Southern Miss: 34 La. Tech: 27
Southern Miss came out on the right side of a 2OT thriller last night, beating Louisiana Tech 34-27. Trailing 27-19 with just over 30 seconds remaining in the game, WR Korey Robertson caught a 22-yard TD pass from Keon Howard to put the Golden Eagles within two. A two-point conversation tied the game and took it to overtime. In the first OT period, La. Tech’s J’Mar Smith had a pass intercepted, putting the Golden Eagles in prime position to win the game, but they gave it right back. Keon Howard was intercepted, and the game went to 2OT. On the first play of their next possession, Southern Miss made sure they wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. Howard hit Robertson for a 25-yard TD, and Southern Miss took the lead. The Golden Eagle defense would hold on the following possession and held on for the win. Howard finished the game with 32 completions on 53 attempts for 301 yards in his third game filling in for an injured Kwadra Griggs. Howard is 3-0 as the Golden Eagle’s starter.
Next game: Southern Miss (5-2) will host UAB (4-3) next week.
Mississippi State: 45 Kentucky: 7
Mississippi State made it two wins in a row as they were able to easily take care of the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday by the final score of 45-7. As anticipated, the Bulldogs did a majority of their damage on the ground. They came into the day with the SEC’s 3rd ranked rushing attack, and behind their dual-threat QB Nick Fitzgerald, they totaled 282 yards rushing. Fitzgerald finished with 115 yards on just 12 carries, including a 40-yard TD run late in the first half. In the win, Fitzgerald became just the 7th QB in SEC history to rush for over 2,000 yards in a career. The Bulldogs never trailed in the game as the Kentucky offense was never able to garner any momentum against the Bulldog defense. In previous SEC losses, MSU had multiple turnovers, but Saturday, they were able to force 2 Kentucky turnovers while committing none of their own. The Bulldogs led 17-7 at the half, but scored four touchdowns in the second half, including a pick-six, to bust the game wide-open.
The Bulldogs (5-2) travel to Texas A&M (5-2) next week to take on the Aggies.
Ole Miss: 24 LSU: 40
Ole Miss couldn’t stop LSU RB Derrius Guice, and therefore they fell to the Tigers 40-24. LSU’s game plan was simple, get the ball to Guice and let him do what he does best. Guice finished with 276 yards rushing on 22 carries against the dilapidated Ole Miss rushing defense. LSU QB Danny Etling attempted only 11 passes throughout the game. LSU fell just short of 600 yards of total offense in the game. On the other side of the coin, the Ole Miss offense was shut down by the LSU defense. Only able to muster two field goals in the first half, and hobbled by a knee injury to Shea Patterson in the second, Ole Miss wasn’t able to match their explosiveness that was seen in the 57-point performance against Vanderbilt a week ago. To make matters worse for the Rebels, Ole Miss media has released a statement saying:
“Shea Patterson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn right PCL, which was revealed in an MRI following last night’s game.”
Jordan Ta’amu will presumably become the team’s starter for the remainder of the season. Ta’amu saw his first action of the season last night, going 7/11 for 78 yards.
Ole Miss (3-4) will host the Arkansas Razorbacks (2-5) next week.
