Coming off its first FBS win of the season, Southern Miss will look to keep the momentum going when the team faces off against Louisiana on Thursday night.
The Golden Eagles, who defeated Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday, had not won a game since Sept. 2 against lower-level Alcorn State, but with a new-look offense that has proved explosive over the last two weeks, head coach Will Hall believes this is a good chance for his team to find consecutive victories for the first time since late 2022.
“We feel like we’re kind of playing our best right now,” Hall said on the SuperTalk Eagle Hour. “We think we’re playing better offensively than at any point. We feel like we’re leveraging the ball better than we ever have. We’re playing a good football team this week…but if we do the things it takes to win this week and don’t do the things that cause you to lose like we’ve started to learn to do, I think we’ve got a great chance to do some good things.”
One of the keys to another win, according to co-host Luke Johnson, will be the offensive line continuing to open holes for running back Frank Gore, Jr. Gore has rushed for 378 yards and three touchdowns over the last two games alone as the junior nears 1,000 total yards for the second season in a row.
“I think the change where Will handed playcalling over to Jordy (Joseph) and Sam (Gregg), you see the middle and the sides really opening up because they’re attacking the defense,” Johnson explained. “In the App State game, you know, they just went vertical. Then, they started spreading the attack to the sides and what it does is it opens up the middle as well as gets Frank on the edge a lot more.”
As for who all will play under center, Hall did not reveal how much time Ethan Crawford might get after the true freshman checked in on multiple drives during the team’s win against Louisiana-Monroe. Through eight games, starting quarterback Billy Wiles has thrown for 1,746 yards with nine touchdowns and six interceptions.
Southern Miss (2-6, 1-5 Sun Belt) and Louisiana (5-4, 2-3) will kick off at 6:30 p.m. CT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
