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By Andy Baeuerle
It seems when Southern Miss wins, the other teams struggle. And when the other teams do good, Southern Miss struggles. Mississippi football keeps getting weirder and weirder each week, and we all may be in for a big surprise next week.
#9 Ole Miss 17, #2 Georgia 52
I really expected better out of Ole Miss this week. The Rebels went to Athens hoping to knock off Kirby Smart’s 9-0 Bulldogs. The Bulldogs, before Saturday’s game, were on a 26-game win streak and Lane Kiffin was in a good mood to ruin it. A win would potentially put Ole Miss in the College Football Playoff discussion, but only in a twisted situation that included Alabama losing out, Tennessee beating Georgia, and a whole lot of other things.
Through the first 17 minutes, Ole Miss looked like they had a chance. Tied 14-14, things couldn’t look better. Then, the Rebel defense decided to head home before the game was over. By halftime, the Bulldogs racked up 14 more, giving them the 28-14 lead. And as they did in the first half, things kept falling apart in the second, as Ole Miss’s defense let Georgia score 24 more in the second half. The only thing Ole Miss could do to help themselves was a 29-yard field goal by Caden Davis to make it a 45-17 game, shortly before another Georgia touchdown made it 52-17 Bulldogs. This was the first time since the 2018 Alabama game that Ole Miss lost by 5 or more touchdowns.
This win secured Georgia’s spot for the SEC East in the SEC Championship and Alabama’s for the SEC West. Next week, #1 Georgia will travel to Knoxville to face #21 Tennessee.
Southern Miss 34, Louisiana 31 (Overtime)
On November 17, 1923, the Mississippi Normal Normalities traveled to Girard Field, the home of the Southwest Louisiana Bulldogs. The Normalities lost to the Bulldogs 66-0 and would continue to lose the next six matchups, all in Lafayette. It wasn’t until 1932 that the MS State Teachers College Yellow Jackets (Mississippi Normal, now Southern Miss) would pick up their first win over Southwest LA. Over the course of 100 years, these two teams met in Lafayette and Hattiesburg for a great, unnamed rivalry.
This year, the stakes were higher than ever in this great game. Southern Miss needed a win to help improve their look for this year, and Louisiana was one win away from bowl eligibility for the sixth year in a row. The first quarter of the 2023 matchup was slow, and only the Cajuns would emerge with points, a 7-0 lead. Southern Miss wouldn’t let this get them down, with Frank Gore, Jr and Kenyon Clay both getting 7 on the board, before another Cajun touchdown made it a tied 14-14 game at the half. The third quarter saw only one gain, a 17-yard TD run by Gore, Jr. Southern Miss had a 21-14 lead going into the excitedly competitive fourth quarter. Louisiana quarterback Chandler Fields was able to punch two into the endzone to give the Cajuns a 28-21 lead, shortly before the Golden Eagles scored a game-tying touchdown in two minutes of the game. The game was going to overtime.
In overtime, Louisiana got the ball first, but the Cajuns were only able to tally a field goal to give them the 31-28 lead. But now, Southern Miss had a big stone to carry. The offense had to hope the Cajuns’ defense would slow down enough to score. And that’s just what happened, when Frank Gore, Jr barrelled through the line to score a 3-yard game-winning touchdown for the Golden Eagles. This was a great win for the Golden Eagles, showing they can play when they want to. The old Nasty Bunch defense was making their point once again, holding the Cajuns on the goal line twice. That’s good football. Southern Miss now leads Louisiana all-time 41-11-1, with an 11-game win streak from 1994 to the present.
Other News:
Following their 51-10 loss to Texas A&M, Mississippi State fired head coach Zach Arnett. Arnett was hired as the interim coach for the Bulldogs’ appearance in the ReliaQuest Bowl, after previous head coach Mike Leach’s sudden passing in December of 2022. After winning the bowl game, Arnett was signed on as the head coach following the win in the bowl game. Greg Knox is set to serve as the interim head coach for Mississippi State in their final two games. Knox previously served as interim in 2017 after Dan Mullen left State for Florida, and served as the interim coach for Florida in 2021 after Dan Mullen’s firing.
Other Scores from Week 11 Action in Mississippi:
- Mississippi State 10, Texas A&M 51
- Alcorn State 10, Texas Southern 44
- Mississippi Valley State 3, Alabama State 20
- Delta State 41, Mississippi College 3
- Belhaven 46, Brevard 19
Week 12 Regular Season Schedule & TV Times for Mississippi
- Southern Miss (3-7) @ MS State (4-6), 11:00 AM, ESPN+/SECN+
- #13 Ole Miss* (8-2) vs. UL-Monroe (2-8), 11:00 AM, SECN
- Alcorn State (6-4) @ Jackson State (7-3), 2:00 PM, ESPN+ (2023 Soul Bowl)
- MS Valley State (1-9) @ Alabama A&M (4-6), 6:00 PM
Week 12 Postseason Schedule for Mississippi
- NCAA Division II Playoffs, Round 1
- #8 Delta State (9-1) vs. #23 West Florida (8-3), 1:00 PM**
- NCAA Division III Playoffs, Round 1
- Belhaven (9-1) @ #1 North Central IL (10-0), 12:00 PM**
*: AP Top 25 Ranking
**: AFCA Top 25 Ranking
MageeNews.com is an online news website covering Simpson and surrounding counties as well as the State of Mississippi.