The Southern Miss football team jumped out to an early lead at home against Jacksonville State on Saturday and never looked back, beating the Gamecocks 42-25.
It was a revenge match for the Golden Eagles (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt), who lost to Jacksonville State 44-7 a season ago, but now have a revamped roster and new scheme under first-year coach Charles Huff. Some of the players Huff brought with him to Hattiesburg powered the win as Marshall transfer Braylon Braxton tossed for two touchdowns and ran for one and Mississippi State transfer Jeffrey Pittman rushed for two more.
After an opening drive was thwarted by Jacksonville State’s defense, Southern Miss settled and scored in under two minutes on each of their next two drives, both short rushes by Pittman. Braxton scored on a six-yard run to put the Golden Eagles up 21-3 at halftime.
Braxton got the scoring going again just over halfway through the third quarter when finding Kadinn Morris on a six-yard pass to extend the lead to 28-3.
Jacksonville State (2-3, 1-0 CUSA) then found the end zone for the first time when quarterback Caden Creel connected on a four-yard pass to Brock Rechsteiner.
Southern Miss countered with another Braxton touchdown pass, this time from 13 yards out to Carl Chester, to make it a 35-11 game. While the Gamecocks rushed for two touchdowns in the fourth quarter, an Ian Foster pick-six gave the Golden Eagles plenty of insurance on the way to the big win.
Numbers never lie
While yardage and time of possession were virtually equal on both sides, Southern Miss won the turnover battle with four forced and one allowed. The Golden Eagles intercepted two of Creel’s passes and recovered two fumbles.
Braxton finished the day 13 of 22 passing for 152 yards with two touchdowns and no turnovers. He rushed for 41 yards and a score. Pittman carried the ball 18 times for 80 yards with two touchdowns.
Linebackers Chris Jones and Michael Montgomery led the Southern Miss defense with nine tackles apiece. Defensive lineman J’Mond Tapp added eight tackles. Ian Foster had one sack to go along with his interception while Joshua Moten nabbed the other interception. Defensive end Jameer Lewis had two sacks.
For Jacksonville State, Creel had a career-high 161 rushing yards to go along with 109 passing yards. Cam Cook added 77 rushing yards and one score.
Southern Miss now leads the all-time series 3-1. Before last season’s win for Jacksonville State, the Golden Eagles won 65-0 in 1946 and 58-0 in 1937.
Next up
Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles will get a week off before Sun Belt play fully getting underway. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the team will travel to play Georgia Southern. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
Jacksonville State: Like Southern Miss, Jacksonville State gets a bye week before returning to Conference USA play against Sam Houston on Thursday, Oct. 9. Kickoff from Houston is scheduled for 7 p.m. CT.
