Southern Miss Out Muscles UTSA 32-10

I wrote earlier this week about the Roadrunners having their backs to the wall, desperately in need of a win to keep bowl eligibility dreams in tact. The flat start by the Roadrunners would have you thinking otherwise.

With both the offensive and defensive lines being thoroughly dominated, the Roadrunners permitted a 16-0 halftime lead. Quarterback Dalton Sturm was regularly hammered in the first half, allowing the offense to pile up a miserly 81 yards of offense despite the defense creating three turnovers in the first half.

Dalton Sturm was able to get the Roadrunners into the red zone but he promptly fumbled the ball to kill what little momentum UTSA had created. A 30 second possession by the offense to end the half put USM into position to extend their lead with an easy field goal.

UTSA came out to a little bit more of offensive success in the third quarter as they managed to generate ten points. Running back Jarveon Williams ran with some serious inspiration to put UTSA into scoring position twice.

Despite some acrobatic turnovers, UTSA was habitually unable to get off the field on third down due to break downs in zone coverage. That included a morale-crushing 37 yard conversion on third and 32. As you may be able to deduce, USM was able to surpass the 500 yard mark early in the fourth quarter.

The third-down failures for both sides of the ball can be traced back to the play of the offensive line. The defense was out muscled on nearly every snap while the offense was clueless when faced with stunts and blitzes. To add to the bad taste the game left in fans' mouths, Juan Perez left the game in the second half due to an apparent lower body injury.

USM would coast through the fourth quarter to a 32-10 finish. The Roadrunners fall to 1-6 heading into the bye week while USM put themselves in great position to make a much-anticipated return to bowl eligibility.