Southern Miss was flat-out dominated in a 48-20 home loss to UConn on Saturday.
The Huskies (2-1) traveled more than 1,300 miles to Hattiesburg on a mission and were successful in coming out victorious in enemy territory. UConn used a balanced offensive attack and a stingy defense to take down the home team. Southern Miss (1-2) allowed 436 total yards of offense, turned the ball over twice, and failed to find a rhythm in Renasant Bank Stadium.
Scoring Summary
Just like it had a week prior at Auburn, Southern Miss fell behind 14-0 before they could post a score. The Huskies marched down the field in 9 plays with quarterback Kaleib Osborne tossing a 38-yard touchdown pass to Shamar Porter. Then, Southern Miss quarterback Ethan Hampton threw an early interception to UConn’s Rickey Williams, which later yielded a 5-yard touchdown run by Osborne.
The Golden Eagles settled down near the end of the first quarter and went on a 10-play drive that resulted in a 47-yard field goal from Southern Miss placekicker Creighton Wilbanks. This cut the Huskies’ lead to 14-3 with 30 seconds left in the first quarter, but this is the closest the Golden Eagles would get for the night.
Although the Southern Miss defense began to play with more confidence, it struggled to keep UConn off the scoreboard, as the Golden Eagles’ offense failed to muster up much of anything. UConn led 27-6 at the half.
Southern Miss Head Coach Blake Anderson removed starting quarterback Ethan Hampton from the game after the first half, as he stated in the press conference that he re-injured his hand, but he wasn’t sure how serious the injury was.
Upon backup Landry Lyddy entering the game, Southern Miss gave up two quick scores in the quarter for a 41-6 deficit. The Golden Eagles opened the second half with a turnover on downs that resulted in a short touchdown pass followed by an interception from UConn’s defensive lineman Anas Luqman for a 29-yard touchdown return.
A little light shone on the Golden Eagles when a four-play drive delivered a Steven Robinson touchdown, the team’s first of the night. But the excitement dwindled when the dynamic Osborne scored an 11-yard touchdown to give UConn a commanding 48-13 advantage. Lyddy tossed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jaylen Himes to give Southern Miss a trash-time score.
Coach’s comments
First-year Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson had nothing but praise for his team’s opponent. He touted UConn as a disciplined team, while acknowledging that the Golden Eagles left a lot to be desired.
“Our fan base doesn’t know UConn, but they know them now. That’s a very, very well-built and well-coached football team that did not make a lot of mistakes,” expressed Anderson in his first season as the head football coach. “If you have turnovers and you can’t create them, you’re going to lose. It’s that simple. We had two pretty careless ones, and they just didn’t give us a lot of opportunities.
Southern Miss has now suffered back-to-back losses. Anderson is hopeful his team will use them as an opportunity to learn and grow.
“It’s one of 12. I just told the guys it’s one of 12. It’s a learning opportunity,” Anderson said. “Embarrassed, disappointed — not in them, but for them. They did a phenomenal job with their effort and attitude throughout the course of the game.”
Numbers never lie
Outside of Robinson, Southern Miss had no real consistency in the offense. The Golden Eagle running back finished with 73 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries. Lyddy and Hampton completed a combined 28 of 50 passes for 299 yards. Both threw the ball to the other team. Lyddy was the only Southern Miss quarterback with a touchdown pass. UConn transfer Michael Robinson III led the Golden Eagles in tackles while JR Stegall, Nasim Cairo, and Ramon Piernas each had a sack.
Osborne was explosive for the Huskies, completing 16 of 22 passes for 214 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Additionally, he ran for 53 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 10 carries.
Next Up
Southern Miss plays on the road at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans against Tulane and former Golden Eagle head coach Will Hall for the Battle of the Bell on Sept. 26.
