HATTIESBURG, Miss. – South Alabama Football came alive in the second half to pull away from Southern Miss and defeat the Golden Eagles, 35-14, on the way to clinching bowl eligibility Saturday at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
The Jaguars improved to 6-5 for the year and secured their spot in a bowl game for the third-straight season. South also improved to 5-0 all-time against Southern Miss.
"I'm proud of the effort in the second half," said South Alabama head coach
Major Applewhite. "I was proud of the first half, but that wasn't our brand of ball early on. We did a lot of great things as the game went on. We talked about it with our staff and all our guys about what the second half needed to be, and they did that very well. I'm just proud of the way we fought in the second half to allow us to be bowl eligible."
The Jags played complimentary football on the day getting big plays on both sides of the ball. The offense scored on touchdown passes of 40 and 38 yards while the defense scored on a 57-yard interception return by
Wesley Miller. The Golden Eagles scored a touchdown on their first drive of the game, but USA's defense kept them out of the end zone the rest of the way.
South Alabama's offense was extremely balanced on the afternoon with 193 yards passing and 187 yards rushing. Quarterback
Gio Lopez threw for three touchdowns while running back
Fluff Bothwell served as the team's leading rusher with 104 yards and the lone rushing score of the game.
Jamaal Pritchett tallied his fifth 100-yard game of the year with 102 yards receiving to put him over 1,000 on the season. He became South's fourth 1,000-yard receiver in the last five years. He also caught a touchdown pass along with
Kentrel Bullock and
Jeremiah Webb.
Linebacker
Darius McKenzie led the defensive effort with 11 tackles on the game, and
Rickey Hyatt Jr. pitched in nine. The Jaguar defense got after the quarterback all night with four sacks and four quarterback hurries, led by true freshman
Parker Shattuck, who tallied 1.5 sacks. The secondary was also active throughout the game with five pass breakups, led by two from senior
Jaden Voisin. Miller put the icing on the cake with his pick-six late in the third quarter to help the Jags take a three-score lead and put Southern Miss away.
With the win, South Alabama stays alive in the hunt for a Sun Belt Conference West Division Championship. The Jags will host Texas State on Friday, Nov. 29 at 2:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ and South will honor its senior class prior to kickoff.
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