Southern Miss Not Leaning on Excuses Ahead of Tulane, Still Searching for Answers

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss head coach Blake Anderson didn't try to sugarcoat where his Golden Eagles football team stands Monday morning as he took questions from members of the media. The team isn't where it needs to be. After going back through the film from Saturday night's loss, Coach A said improvement has to come from everywhere, beginning with himself and his coaching staff.

“We, from head coach down, we got to do a better job,” Anderson said. “We've got to find a way to grow these guys up quickly.”

‘We’re Just Not Where We Need To Be Yet’

For a Southern Miss roster featuring more than 70+ new players, Coach Anderson knew there would be a learning curve. The problem is that the Golden Eagles don't have the luxury of waiting around for everything to click.

“We're just not where we need to be yet,” Anderson said. “It's my job to get us there and our staff's job to make it easier on our guys, and it's our guys' jobs to go out and execute it at a higher level.”

Coach A pointed out that some of the problems showing up now aren't necessarily new. Southern Miss made mistakes in its season opener as well. The difference was that the Golden Eagles overcame them. Against better competition, those mistakes have become much harder to hide.

“You play good people, and then you don't play well, or you play good people, and you don't maximize your opportunities, and you get exposed,” Anderson said. “And that's what's happened two weeks in a row.”

Simplify and Execute

Part of the answer may be simplifying things. Coach Anderson said the coaching staff has discussed cutting things down on both sides of the football and taking smaller, more deliberate steps.

The goal isn't to see how much Southern Miss can install. It's figuring out what this group can execute well enough to win games. “We've got to take smaller steps, more deliberate, more simplified, detailed steps as coaches, and then turn that into highly executed football,” Anderson said.

Offensively, Southern Miss is still searching for something it can consistently hang its hat on. There have been flashes, but drops, protection issues, and missed opportunities have prevented the Golden Eagles from finding consistency.

“We haven't done anything consistently well,” Coach A said. “Everything's got to get better.”

‘We Can't Live On Excuses’

Blake Anderson, Southern Miss Football — Coach Blake Anderson. | Josh Hous

Coach Blake Anderson isn't interested in using roster turnover or learning a new system as an excuse. “We got to speed the learning curve up,” Anderson said. “You don't want to learn through losses. You got to find a way to win in the midst of that.”

Then came perhaps the simplest description of where Southern Miss stands. “We can't live on excuses,” Coach A said. “It doesn't do us any good. We got to find a way anyway.”

For Southern Miss, that's the challenge this week, and really for the rest of this season. Find a way to learn quickly. Simplify what needs simplifying. Execute better and find a way to win. Do that, and fortunes may turn back in the Golden Eagles' favor before heading into conference play.

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