Southern Miss Can't Overcome Run Defense, Red Zone Turnovers in Sun Belt Opening Loss at Troy

Southern Miss showed Tuesday night at Troy that it still had some fight left. Unfortunately for the Golden Eagles, that fight came after an embarrassing first half, and too many opportunities to climb back into the game ended with the ball in the Trojans' hands.

A 20-point third quarter gave Southern Miss life, but three turnovers on possessions that reached the red zone helped sink its comeback hopes in a 55-34 loss at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The Golden Eagles dropped to 1-4 overall and 0-1 in Sun Belt play, extending their losing streak to four games.

An Opening Half to Forget

Southern Miss Football — The Southern Miss defense struggled to finish tackles at Troy on Tuesday night. | Russ Cloy Photography

Coming off a competitive 24-21 loss at Tulane, Southern Miss entered conference play with reason to believe it could turn a corner. Blake Anderson had emphasized the improvement his team showed in New Orleans, and a clean conference slate offered a chance to build on it.

The first half at Troy quickly drained much of that optimism.

The Trojans scored on all five possessions before halftime and led 31-7 at the break. Landry Lyddy’s 2-yard touchdown pass to Mario Sanders provided Southern Miss’ lone first-half score.

Troy piled up 242 rushing yards in the half, with quarterback Goose Crowder contributing 136 yards and two rushing touchdowns.

It was a disheartening return to the kind of football that had left Southern Miss searching for answers after its losses to Auburn and UConn. The offense struggled to sustain possessions early, and the defense couldn’t give the Golden Eagles enough stops to keep the game manageable in that first half.

Southern Miss Finds Spark, But It was Too Little, Too Late

Southern Miss Football, Robert Briggs — Southern Miss RB Robert Briggs (2) broke off a 44-yard rushing touchdown at Troy on Tuesday night. | Russ Cloy Photography

The response after halftime was considerably better.

Sanders threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to AJ Little on a double-pass trick play from offensive coordinator Kyle Cefalo to cut the deficit to 31-13. The two-point attempt failed, though, and Troy quickly answered with Crowder’s 46-yard touchdown pass to Jordan Lovett.

Lyddy later found Sanders for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 38-20. After a Troy field goal, Robert Briggs, who made his return from injury in this game, broke loose for a 44-yard touchdown run, bringing Southern Miss within 41-27 before the fourth quarter.

Those three touchdowns gave the Golden Eagles 20 points in the third quarter and a reason to keep pushing.

For an offense that had spent much of the opening half struggling to find traction, the explosive plays were welcome. Southern Miss showed it could threaten Troy when it connected downfield and found room to run. The problem was how much ground it already needed to make up, and how often promising possessions ended without points.

When you dig yourself into that much of a hole early, you have to be pretty much perfect the rest of the way to pull off the comeback, and the Golden Eagles just couldn't string together enough stretches of mistake-free football to get over the hump. Southern Miss redshirt-freshman running back Jamarice Wilder tacked on a late touchdown in the fourth quarter to make the score 48-34, but the Trojans proceeded to march down the field and score one more time to make the final score 55-34.

Red Zone Chances Slip Away

Southern Miss Football, Steven Robinson — Southern Miss RB Steven Robinson runs the ball at Troy. | Russ Cloy Photography

As mentioned above, three turnovers on drives that reached Troy’s red zone were particularly costly for the Golden Eagles on Tuesday night.

Lyddy was intercepted after Southern Miss reached the Troy 20 in the second quarter. In the third, wide receiver Eelijah Singleton threw an interception on a trick play from the Troy 19.

Then, with Southern Miss trailing 41-27 early in the fourth, another possession reached the Troy 19 before Lyddy lost a fumble on a strip-sack. That mistake followed a fourth-down stop by the Golden Eagles’ defense, wiping out another chance to make it a one-score game.

The third-quarter rally deserved some recognition, but the missed opportunities made this loss all the more frustrating for a Golden Eagles team that continues to show it has talent but just can't seem to put it all together.

Lyddy completed 24-of-37 passes for 316 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and one fumble. Sanders completed his only pass of the game for a 75-yard touchdown to AJ Little. Kaden Saunders, who only had three catches this season coming into Tuesday's game, finished with seven receptions for a team-best 138 yards. Sanders had eight receptions for 102 yards and two touchdowns.

The Golden Eagles had 121 rushing yards on the night, led by Briggs' 44-yard scamper at the end of the third.

Mathis Haygood, Landon Sylvie and Michael Robinson III each recorded a team-best 13 tackles for the Golden Eagles, and Jameer Lewis had 1.5 sacks, including a big one on fourth down in the fourth quarter that gave Southern Miss an opportunity to make it a one-score game.

Overall, Southern Miss racked up 512 yards of offense, but Troy finished with 662 yards of offense on the night.

Back Home with Plenty to Fix

The Golden Eagles’ second-half response showed they weren’t willing to simply fold after a difficult start. But five games into the season, Southern Miss still needs to put together the complete performance required to beat an FBS opponent. Showing flashes can only get you so far. At some point, the Golden Eagles will have to learn to start and finish games with fewer mistakes, or the results will continue to be the same.

The Golden Eagles return to Renasant Stadium to host Arkansas State on Saturday, Oct. 17, at 6 p.m. CT, followed by a homecoming matchup with Louisiana on Oct. 24. Southern Miss will have another opportunity to respond in front of its own fans. Ending this losing streak won't be easy, but finding a way to clinch one win could potentially turn this season around.

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