Southern Miss Falls to Liberty in Thrilling Home Opener

By Andy Baeuerle

Golden Eagle football for 2022 has officially started. Saturday, September 3, Southern Miss hosted the Liberty Flames in what proved to be an exciting matchup.

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The game started at 6:00 and both teams held each other from scoring until USM scored a field goal with 5:24 left in the 1st Quarter. Liberty retaliated with their own field goal with 1:06 left. The game stayed neck and neck. When one team scored, the other one came right back to tie the game.

At the end of the 4th Quarter, the game was tied 24-24, forcing the game into overtime. At the end of the 1st overtime, the score was still tied at 24-24. By the 2nd, the game was tied 27-27. The game stayed tied 27-27 through the 3rd, but Liberty pulled through with a 2 point scoring pass to win 29-27 in the 4th overtime. Though I am not 100% sure, I have heard this is the longest lasting game in Golden Eagle Football History.

After the game was over, Southern Miss IMG Sports Radio Analyst Lee Roberts headed to the locker room to interview 2nd year Southern Miss Head Coach Will Hall about what he saw in tonight’s game. One thing Coach Hall said really struck me. He said, “You’ve gotta give credit to Liberty. They are a team that knows how to win. And we don’t. But that’s something we work on everyday and we are getting there.”

Overall, this was a very exciting opener for the Golden Eagles, and the Flames, and here are some stats for both teams:

1. Game Yardage

   1. Liberty

      1. Total Yards: 447 Yards

      2. Passing Yards: 203 Yards (Kaidon Salter led with 148 Passing Yards)

      3. Rushing Yards: 244 (Kaidon Salter also led with 9 carries for 65 Yards)

   2. Southern Miss

      1. Total Yards: 389 Yards

      2. Passing Yards: 137 Yards (Ty Keyes led with 89 yards before getting injured)

      3. Rushing Yards: 252 Yards (Frank Gore, Jr. led with 32 carries for 178 yards)

2. Turnovers

   1. Liberty

      1. Fumbles Lost: 0

      2. Interceptions Thrown: 3

   2. Southern Miss

      1. Fumbles Lost: 2

      2. Interceptions Thrown: 3

3. Defense

   1. Liberty Tackles

      1. Ahmad Walker and Mike Smith, Jr. both led the Flames’ Defense with 8 tackles Saturday night.

   2. Southern Miss Tackles

      1. Malik Shorts led the Golden Eagles’ Defense with 12 total tackles Saturday night.

Next week, the Golden Eagles will travel to Hard Rock Stadium in Miami to face the Miami Hurricanes. This game will be televised on the ACC Network at 11:00 AM Central Time. The next home game for the Eagles will be September 17 as they take on the Northwestern State Demons.

Here are some more scores for other NCAA Football teams in Mississippi;

#21 Ole Miss: 28 Troy: 10

Mississippi State: 49 Memphis: 23

Jackson State: 59 Florida AMU: 3

Alcorn State: 27 Stephen F. Austin: 31

MS Valley State: 13 Tarleton: 23

Delta State: 33 Kentucky State: 10