HATTIESBURG – In a game where everything went right for the Southern Miss defense in the beginning, it would end up being a night the Eagles defense will want to forget after reviewing the film, of course.
North Texas had seven straight scoring drives spanning from the second quarter to the fourth to help upend Southern Miss 43-28 in front of 21,907 fans in attendance Saturday at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
“I’m not happy right now,” Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson said. “At the end of the day, we know coaching and playing we have to do a lot better. I knew North Texas was a good football team. I knew it would be a 60-minute battle, but we had our chances.”
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Entering the game No. 1 in the country for third down defense, the Southern Miss defense held strong in the opening quarter. North Texas began the game with three straight three-and-outs before finding pay dirt on its fourth possession. By that time Southern Miss had already built a 14-0 lead.
With less than a minute left in the fist quarter, Southern Miss had the Mean Green stopped on third down near midfield. North Texas, however, gambled and chose to run it on fourth down, as running back Jeffery Wilson scampered free for a 46-yard score to cut the USM lead to 14-7.
Southern Miss would jump back up 21-7, and it looked like the defense had North Texas figured out again with back-to-back takeaways in the second quarter. Delmond Landry recovered a fumble when North Texas was driving in USM territory, then Jomez Applewhite recorded an interception on North Texas’ next possession.
Southern Miss scored after the fumble recovery to make it 21-7, but it got nothing after the interception.
Once North Texas got the ball back after the USM punt, it began to roll. The Mean Green added a touchdown and a field goal before the half to cut the Southern Miss lead to 21-17.
The time of possession swung in North Texas’ way after the first quarter, too. Southern Miss held the ball for 8:38 of the 15-minute opening quarter, but that changed in the second quarter. The Mean Green had the ball for 9:46 in the second, 8:20 in the third and a whopping 12:05 in the final quarter.
Southern Miss defensive lineman Xavier Thigpen didn’t think his defense was gassed, though.
“I know the D line felt pretty fresh,” Thigpen said. “I just feel like we have to execute better.”
North Texas began the second half with a drive that ended in a field goal, but it could have been classified as a win for the USM defense. The Mean Green converted three third downs before failing on their fourth third down try in the red zone. The field goal trimmed the USM lead to 21-20.
The next three drives for North Texas, however, ended in touchdowns to pull away from the home team. An overturned call on a touchdown play due to an official review gave North Texas a 27-21 lead, an effortless drive on its next possession made it 33-21 and a hands-to-the-face penalty allowed the Mean Green to keep the next drive alive, as they scored another touchdown to jump up 40-28.
“We certainly didn’t get to (the quarterback) much in the second and third quarter,” Hopson said. “They maxed prod in there and hit some big plays on us. We just felt like we gave up too many big plays there. We have to improve that.”
Thigpen echoed Hopson by saying North Texas added a sixth and seventh blocker for protection.
“They started chipping our ends,” he said. “They started doing six-man protections, seven-man protections and back protection to just try to slow our rush down. But, we just still have to get it done.”
The Southern Miss defense allowed 174 rushing yards, 148 to Wilson, and North Texas quarterback Mason Fine passed for 366 yards, two touchdowns and an interception on 24-of-40 passing.
“Fine is a gamer,” Hopson said. “He’s a good player. He makes plays and he’s their gun. He’s the guy who makes it go for them.”
Receiver Jalen Guyton was Fine’s biggest target on the night, as Guyton hauled in 14 receptions for 211 yards and a touchdown.
Southern Miss drops to 2-2 overall and 0-1 in Conference USA while North Texas improves to 3-2 and 2-0 in conference play.
