Southern Miss Football 2022-Top 5 Moments
The Top 5 moments of Southern Miss football in 2022. Where to begin? After back-to-back three-win seasons, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles turned the corner in 2022 by posting their first winning season (7–6) since 2019. In addition, they earned a trip to a bowl game resulting in a record-setting victory.
Here are those Top 5 moments from the Golden Eagles 2022 football season.
#5. Southern Miss 64 — Northwestern (LA) State 10
The 54-point victory in week 3 was the Golden Eagles’ first of the season. Southern Miss raced to a 41–0 halftime lead and never looked back. They racked up 587 yards of total offense on the day.
Starting QB Ty Keyes was 6 of 9 passing for 192 yards and three touchdowns. RB Frank Gore, Jr. rushed for 82 yards and a score.
WR Jakarius Caston hauled in 6 catches for 94 yards and two touchdowns. WRs Jalen May and Zay Franks each had a receiving touchdown.
The Golden Eagle defense allowed the Demons eight first downs and a measly 16 yards rushing. They racked up 3.5 sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss and forced two turnovers.
LB Swayze Bozeman recorded 8 tackles, 1.5 TFLs, and 1 sack. DB Jay Stanley recorded three tackles and picked off a pass.
#4. Southern Miss 27 — Tulane 24
USM rolled into New Orleans to take on a tough Tulane Green Wave team. The week before, Tulane had beaten Kansas State (the eventual Big-12 Champion) on the road.
The Golden Eagles were down 17–10 at halftime but came roaring back to outscore the Green Wave 17–7 in the second half.
QB Zach Wilke threw TD passes to Jason Brownlee and Jakarius Caston. In the 4th quarter, DB Eric Scott returned an INT for a score and K Briggs Bourgeois added a field goal conversion to give the Golden Eagles the cushion they needed to hang on for a hard-fought victory.
#3. Southern Miss 39 — Louisiana 24
With a 4–3 record and winners of their previous two games, the Golden Eagles hosted the Ragin Cajuns of Louisiana.
Zach Wilke threw 2 TD passes to WR Jason Brownlee (3 catches, 102 yards). RB Frank Gore, Jr. threw a 52-yard TD pass to WR Tiaquelin Mims and rushed for 87 yards.
The Nasty Bunch on defense arrived in force seemingly on every play, forcing four turnovers. Malik Shorts recorded 11 tackles and an INT. Daylen Gill also had 11 tackles, and added a sack, a tackle for loss, and forced a fumble.
Natrone Brooks returned an INT 52 yards for a touchdown.
#2. Southern Miss 20 — UL Monroe 10
RB Frank Gore, Jr. rushed for 199 yards and a touchdown. He averaged 8-yards per rush. QB Trey Lowe threw for 170 yards and a touchdown.
The Southern Miss defense turned in another stellar performance. They racked up four sacks and 13 tackles for loss.
Averie Habas led the defense with 8 tackles, 2.5 TFLs, and 1 sack.
The victory was the 6th of the season for the Golden Eagles, making them bowl-eligible for the first time since 2019.
#1. Southern Miss 38 — Rice 24, Lending Tree Bowl
Southern Miss earned a berth in the Lending Tree Bowl in Mobile, Alabama. The Golden Eagles were undefeated in bowl appearances in Mobile, winning their two previous bowl appearances there.
The Golden Eagles racked up 551 yards of total offense, with the bulk of the production courtesy of RB Frank Gore, Jr.
Gore set an FBS bowl record (and a single-game school record) with 329 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns. In addition, Gore threw an 18-yard TD pass to Tiaquelin Mims. Gore scored on runs of 64 and 55 yards.
QB Trey Lowe threw 2 TD passes to Jakarius Caston and Jason Brownlee.
The defense, the most consistent unit all season, held the Owls in check with five sacks and seven tackles for loss.
Daylen Gill stood out on defense. He recorded 11 tackles, 3 tackles for loss, and 3 sacks.
It was the Golden Eagles’ first bowl win since the 2016 season.
Southern Miss Football 2022-Rankings, Honors, and Accolades
The Southern Miss defense was the most consistent unit in 2022. They were ranked in the Top Ten in the FBS in three categories:
- Tied for #4 in sacks with 44 (also led the Sun Belt Conference).
- #3 in tackles for loss with 109 (also led the Sun Belt Conference).
- #7 in INTs with 17 (#2 in the Sun Belt Conference). 3 of those INTs were pick-sixes.
Jay Stanley recorded 5 INTs, good enough for 11th in the country. He was named 3rd Team All-American by Pro Football Focus.
DL Dominic Quewon racked 10 sacks on the season, tied for 10th in the country.
RB Frank Gore, Jr. rushed for 1382 yards and nine touchdowns. He averaged 106 yards per game, good enough for #2 in the Sun Belt Conference.
Seven players earned All-Sun Belt Conference honors:
- Frank Gore, Jr.-2nd Team RB, 1st Team All Purpose Player
- WR Jason Brownlee-3rd-Team
- LB Santrell Latham-3rd-Team
- DB Jay Stanley-3rd-Team
- DB Malik Shorts-3rd-Team
- K Briggs Bourgeois-3rd-Team
- P Mason Hunt-3rd-Team
Four players earned Honorable Mention All-SBC:
- DL Jaylen Williams
- LB Daylen Gill
- LB Averie Habas
- DB Natrone Brooks
Three of the losses by the Golden Eagles were by 7 points or less. Lack of stability at the quarterback position and better execution overall on offense was the difference between a 6–6 record and a 9–3 record.
Couple that with the win in the bowl game and you see how close the Golden Eagles came to posting a 10-win season.
Above all, Southern Miss gained some much-needed momentum heading into Spring practice.
Thanks for reading.
Originally published at https://thegridironnews.com on February 1, 2023.
