After a tumultuous week within the Southern Miss football program, the Golden Eagles were very close to pulling off an upset over a good University of Texas at San Antonio team.
Earlier this week, senior quarterback Jack Abraham abruptly left the team, leaving the starting signal-caller duties to sophomore Tate Whatley.
Whatley, in his fourth career start, had a respectable performance, putting up 272 passing yards and two touchdowns with one interception.
The Golden Eagles took an early lead when Briggs Bourgeois sailed a 37-yard field goal through the uprights.
USM would take that 3-0 lead into the second quarter before UTSA quickly got on the board when linebacker Jamal Ligon took down Whatley in his own end zone, forcing a safety.
The Roadrunners took their first lead of the day after a six-yard touchdown pass from Frank Harris to Zakhari Franklin.
Just two minutes prior to the half, All-Conference USA receiver Tim Jones pulled in a 13-yard reception, giving the Golden Eagles a 10-9 halftime lead.
UTSA quickly scored coming out of the locker room, thanks to a 69-yard touchdown run by McCormick.
Three drives later, Sincere McCormick, who is second in the nation in terms of rushing yards, found the end zone yet again, making it a two-possession lead for the Roadrunners.
Right before the start of the fourth quarter, Bourgeois hit another field goal to get the Golden Eagles back within 10.
Things looked promising for USM when Whatley connected with Frank Gore, Jr. for a 51-yard touchdown to start out the fourth quarter, but unfortunately, the UTSA (6-4, 4-2) defense held strong, shutting out the Golden Eagles for the rest of the afternoon.
Next up for Southern Miss (2-7, 1-4) will be another tough test as they’ll travel to Birmingham to face UAB, who currently sits at 4-3 on the season.
