Southern Miss Tops Undefeated Tulane in the Battle for the Bell

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Southern Miss Tops Undefeated Tulane in the Battle for the Bell

By Andy Baeuerle

The historic rivalry between Southern Miss and Tulane resumed this weekend in an exciting matchup. Southern Miss was 1-2, coming off of a big 64-10 win against NW State, and Tulane was 3-0 with this being the first time the Green Wave has gone undefeated in the first 3 weeks since 1998. A win for USM would mean the “Bell” would return to Hattiesburg, where it was for 17 years until the Green Wave defeated the Golden Eagles in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl, and also in a September 2020 matchup in Hattiesburg. A win for Tulane would make this their first 4-0 start in 24 years, and even a bid for the AP Top 25, something they have not seen since the 1998 season.

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Tulane scored early in the 1st Quarter, and in the 2nd, was leading Southern Miss 14-0. Southern Miss soon answered back, and at halftime the score was 17-10 Tulane. Southern Miss came back in the 3rd Quarter, holding Tulane to score no points and tying the game 17-17. In the heated 4th Quarter, Southern Miss was ahead 24-17 after making a pick six. Southern Miss ended up with a 4th down in the end zone, and kicked a field goal to come ahead 27-17. Tulane then scored one more touchdown in the last minute of the game to make it 27-24. With 20 seconds to go, the Green Wave’s only hope was to recover their own onside kick, and as the TV analyst said “Hail Mary it down the field and hope someone can get it.” But things didn’t go their way. #2 for USM, Chandler Pittman recovered the onside kick, and all that had to be done for USM was to let the clock run out. USM walked away with a 27-24 win over Tulane, with the Bell returning to its Hattiesburg home. Southern Miss leads the Battle for the Bell all time with 24 wins and 9 losses, and the teams will meet again next year in Hattiesburg.

This was the first win the Golden Eagles had in this rivalry since their final matchup in 2010, when Tulane left Conference USA for the American Athletic Conference. This game was also a kind of family reunion for USM Head Coach Will Hall, who was formerly the Offensive Coordinator at Tulane from 2019-2020.

Next week, the Golden Eagles will have an off-week before they travel to Troy, Alabama, for their first in-conference matchup against the Troy Trojans. Tulane will travel to Houston, Texas, for their first in-conference matchup against the Houston Cougars.

Here are the stats for this week’s game:

Game Yardage
1. Southern Miss
  1. Total Yards: 253 yards
  2. Passing Yards: 194 yards (Zach Wilcke)

Rushing Yards: 59 yards (Frank Gore Jr. led with 16 carries for 44 yards)

Tulane
1. Total Yards: 451
2. Passing Yards: 247 Yards (Michael Pratt)

Rushing Yards: 204 Yards (Tyjae Spears led with 22 carries for 114 yards)

Turnovers
1. Southern Miss
  1. Fumbles Lost: 0
  2. Interceptions: 0
2. Tulane
  1. Fumbles Lost: 0
  2. Interceptions: 1 (Pick Six by Eric Scott Jr.)
3. Defense
  1. Southern Miss
    1. Santrell Latham led the USM “Nasty Bunch” Defense with 9 total tackles. (All tackle numbers were close together)
    2. USM had a total of 76 tackles, 5 tackles for loss, and 4 sacks.
  2. Tulane
    1. Dorian Williams led the Green Wave Defense with 8 total tackles and 2 tackles for loss.
    2. Tulane had a total of 46 tackles and 6 tackles for loss, but no sacks.

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):