 30-20, with first-year Southern Miss head coach Charles Huff saying afterward his team was beat in all aspects of the game.
“They flat out kicked our tails tonight from the start to the finish. Really good job by them and executing their gameplan,” Huff said. “We didn’t play well enough tonight to win, didn’t coach well enough tonight to win, and now go back to the drawing board.”
Blake Baker tossed for 239 yards and a had a rushing touchdown in the first quarter that put Louisiana Tech up 7-0. Southern Miss countered with a 30-yard touchdown connection between Braylon Braxton and Kyrin Heath.
A Louisiana Tech field goal off the foot of Drew Henderson regained the lead, 10-7, before Southern Miss kicker Reed Harradine responded with a field goal of his own to tie it, 10-10.
From here, efficiency from the Louisiana Tech offense combined with a Braxton interception for a touchdown turned into a 20-point swing for the Bulldogs. Omiri Wiggins and Clay Thevenin had rushing touchdowns during the stretch. The score at halftime was 30-10.
Southern Miss tried to battle back late in the game with another Harradine field goal and one more touchdown pass from Braxton to Carl Chester, but it was too late.
Southern Miss, which has more wins so far this season after a disastrous 1-11 campaign a season ago, still has a lot to learn, according to Huff.
“I hope it’s a learning experience,” Huff said of the game in Ruston, in which his team was a three-point underdog going in. “I’m not sure we’ve fully learned how to win consistently. That comes with preparation and with responding – coaching included.”
Aside from the interception, Braxton had a stat sheet worth noting. The Marshall transfer went 28 of 47 passing for 392 yards with two touchdowns. His yardage through the air was the most by a Golden Eagle quarterback since Jack Abraham had 421 against North Texas in 2019.
Chester led the team with 152 receiving yards on five catches. Robert Briggs Jr. rushed the ball nine times for 47 yards, and on defense, Chris Jones (14 tackles, 0.5 sack) and Michael Montgomery (13 tackles, 0.5 sack) led the way.
Southern Miss had 514 yards of offense, compared to the Bulldogs’ 340, but were 7 of 17 on third-down conversions and 0 for 2 on fourth down.
The Golden Eagles return to Hattiesburg for a home game against conference opponent Jacksonville State on Sept. 27. Kickoff from M.M. Roberts Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.
