How Southern Miss' Close Loss at Tulane Offers Fresh Hope Entering Sun Belt Play

NEW ORLEANS – A 1-3 record isn't the ideal way to start the season, but it looks and feels a little different after Saturday night. Southern Miss left New Orleans without the Bell, and the 24-21 loss to Tulane will sting for a while. The Golden Eagles were close enough to win it, making those final minutes harder to swallow.

But after lopsided losses to Auburn and UConn, another feeling mixed with the frustration: This team has more in it than those prior two weekends suggested.

Southern Miss Football — Southern Miss takes the field at Tulane on Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. | Josh House

Southern Miss carried a 21-14 lead over Tulane into the fourth quarter and had a chance to tie or take the lead from the Green Wave three-yard line with 1:45 to play. The third-and-goal fade from Landry Lyddy to Davis Dalton had a chance, but it wasn't completed. Then Creighton Wilbanks' 21-yard field goal attempt was blocked, essentially securing the win for Tulane.

As painful as it was, first-year Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson said Saturday night that he has been through similar non-conference difficulties throughout his career and still went on to win a conference championship. His point wasn't to make an excuse for the miscues that led to Tulane coming back to beat his team, but rather to offer hope for what Saturday's on-field growth on the field could mean for the Golden Eagles heading into Sun Belt Conference play.

"Win or lose tonight, we'll be right back where we were at, 0-0. Conference play, a week from Tuesday, is where it all starts," Anderson said. "I've been here before. I've been 0-4 and won a championship. [Being] 1-3 doesn't scare me at all. We found out that we can play with anybody when we get out of our own way, and quit making dumb mistakes, and we play hard.

"We learned a lot about ourselves tonight. We made some critical mistakes that will cost us in the future [if we don't fix them], and maybe it's that last scar that we need to grow up."

Southern Miss was outscored 91-28 by Auburn and UConn, raising questions about how it would respond at Tulane. However, Joe Bolden's defense gave the Golden Eagles several chances to win, forcing turnovers and, for the most part, aside from two big runs, neutralizing the Green Wave's run game.

Kyle Cefalo's offensive game plan for Tulane was also probably his best so far this season. Redshirt senior quarterback Landry Lyddy made his first start of the season, but he looked extremely comfortable in New Orleans, completing 18 of 29 passes for 243 yards and three touchdowns without an interception.

He connected with Davis Dalton for one score and Mario Sanders for two more, giving Southern Miss a passing attack that looked capable of making a defense sweat. Lyddy also helped drive the Golden Eagles into scoring position rather quickly in the final minutes after the Green Wave took the lead late.

"There's no doubt that we were a completely different team today than we were last week," Lyddy said. "That was the message in the locker room from Coach Anderson. That win or loss does not affect any of our [Sun Belt] hopes and dreams in the future. So, as long as we can hold onto that and look at this as a lesson and not as a loss, we're going to be just fine."

As mentioned above, the defense had its own moments, including Landon Sylvie's interception in the end zone early in the fourth quarter that, at the time, felt like a big momentum swing for the Golden Eagles. It ultimately didn't pan out in Southern Miss' favor when the dust settled, but like Anderson and Lyddy, Sylvie is taking on the same confident mindset heading into Sun Belt play.

"It's really showing them we belong here," Sylvie said of the upcoming Sun Belt opener at Troy a week from Tuesday. "I know our record might not show it, but I feel like we're really a good football team, and I feel like just starting off in two weeks against Troy, that's a great way to show that whole conference we're really here to play and win a championship."

Southern Miss Football, Landon Sylvie — Southern Miss DB Landon Sylvie addressing the media following the Golden Eagles' 24-21 loss at Tulane. | Dalton Trigg

There is a difference between seeing what is possible and doing it every week. Southern Miss missed two fourth-quarter field goals, including that blocked attempt at the end that would've tied the game. Tulane also scored all three of its touchdowns on big-chunk plays. Those instances are a reminder that playing with urgency for most of a night is only part of finishing one.

Still, Lyddy looked great running the offense, the defense found a way to deliver timely stops, and the Golden Eagles answered an ugly two-week stretch with a performance they can build on. The next step is making that version of Southern Miss show up again and again.

The Golden Eagles have a little more than a week to prepare before opening Sun Belt play at Troy on Tuesday, Oct. 6. A conference championship is a long way from a 1-3 start, and no one should hand Southern Miss credit for wins it has yet to earn. But at the very least, Saturday offered a reason to watch what happens next. The season's most important games are still ahead, and the Golden Eagles finally gave a glimpse of a team ready to compete in them.

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