The loudest M.M. Roberts Stadium became on Saturday was after what seemed to be a controversial call by the game's officiating crew.
Southern Miss looked to recover a muffed punt, but instead, a flag overturned the play with a kick-catch interference call. In the moments and those that followed, it was the loudest that the stadium's crowd had been in what was a forgettable 37-3 blowout loss to Marshall on Saturday night.
But by the time the unfavorable flag was thrown, the Golden Eagles were already trailing 24-3 early in the third quarter. For the announced 20,502 fans that made their voices heard, it was the most entertaining part of a quickly lost game. Unfortunately for Southern Miss, the penalty was the correct call.
"Pretty much everybody in the stadium is going to disagree, but it was the correct call," Southern Miss interim coach Reed Stringer said. "I've spent most of my coaching career in special teams, and I've only seen this happen one other time. When the returner makes a fair catch, that ball is his ball. He has the right to catch the ball until it hits the ground. The ball hit him, and it went right into our returner. That's illegal touching on the kicking team. It very rarely happens because most of the time the balls do hit the ground."
While the discontent towards the officials was understandable, it could also be said that the brief moment of events is the illustration of another frustrating game in a season that has now featured the Golden Eagles' dropping their seventh straight game.
"I felt like it was a really unlucky call, but it was the correct call," Stringer said. "It's a tough penalty. The ball bounces right to you. There's really nothing you can do. Michael Carraway just catches it, and we get a 15-yard penalty. A lot of things like that are happening to us."
For the entire fanbase, it's now a season that is devoted to anxiously awaiting to see who Southern Miss will announce as its next coach. Some fans have even used the game as a chance to advocate for their preferred coach, as some wore white cowboy hats and beads with the term 'Go-Go' in reference to possible coaching candidate Brennan Marion. But that decision is still at least a few weeks away.
In the game, Southern Miss' defense held its own in the first three drives. Marshall's first offensive play was a 69-yard pass completion, but the Golden Eagle defense held the Thundering Herd to a 25-yard field goal. The Southern Miss offense turned the ball over on downs, but again the defense forced Marshall (6-3, 4-1) to kick a field goal, which went wide right.
On the first play of USM's ensuing drive, quarterback Ethan Crawford's pass was tipped and intercepted. Again Southern Miss' defense held as the Golden Eagles stopped Marshall on fourth down at the 2-yard line.
However, the defensive effort did not last, with Marshall scoring touchdowns on its next two drives. The Golden Eagles' lone score was a 51-yard field goal by Connor Gibbs to keep the score at 17-3 by halftime.
"Until we can figure out a way to stop beating ourselves, then it's going to be really hard for us to win a football game," Stringer said. "I feel like our guys are playing hard, and I feel like our guys were motivated. There were times when individuals on this team did some good stuff. There were times our defense stepped up and did some good things, and made plays on offense at certain times. But way too many penalties, (and) way too many drops in critical situations. Those are the type of things right now that us, as a team, that is going to be really hard for us to overcome."
At the start of the third quarter, Marshall scored two more touchdowns with just over nine minutes left to break away. By the end of the game, the Herd outgained Southern Miss 526 yards to 183, with the Golden Eagles getting penalized 10 times for 79 yards.
"We have to learn how to play smarter," Stringer said. "We will keep harping on that and keep putting plans together to give our guys opportunities to make plays and things that they can execute…I think if we do that, then I think we'll have a chance to maybe win a game by the end of this season. Until we correct ourselves and fix us then it's going to be tough."
Southern Miss will go on the road to face Texas State next week. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.
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