TROY, Ala. — Southern Miss received a rough welcome to Sun Belt Conference football.
Troy handed the Golden Eagles a 27-10 defeat at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday to spoil USM’s debut in the conference.
The defenses headlined what quickly established itself as a sloppy clash between the Trojans (4-2, 2-1 SBC) and Golden Eagles (2-3, 0-1), with six turnovers between the two teams.
The Golden Eagles’ offense made more mistakes than their defense could recover from, though, coming totally unglued in the second half to snap a two-game winning streak.
Southern Miss offense sputters
After a period of linear progress for quarterback Zach Wilcke and the Golden Eagles on offense, Southern Miss’ attack took a step back Saturday.
The Golden Eagles managed only 210 yards of total offense against a stout Trojans’ defense.
Their longest drive of the night was 42 yards, and even that was rendered a failure by an interception thrown by Wilcke.
The Golden Eagles surpassed the 20-yard threshold on a drive only three times as they struggled to find any kind of rhythm.
Wilcke was often rushed by a strong Troy pass rush, completing 19 of his 35 pass attempts for 157 yards.
On the ground, Frank Gore Jr. had his most successful game since Week 1 with 15 carries for 67 yards, but the Golden Eagles managed only 1.8 yards per carry.
Take your pick
The streak of clean football Southern Miss had been playing in the leadup to its conference opener came to an abrupt end Saturday.
The Golden Eagles’ defense forced its fair share of mistakes, too, as the two teams combined to throw four interceptions in the first half and five in the game.
The first interception thrown by Wilcke involved some tough luck. His throw to wideout Jason Brownlee was on target, but the impact from a Troy defender jarred the ball loose and into the hands of the waiting Craig Slocum.
Wilcke’s second turnover of the game came via a nice play by Markeis Colvin, who undercut a route and made a difficult snag to set up a Troy touchdown.
The freshman threw his third pick of the evening in the fourth quarter on a wheel route up the left sideline that all but sealed the Golden Eagles’ fate.
The Golden Eagles’ only touchdown of the game came after Camron Harrell intercepted Troy’s Jarret Doege and set Southern Miss’ offense up at the Trojans’ 13-yard line.
Later on in the half, Jay Stanley intercepted Doege in the end zone to cut short a drive that seemed destined for a touchdown.
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Big-time pass rushes live up to their billing
Southern Miss and Troy showed exactly why they entered this game in the nation’s top-10 in sacks.
The Golden Eagles got to Doege four times, while Wilcke was sacked five times by the Trojans.
Even when they didn’t go down, this was an uncomfortable game for both quarterbacks, who were often rushed into decisions.
The Golden Eagles’ offensive line did not allow a sack the last time they took the field in an upset of Tulane two weeks ago. They were nowhere near as effective Saturday, with Wilcke running for his life on many of his dropbacks.
Southern Miss’ pressure made Doege’s life difficult throughout the game, too.
A key example of that impact came on Harrell’s interception, when Doege was hammered by a blitzing Jay Jones, resulting in an errant pass that Harrell snagged.
David Eckert covers Southern Miss for The Hattiesburg American. Contact him at [email protected] or on Twitter @davideckert98.
