With an opportunity at hand to secure the program’s first-ever Sun Belt championship appearance, the Southern Miss football team couldn’t find enough production on Saturday afternoon, falling at home to Troy 28-18.
Southern Miss (7-5, 5-3 Sun Belt) had a chance down three points with just over three minutes to play to get a defensive stop and the ball back. The Golden Eagles stacked the box to stop what coaches presumed would be a running play by Troy (8-4, 6-2), but that’s when quarterback Goose Crowder found RaRa Thomas on a quick post route, and 75 yards later and into the end zone, dreams of a Sun Belt West title evaporated for USM.
Scoring summary
A scoreless first quarter segued into Troy beginning the second quarter with a 13-play drive that ended in a three-yard rushing touchdown by Tae Meadows, 7-0.
Southern Miss botched a field goal attempt on the following possession before getting the ball back via a Jonathan Pennix interception. The turnover was turned into three off the foot of Creighton Wilbanks, 7-3.
Before halftime, Troy added seven more points to the board when Peyton Higgins caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Crowder, 14-3.
The Trojans got the ball to start the second half but couldn’t get much going on offense. Southern Miss managed to capitalize when Jeffrey Pittman burst for a 25-yard rush toward the end zone but fumbled on the one-yard line and a teammate recovered it in the end zone, 14-10.
Just over halfway through the fourth quarter, Crowder tossed for a seven-yard score to Thomas, 21-10.
Southern Miss responded when quarterback Braylon Braxton connected with Carl Chester on a 10-yard touchdown with 3:27 remaining. The two-point conversion was successful, 21-18.
That’s when the play of the game happened. Southern Miss expecting Troy to keep running as the clock ticked away, but instead, Crowder hit Thomas for a 75-yard touchdown pass that essentially served as the final nail in the coffin, 28-18.
What the coach said
Charles Huff, in his first year as the head coach at Southern Miss, engineered a huge turnaround for a program that went 1-11 in 2024. While the Golden Eagles did drop its last three games of the regular season, Huff spoke proudly of his team and their work to bring winning football back to Hattiesburg.
“We cannot overlook the progress that was made this year,” Huff said.
Huff did point out that his team managed a much more efficient second half, one that included 211 yards on offense and third-down conversions on five of nine attempts. That’s compared to a first half that had no touchdowns and just 37 passing yards.
But in his mind, the lack of success in the first half created a hole too deep to climb out of.
“Not the result we wanted, and we did not play well enough to win today. When we get to this part of the football season, you can’t play a single half of football,” Huff said. “They made plays when they had the opportunities to do so.”
Numbers never lie
Despite a virtual nonexistence in the first half, Braxton bounced back in the second and finished the game with 209 yards on 20 of 35 passing with a touchdown and an interception. He finished the season with 23 passing touchdowns, the most for a Southern Miss quarterback since Nick Mullens in 2016.
Five Southern Miss running back split the yardage of 95. Chester had the receiving touchdown to go along with 76 yards on the day.
Defensively, the Golden Eagles were led by Chris Jones’ 10 tackles, a sack from J’Mond Tapp, and the Pennix interception.
For Troy, Crowder was 24 of 34 passing for 285 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. Thomas caught two of the touchdowns and finished with five catches for 118 yards.
Troy outgained Southern Miss (428-304) and led in time of possession (32:30-27:30).
Next up
Southern Miss: Wait until Dec. 7 to find out who its bowl bid. It’s the first time since 2022 the Golden Eagles are postseason eligible.
Troy: Play James Madison on Dec. 7 in the Sun Belt championship game.