5 Lingering Questions for Southern Miss Football Ahead of Alcorn State Season Opener

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – Fall camp gave Blake Anderson and his staff a month's worth of evidence of what this Southern Miss football team might have on its roster, but it didn't necessarily provide a month's worth of conclusions.

That distinction is important as the Golden Eagles turn their attention toward Alcorn State and the beginning of Anderson's first season as head coach in Hattiesburg.

Southern Miss appears deeper at several positions than it did when camp began, despite some of those positions lacking Division I experience. Newcomers have emerged, veterans have taken on larger roles and a handful of offensive playmakers stood out during the team's two scrimmages over the last two weekends. At the same time, some of the biggest decisions on the depth chart remain at large, and some players simply can't be evaluated properly until the Golden Eagles line up against someone wearing a different uniform.

From the quarterback battle to cohesion on defense, here are five burning questions that will linger until Southern Miss begins providing real answers on Saturdays.

Who Will Be the Starting Quarterback?

Southern Miss Football, Ethan Hampton — Ethan Hampton (5) and the other Southern Miss quarterbacks go through drills during a Saturday fall camp practice. | Josh House

Anderson has perfectly good reasons for not officially naming a starting quarterback yet. Although Hampton appeared to be trending toward locking up the job from the first week of camp, his bone bruise injury on his throwing hand in the first scrimmage of fall camp cut his practice time short and left the competition open a little longer.

With all that being said, though, we believe Hampton seemingly not losing any ground in the quarterback competition despite missing over a week of action is pretty telling about how highly Anderson thinks of him. Before the injury occurred, Hampton was taking all the first-team reps, and he looked the part of a starting quarterback in his very limited scrimmage time.

Not only that, but Anderson went as far as saying that Hampton has become one of the Golden Eagles' biggest vocal leaders on the field and in the locker room, calling him one of the "loudest voices in the room that guys listen to."

We're not saying redshirt-senior Landry Lyddy or redshirt-sophomore John White can't make a big, last-second push to be the starting quarterback on opening night, but it feels like if that push was going to happen, it would've happened within the last week when the three-way competition was cut down to just those two guys. Regardless, a resolution will be reached soon, as there are only nine days remaining until opening night.

Can the Defense Gel Early On?

Southern Miss Football — Southern Miss defensive coordinator Joe Bolden gives directions during a Saturday fall camp practice. | Josh House

Based on what we saw in fall camp, defensive coordinator Joe Bolden has done a solid job recruiting under-the-radar guys with plenty of upside as he continues to implement a "violent" defensive approach at Southern Miss.

“I don’t want nonviolent people to play a violent sport,” Bolden said during the first week of fall camp. “I don’t want any soft crap. So you got to be violent, you got to run to the ball. And we’re going to be a fast and violent defense. ... Are we going to be perfect? Absolutely not. I’d love to tell you that nobody’s ever going to score on us. I can tell you this much: we’re going to play with great effort, we’re going to play with a great mental edge, a great physical edge, and then we’re going to communicate.”

Southern Miss Football, Jerone Steckel — Southern Miss defensive line coach Jerone Steckel working with his players in pre-scrimmage warm-up drills. | Josh House

The Golden Eagles' defense has potential leaders and playmakers at each level, whether it's redshirt-junior cornerback Champ Lewis, senior defensive lineman Nasim Cairo, who has become one of the team's vocal leaders, or a deep linebacker room led by redshirt-junior Mathis Haygood, sophomore Wesley Edison, redshirt-sophomore Tyler Lassiter and others.

However, no matter how talented certain players are individually, the defense's overall success will be determined by how quickly they come together and build chemistry in real games. Does it appear that a good bit of that chemistry has already been built in practices and scrimmages? Our answer to that question would be "yes," but Bolden's defense will have to prove it to many critics during the early stages of the season. Last year's squad thrived on turnovers, so this year's defense, built with mostly new pieces, will have big shoes to fill.

Which Five O-Linemen Will Separate From the Rest?

Southern Miss football, Dante Devine — Southern Miss offensive lineman Dante Devine (#54) goes through drills during fall camp. | Josh House

According to offensive line coach Sean Coughlin, after last weekend's scrimmage, the only starting spot on the Golden Eagles' offensive line that might be close to being wrapped up is at center with redshirt-senior Joe Rounds.

"I feel like Joe's done a really, really good job," Coughlin said. "People look at him, and they say he's a 5-11 guy, but he's a big, thick kid. He's long-armed for his height, but man, he is physical."

Assuming Rounds is already penciled in at starting center, that leaves the two guard and tackle spots still up for grabs. During Saturday's scrimmage, the starting five that took first-team reps was: Dante "Duke" Devine (RT), Luke Rogers (RG), Joe Rounds (C), Zerian Hudson (LG) and Braden Cain (LT).

Southern Miss offensive lineman Joe Rounds running through drills at fall camp. | Josh House

On Wednesday, the Forrest County Chancery Court granted a temporary restraining order for Aloali'i Maui, Greg Nunnery Jr. and Jameer Lewis, allowing them to practice and play for Southern Miss with a fifth year of eligibility. Maui and Nunnery being fully back in the mix could shake things up a good bit within that potential starting offensive line, as both were starters from last year's 7-6 squad.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out for the Golden Eagles, because how this group of offensive linemen gels could be one of the biggest factors in determining the team's ceiling. When the big boys up front are all on the same page, it makes a world of difference for the offense overall.

Who Will Be the Biggest Leaders on Both Sides of the Ball?

Southern Miss Football, Nasim Cairo — Southern Miss defensive lineman Nasim Cairo (5) has emerged as one of the vocal leaders of the team during fall camp. | Josh House

Talent can win plenty of football games, but Southern Miss is also going to need players capable of steadying the ship when the season inevitably gets difficult.

Anderson emphasized throughout fall camp that he wants leadership to come from within the locker room rather than constantly having to come from the coaching staff. The Golden Eagles have seemingly made strides in that department, but identifying who truly becomes the voice of this team remains an important question.

Offensively, Hampton is the most obvious choice, given Anderson's recent comments about him being one of the "loudest voices" in the locker room, as mentioned earlier.

Ethan Hampton, Southern Miss Football — Ethan Hampton (5) before a Southern Miss fall camp scrimmage at The Rock. | Josh House

Even while out with the hand injury that has sidelined him for a week, Hampton's voice remained present at practices, and he appears to be a guy that teammates gravitate toward.

The defensive side appears to have several candidates.

Haygood has continually surfaced as one of the unit's veteran voices. Lassiter has specifically praised Haygood and Avery Sledge's leadership after they took him under their wings upon his arrival at Southern Miss in the spring.

Avery Sledge, Joe Bolden, Southern Miss Football — Southern Miss linebacker Avery Sledge (33) with defensive coordinator Joe Bolden going over last-minute adjustments before a fall camp scrimmage at The Rock. | Josh House

Kobi Albert was a name mentioned in a similar capacity in the secondary. Anderson praised Albert's football IQ and natural leadership ability throughout camp, noting that teammates find it easy to follow his lead. Lewis is considered the toughest cornerback on the team to go up against, and he's made progress as a leader as well. Up front, Cairo has also increasingly taken on a leadership role as Southern Miss continues to build the defensive identity Bolden wants.

And that's just to name a few. There may not be one singular captain who has to carry the Golden Eagles this season. In fact, Anderson would probably prefer leadership to come from several different places. But once Southern Miss faces its first deficit, costly turnover or difficult stretch of the season, we'll truly begin to find out which players stand out from the rest when it comes to leading through adversity.

Can Fall Camp Explosive Playmakers Deliver When the Games Count?

Southern Miss Football, Steven Robinson — Southern Miss running back Steven Robinson (14) was the standout performer from the Golden Eagles' Fan Fest scrimmage on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026. | Josh House

Neither of the two scrimmages the Golden Eagles had was perfect by any means, but a handful of players showed the ability to make explosive, field-flipping plays.

Whether it was speedy wide receivers Jaylen Himes or Eelijah Singleton racking up big yards or pulling off a big trick play, running back Steven Robinson breaking off some impressive runs, or defensive back Laquon Robinson and linebacker Tyler Lassiter recording big interceptions, there were several plays made that opened eyes.

With that being said, though, can those types of big plays carry over into real games against real opponents? That's one of the hardest things to judge based on practices and scrimmages, given that the team is going up against itself every day. However, the speed, athleticism and football IQ appear to be there. We'll see how it translates soon enough.

Overall, there are many things for Southern Miss football fans to be excited for this season, despite what Vegas or other critics think about this year's team. This is a roster made up of nearly all new players, and at the end of the day, nobody can truly predict how these guys will mesh once real action begins. However, talent is there. Potential is there. An inspired coaching staff building up the culture is there. Let's see what they decide to do with it.

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