Will Hall's first season-opening win at Southern Miss couldn't have been any smoother, with the Golden Eagles taking down Alcorn State 40-14.
"We are a more complete football team," Hall said. "We didn't play perfect.
"I thought our defense played awesome. I thought our defensive line dominated the game. We came out and executed early offensively…There are some things to clean up, but we are 1-0 against a team that I think will win their conference."
WILES' SUCCESSFUL DEBUT
The majority of the Golden Eagles' success stemmed from quarterback Billy Wiles, who was 21-for-28 and threw for 267 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. It's worth noting that it took USM three games before reaching 22 pass completions last season.
"We are just way better at quarterback than we used to be," Hall said. "(Wiles) is a good player that pours everything into what he has. I thought Billy came out from the jump and played great.
Wiles' day was kick started by an interception from Jay Stanley on Alcorn's opening drive. Wiles took advantage of the favorable field position and came up with his first touchdown, a 16-yard completion to Jakarius Caston.
"I learned that we are tough with getting hit and getting pushed back on first down," Wiles said. "I think toughness is a big part of this team."
Wiles' second touchdown pass came in the second quarter as he found Frank Gore Jr. on third and goal from two yards out that extended USM's lead to 24-7.
The Clemson transfer's biggest mistake of the night was an interception in the end zone, but responded by leading the Golden Eagles' next drive to a field goal.
Wiles capped off his night with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Tyquan Henderson to cap off a 7-play, 79-yard drive to push the score to 37-7. Holeman Edwards then took over the offense to close out the game.
Wiles also connected with eight different wide receivers. Caston finished the game with 104 yards, the first 100-yard game in his career.
"It feels good to have depth (at quarterback), and the quarterback can actually throw the ball," Caston said. "Everybody is calmer and just wants to play football and are not scared everywhere. We are building as a team. It's becoming stronger."
Like Wiles, Gore didn't appear in the second half as he contributed 52 all-purpose yards, a receiving touchdown, and included a 9-yard touchdown run.
"We felt like the game was in control," Hall said. "Frank is a proven guy and has a lot of tread on his tires. Frank didn't have anything to prove in that second half. He had done his damage."
SECONDARY DOMINATES
Despite receiving some of the biggest question marks in the offseason, the Golden Eagle secondary put together perhaps the most dominant showing out of any part of USM's team.
"I thought our corners played well," Hall said. "I don't think they were tested quite like they are going to see because our defensive line was able to get so much pressure quickly.
All of those corners got a lot of confidence. Jay Stanley was phenomenal."
In the first half, Stanley came up with two interceptions, which was the first time since Ky'el Hemby's two picks against UTEP back in 2018.
"We set the tone tonight early," said Stanley, who also contributed two tackles and two pass breakups. "I wanted to be that spark."
But the glaring stat of the half was how the Braves were held to zero passing yards. This prompted Alcorn to swap quarterbacks after halftime, which led to the Braves finally completing a pass with four minutes into the third quarter. By the end of the night, Alcorn State completed five passes for 44 yards, which is the lowest yards a Southern Miss defense has held a team to since its 2016 win against Savannah State.
"We heard a lot from the critics and the talk," Stanley said. "We just continued to work harder. The guys who came in bought into everything we are trying to teach as a standard. You see, those guys bought in."
Of Alcorn State's 184 total rushing yards, 75 of those came from a touchdown run in the first half. The Braves' only other successful scoring drive came in the fourth quarter, which ended with a 15-yard touchdown run to narrow the score to 37-14.
STEIN'S CAREER DAY
Despite having not made a field goal in a game in 1,346 days and having to battle in fall camp for the starting placekicking job, Andrew Stein proved he deserved to be the winner.
"I'm so proud for that kid," Hall said. "Andrew Stein plays here in 2019 and plays really well. Then he gets beat out and stays, and he plays 2020 as a backup. He plays '21 as a backup and '22 as a backup.
"You just don't see that a lot anymore…Usually, when you stick something out and get better and better, the Lord rewards you."
Stein went 4-for-4 in his kicks and included a career-long 52-yard field goal.
COLE CAVALLO INJURY
Southern Miss tight end Cole Cavallo injured himself during the pregame warmup, but according to Hall, it was not season-ending.
"We lost Cole Cavallo in pregame warmups, which hurts because he took all the (first team) reps at tight end for every practice," Hall said. "He's going to be back. We didn't lose him for the year. He just has a muscle pull."
Southern Miss will travel to Tallahassee, Florida and face No. 6 Florida State.
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