2021 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team

2021 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football
Conference	Conference USA
Division	West Division
Record	3–9 (2–6 C-USA)
Head coach	Will Hall (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Sam Gregg (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Austin Armstrong (1st season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	M. M. Roberts Stadium
Seasons ←  2020 2022  →

2021 Conference USA football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Western Kentucky xy		7	–	1					9	–	5
Marshall		5	–	3					7	–	6
Old Dominion		5	–	3					6	–	7
Middle Tennessee		4	–	4					7	–	6
Florida Atlantic		3	–	5					5	–	7
Charlotte		3	–	5					5	–	7
FIU		0	–	8					1	–	11
West Division
UTSA xy$		7	–	1					12	–	2
UAB		6	–	2					9	–	4
North Texas		5	–	3					6	–	7
UTEP		4	–	4					7	–	6
Rice		3	–	5					4	–	8
Southern Miss		2	–	6					3	–	9
Louisiana Tech		2	–	6					3	–	9
Championship: UTSA 49, Western Kentucky 41
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

The 2021 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team represented the University of Southern Mississippi in the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Golden Eagles played their home games at the M. M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, and competed in the West Division of Conference USA (CUSA). They were led by first-year head coach Will Hall.

On October 28, 2021, Southern Miss announced that this will be the last season for the team in the C-USA and will join the Sun Belt Conference on July 1, 2022. ^[1]

Preseason

C-USA media days

The Golden Eagles were predicted to finish in fourth place in the West Division in the Conference USA preseason poll. ^[2]

Media poll (West Division)
Predicted finish	Team
1	UAB
2	UTSA
3	Louisiana Tech
4	Southern Miss
5	Rice
6	North Texas
7	UTEP

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	7:00 p.m.	at South Alabama *	Hancock Whitney Stadium Mobile, AL	ESPN+	L 7–31	20,156
September 11	6:00 p.m.	Grambling State *	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN3	W 37–0	25,235
September 18	6:00 p.m.	Troy *	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN+	L 9–21	24,242
September 25	6:30 p.m.	at No. 1 Alabama *	Bryant–Denny Stadium Tuscaloosa, AL	SECN	L 14–63	100,077
October 2	5:30 p.m.	at Rice	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	L 19–24	16,031
October 9	6:00 p.m.	UTEP	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN3	L 13–26	26,049
October 16	2:30 p.m.	UAB	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	Stadium	L 0–34	21,514
October 30	2:30 p.m.	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	ESPN+	L 10–35	10,721
November 6	2:00 p.m.	North Texas	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN+	L 14–38	22,478
November 13	2:30 p.m.	at No. 23 UTSA	Alamodome San Antonio, TX	ESPN+	L 17–27	30,105
November 19	7:00 p.m.	at Louisiana Tech	Joe Aillet Stadium Ruston, LA (Rivalry in Dixie)	CBSSN	W 35–19	10,410
November 27	2:00 p.m.	FIU	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	ESPN+	W 37–17	20,041
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP and CFP Rankings after November 2 All times are in Central time

^[3]

Personnel

2021 Southern Miss Golden Eagles football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 0 Demarcus Jones  Jr WR 1 Jason Brownlee Jr WR 2 Da'Quan Bailey-Brown Jr RB 3 Frank Gore Jr. Fr QB 5 Ty Keyes Fr RB 6 Dajon Richard  Fr RB 7 Darius Maberry  Jr QB 8 Trey Lowe  So QB 9 Tee Webb Fr QB 11 Jake Smithhart Sr RB 12 Chandler Pittman Fr QB 14 Jack Walker  Jr WR 15 Jakarius Caston So WR 16 Brandon Hayes Fr WR 17 Zay Franks Fr QB 18 Jason Goldstein  So WR 19 Richard Mays Jr. Fr RB 21 Zahn Diaz Fr RB 23 Dee Baker  Fr QB 24 Jake Lange Fr RB 28 Jimmie Haywood  Fr TE 33 Cole Cavallo  So OL 79 Tykeem Doss Jr	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 0 Michael Pleas Jr. Fr DB 1 Rachuan Mitchell  Sr DL 2 Eriq Kitchen Sr DL 3 Tahj Sykes  Jr DL 5 Everitt Cunningham  Sr LB 6 Santrell Latham  Jr DL 7 Dominic Quewon Jr LB 8 Josh Perry  Sr DB 9 Malik Shorts  So DB 11 Antavious Willis  Fr DB 12 Eric Scott Jr.  Jr DB 13 Tyrek Moody  Jr DB 15 Vinson Brown Fr DB 17 Brendan Toles Fr DB 18 Natrone Brooks Jr DB 19 Kendrick Abney Jr DB 20 Lakevias Daniel Jr DB 21 Jay Stanley So DB 22 Rube Scott Rhea Fr LB 23 Arian Gregory Fr LB 24 Tyrese Hopkins Fr DB 26 Jay Jones Fr LB 28 Swayze Bozeman Sr DB 29 Camron Harrell Jr DB 31 J.D. Rutherford Jr LB 32 Hayes Maples  So DB 34 Jeremiah McDonald  So LB 35 TQ Newsome  Fr DL 36 Dashawn Crawford Sr DB 39 Hayes Puckett Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class P 16 Mason Hunt  Jr P 20 Griffin Fleming So K 29 Dalton Melancon  So K 30 Jack Tannehill Fr K 40 Briggs Bourgeois  Jr LS 56 T. J. Harvey  So LS 59 Justin Hulett  Sr LS 62 Seth Roberson  Fr P 92 Payton Snyder  So K 97 Trey Herbert Fr K 98 Andrew Stein So K 99 Tucker Barefoot Fr	Head coach Will Hall Coordinators/assistant coaches Reed Stringer Assistant head coach/General manager Sam Gregg Offensive coordinator/Offensive line Austin Armstrong Defensive coordinator/Inside linebackers Cayden Cochran Tight ends Mark Criner Outside linebackers Jordy Joseph Running backs Brandon Lacy Defensive line Desmond Lindsey Wide receivers/Passing game coordinator Dan O'Brien Safeties Greg Meyer Special teams coordinator Chad Williams Cornerbacks Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

At South Alabama

See also: 2021 South Alabama Jaguars football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	0	0	0	7
Jaguars	0	14	10	7	31

Statistics	USM	USA
First downs	19	13
Total yards	258	300
Rushing yards	125	31
Passing yards	133	269
Turnovers	4	1
Time of possession	31:27	28:33

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Trey Lowe	13/29, 133 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	19 rushes, 81 yards
	Receiving	Jakarius Caston	3 receptions, 38 yards
South Alabama	Passing	Jake Bentley	17/22, 269 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Kareem Walker	18 rushes, 26 yards
	Receiving	Jalen Tolbert	5 receptions, 168 yards

Grambling State

See also: 2021 Grambling State Tigers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Tigers	0	0	0	0	0
Golden Eagles	7	3	10	17	37

Statistics	GRAM	USM
First downs	9	22
Total yards	141	439
Rushing yards	51	290
Passing yards	90	149
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	28:00	32:10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Grambling State	Passing	Aldon Clark	8/19, 60 yards, INT
	Rushing	Darqueze Brutton	8 rushes, 35 yards
	Receiving	Donald Johnson III	3 receptions, 26 yards
Southern Miss	Passing	Trey Lowe	10/13, 99 yards, TD
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	21 rushes, 162 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jakarius Caston	4 receptions, 50 yards, TD

Troy

See also: 2021 Troy Trojans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	0	0	14	7	21
Golden Eagles	3	0	0	6	9

Statistics	TROY	USM
First downs	17	14
Total yards	304	156
Rushing yards	49	-1
Passing yards	255	157
Turnovers	2	2
Time of possession	30:54	29:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Troy	Passing	Taylor Powell	27/39, 255 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Kimani Vidal	17 rushes, 45 yards, TD
	Receiving	Tez Johnson	10 receptions, 106 yards
Southern Miss	Passing	Ty Keyes	16/27, 157 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	15 rushes, 31 yards
	Receiving	Antoine Robinson	3 receptions, 49 yards

At No. 1 Alabama

See also: 2021 Alabama Crimson Tide football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	7	0	7	14
No. 1 Crimson Tide	21	21	7	14	63

Statistics	USM	ALA
First downs	11	22
Total yards	213	606
Rushing yards	82	211
Passing yards	131	395
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	31:18	28:42

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Ty Keyes	11/24, 131 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Ty Keyes	12 rushes, 41 yards
	Receiving	Grayson Gunter	3 receptions, 61 yards
Alabama	Passing	Bryce Young	20/22, 313 yards, 5 TD, INT
	Rushing	Roydell Williams	11 rushes, 110 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jahleel Billingsley	5 receptions, 105 yards, TD

At Rice

See also: 2021 Rice Owls football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	0	7	5	19
Owls	7	3	14	0	24

Statistics	USM	RICE
First downs	21	15
Total yards	378	315
Rushing yards	57	108
Passing yards	321	207
Turnovers	4	0
Time of possession	28:22	31:38

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Jake Lange	23/37, 304 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	17 rushes, 79 yards
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	8 receptions, 127 yards
Rice	Passing	Jake Constantine	16/22, 192 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Cedric Patterson III	1 rush, 38 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jake Bailey	5 receptions, 83 yards, TD

UTEP

See also: 2021 UTEP Miners football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Miners	7	7	7	5	26
Golden Eagles	7	0	0	6	13

Statistics	UTEP	USM
First downs	16	17
Total yards	392	254
Rushing yards	265	15
Passing yards	127	239
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	30:48	29:12

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UTEP	Passing	Gavin Hardison	7/17, 127 yards, INT
	Rushing	Ronald Awatt	18 rushes, 159 yards, TD
	Receiving	Tyrin Smith	1 reception, 55 yards
Southern Miss	Passing	Jake Lange	20/31, 239 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	16 rushes, 43 yards
	Receiving	Jakarius Caston	4 receptions, 94 yards

UAB

See also: 2021 UAB Blazers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blazers	3	28	3	0	34
Golden Eagles	0	0	0	0	0

Statistics	UAB	USM
First downs	20	9
Total yards	388	107
Rushing yards	223	75
Passing yards	165	32
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	34:08	25:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
UAB	Passing	Dylan Hopkins	8/13, 147 yards, TD
	Rushing	DeWayne McBride	17 rushes, 137 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jermaine Brown Jr.	4 receptions, 48 yards
Southern Miss	Passing	Jake Lange	3/10, 18 yards
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	13 rushes, 40 yards
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	1 reception, 14 yards

At Middle Tennessee

See also: 2021 Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	0	3	0	10
Blue Raiders	14	7	14	0	35

Statistics	USM	MTSU
First downs	22	15
Total yards	234	287
Rushing yards	50	145
Passing yards	184	142
Turnovers	5	4
Time of possession	33:00	27:00

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Jake Lange	16/34, 166 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	20 rushes, 83 yards
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	9 receptions, 120 yards, TD
Middle Tennessee	Passing	Mike DiLiello	8/12, 78 yards
	Rushing	Mike DiLiello	11 rushes, 77 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Jarrin Pierce	3 receptions, 75 yards

North Texas

See also: 2021 North Texas Mean Green football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mean Green	0	7	21	10	38
Golden Eagles	14	0	0	0	14

Statistics	UNT	USM
First downs	25	11
Total yards	537	229
Rushing yards	321	113
Passing yards	216	116
Turnovers	1	2
Time of possession	34:14	25:46

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Texas	Passing	Austin Aune	16/30, 216 yards, INT
	Rushing	Isaiah Johnson	17 rushes, 119 yards, TD
	Receiving	Detraveon Brown	4 receptions, 85 yards
Southern Miss	Passing	Jake Lange	17/25, 116 yards, TD
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	12 rushes, 82 yards
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	4 receptions, 53 yards, TD

At No. 23 UTSA

See also: 2021 UTSA Roadrunners football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	0	10	7	0	17
No. 23 Roadrunners	0	10	7	10	27

Statistics	USM	UTSA
First downs	10	16
Total yards	189	370
Rushing yards	137	143
Passing yards	52	227
Turnovers	3	2
Time of possession	37:14	22:46

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Frank Gore Jr.	2/3, 33 yards
	Rushing	Frank Gore Jr.	20 rushes, 123 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	3 receptions, 51 yards
UTSA	Passing	Frank Harris	17/30, 227 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Sincere McCormick	19 rushes, 90 yards, TD
	Receiving	Joshua Cephus	8 receptions, 106 yards, TD

At Louisiana Tech

See also: 2021 Louisiana Tech Bulldogs football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Eagles	7	14	0	14	35
Bulldogs	3	6	0	10	19

Statistics	USM	LT
First downs	17	14
Total yards	294	250
Rushing yards	184	150
Passing yards	110	100
Turnovers	3	5
Time of possession	35:06	24:54

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southern Miss	Passing	Frank Gore Jr.	4/8, 75 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Dajon Richard	22 rushes, 120 yards
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	5 receptions, 67 yards, 2 TD
Louisiana Tech	Passing	Aaron Allen	11/26, 100 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Marcus Williams Jr.	17 rushes, 76 yards
	Receiving	Smoke Harris	4 receptions, 48 yards

FIU

See also: 2021 FIU Panthers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	7	3	0	17
Golden Eagles	21	0	3	13	37

Statistics	FIU	USM
First downs	14	18
Total yards	391	444
Rushing yards	160	322
Passing yards	231	122
Turnovers	4	3
Time of possession	28:04	31:56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
FIU	Passing	Max Bortenschlager	13/24, 231 yards, TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Lexington Joseph	16 rushes, 105 yards, TD
	Receiving	Tyrese Chambers	5 receptions, 155 yards, TD
Southern Miss	Passing	Frank Gore Jr.	4/5, 81 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Dajon Richard	16 rushes, 107 yards, TD
	Receiving	Jason Brownlee	5 receptions, 98 yards, 2 TD

References

1. Jeyarajah, Shehan (March 29, 2022). "Southern Miss, Marshall, Old Dominion headed for Sun Belt in 2022 after resolution with Conference USA". CBS Sports . Retrieved March 30, 2022.
2. "C-USA Announces Media's Predicted Order of Finish For 2021". Conference USA. July 19, 2021. Retrieved March 30, 2022.
3. "2021 Southern Miss Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved January 31, 2021.