Zay Franks of Magee Scores First Collegiate Touchdown–USM

Please note that this post contains affiliate links and any sales made through such links will reward MageeNews.com a small commission – at no extra cost to you.

Zay Franks, #7 for USM, scores his first collegiate touchdown Saturday night at “The Rock.”  Zay is a Magee guy where he was an outstanding player for the Magee Trojans.

The pictures are from Southern Miss Image Center.

By Andy Baeuerle

Saturday night at The Rock in Hattiesburg, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles took down the Northwestern State Demons 64-10. The matchup was one of the best USM has had in recent years in terms of defensive and offensive numbers. This was the first game in which USM put more than 60 points on the board since their 2017 66-21 win against Charlotte. Magee natives Zay Franks and Chandler Pittman saw time on the field Saturday, with Franks getting a 58 yard catch for a touchdown. After the win Saturday, USM climbed from 7th to 4th in the West Division of the Sun Belt.

Next week, USM will travel to New Orleans to reopen a 43-year old rivalry with the Tulane Green Wave in a battle known as the Battle for the Bell. Right now, the bell is at Tulane after their September 2020 meeting where Tulane won 66-24 over the Golden Eagles. Currently, however, USM leads the series with 23 wins and 9 losses.

Northwestern State will face Lamar at home in Natchitoches, Louisiana, as they search for their first win of the season.

Here are some stats from Saturday Night’s game:

1. Game Yardage
   1. Southern Miss
      1. Total Yards: 588 Yards
      2. Passing Yards: 400 Yards (Ty Keyes led the passing game with 192 yards and 3 touchdowns)

• Rushing Yards: 188 Yards (Frank Gore Jr. led the game on the ground with 7 carries for 82 yards and 1 touchdown)

1. Northwestern State
   1. Total Yards: 234 Yards
   2. Passing Yards: 218 Yards (Zachary Clements led NW State’s passing with 214 yards and 1 touchdown)

• Rushing Yards: 16 Yards (Kennieth Lacey led with 14 yards on the ground)

2. Turnovers
   1. USM
      1. Fumbles Lost: 0
      2. Interceptions Thrown: 0
   2. Northwestern State
      1. Fumbles Lost: 1
      2. Interceptions Thrown: 1
   3. Defense
      1. USM
         1. Swayze Bozeman led the USM Nasty Bunch Defense with 8 tackles. (All tackle numbers were close together)
         2. USM had a total of 65 tackles, 4 sacks, and 10 tackles for loss.
      2. Northwestern State
         1. Kevin Davis, Jr. led the Demons’ Defense with 11 tackles.
         2. Northwestern State had a total of 89 tackles, 2 sacks, and 7 tackles for loss.

And here are some scores from around Mississippi in this 3rd week of college football (Scores are listed respectively, meaning if the team is listed first, so will their score):

1. #20 Ole Miss @ Georgia Tech: 42-0
2. MS State @ LSU: 16-31
3. Jackson State vs. Grambling: 66-24
4. Alcorn State @ McNeese: 30-19
5. Delta State @ MS Valley State: 28-17
6. Mississippi College vs. North Greenville: 19-41

MageeNews.com is an online news source serving Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.