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Southern Miss lost 52-12 against third-ranked Alabama but showed some improvement, especially on the offensive side of the ball. The Golden Eagles started off the game by driving deep into Crimson Tide territory and kicked a field goal to take a 3-0 lead. Yes, Southern Miss was actually beating Alabama for a few minutes (we have proof below).
The rest of the game went about as expected although USM was pretty competitive for most of the first half. While Alabama scored 21 unanswered points following Southern Miss' opening field goal, the Golden Eagles were still able to move the ball somewhat against a very good Crimson Tide defense. Southern Miss scored near the end of the first half in the form of a Corey Acosta 43 yard field goal to make it a 21-6 game.
Alabama pretty much iced it after Kenyon Drake scored on a 1 yard touchdown with 12:06 left in the third quarter. That put the Crimson Tide up 28-6. While the final score shows an Alabama blowout win, Southern Miss showed some offensive improvement and did not turn the ball over for the second straight game. The Golden Eagles had 263 total yards on offense and QB Nick Mullens completed 19 of 35 passes and threw for 207 yards.
Southern Miss' next matchup will be next Saturday, September 20, against the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Hattiesburg. Appalachian State is 1-1 and had a bye this week. Kickoff is set for 6PM (CST, local time).