It’s a non-conference tilt on the gridiron down in the Sunshine State as a team from the Sun Belt tangles with the big, bad ACC. The Southern Miss Golden Eagles are on the road as they make the trip to South Beach to face the #16 Miami Hurricanes Saturday afternoon. Southern Miss was upended 29-27 in quadruple overtime by Liberty at home last Saturday in their season opener. Miami started the Mario Cristobal era on a positive note as they walloped an overmatched Bethune-Cookman squad, 70-13, at home last Saturday. This marks the first time that the two programs have met as FBS opponents.
Southern Miss gave Liberty all it wanted in their season opener last week but ended up falling short in quadruple overtime. The Golden Eagles now head on the road and try to take down a ranked foe in order to avoid falling to 0-2 on the season. Southern Miss trailed 10-3 at the half, stood tied at 10 after three quarters and led twice in the fourth quarter only to give up the tying score both times. The Golden Eagles took a 24-17 lead with 1:54 to play only to give up the tying score with 36 seconds remaining in regulation. In overtime, the teams didn’t score in the first overtime, traded field goals in the second overtime and did nothing in the third overtime. During the fourth overtime, Liberty converted their two-point conversion while Southern Miss came up empty. The Golden Eagles were outgained 447-389 in total offense, gave up 23 first downs while picking up 19, and turned the ball over five times while forcing three takeaways. That more than offset a 30:54 to 29:06 advantage in time of possession.
Ty Keyes was four of eight passing for 89 yards with no touchdowns and two interceptions. He finished with seven carries for 27 yards on the ground. Frank Gore Jr. completed one of four passes for 48 yards but did his damage with his legs as he carried the ball 32 times for 178 yards plus two scores. Trey Lowe’s lone pass attempt in the game was intercepted. Antavious Willis (eight carries, 34 yards) and Dajon Richard (four carries, nine yards) also saw work in the run game. Jakarius Caston was the lone player with more than one reception as he finished with two catches for 54 yards in the loss. Eric Scott Jr. scored on a pick-six for Southern Miss in the contest. Briggs Bourgeois was two of three on field goal attempts in the game, connecting from 39 and 53 while missing from 34, and hit all three extra point attempts.