LSU's big plays propel Tigers past Southern Miss, 45-10

LSU interim coach Ed Orgeron chuckled when asked what he told the Tigers at halftime of what was then a 10-all stalemate with heavy underdog Southern Mississippi.

The implication was that it was not entirely fit for public consumption. And Orgeron could laugh about it because the Tigers' dominance from that point forward left the coach with the impression that he'd been well understood.

Derrius Guice broke loose for touchdowns of 61 and 20 yards early in the third quarter, and LSU added a couple more long scoring plays while scoring 35 unanswered second-half points in a 45-10 victory on Saturday night.

"I think our guys woke up a little bit at halftime and just decided to play hard," Orgeron said. "I just challenged them."

LSU had two, long one-play touchdown drives - an 80 yard catch-and-run by D.J. Chark and a 63-yard reception byMalachi Dupre on Danny Etling's long heave.

LSU safety Jamal Adams helped the Tigers pull away when he forced Golden Eagles' running back George Payne's fumble and then recovered it at the USM 26-yard line, setting up Guice's second score.

"We were a little frustrated" at halftime, Adams said. "Just as a leader I wanted to rally the guys back. ... We wanted to come out and give them no more points."

In the span of the third quarter, LSU (4-2) built a 28-point lead.

"The third quarter was just a bad quarter," Southern Miss coach Jay Hopson said. "It was bang, bang, bang and it went from a ball game either way to being down 21 points in what seemed like 3 minutes."

All five of the Tigers' second-half TDs came from beyond 20 yards, with three going for more than 60.

"Here's the deal. We want to take shots. We want to be explosive," Orgeron said, stressing that he wants opposing defenses to pay for selling out to stop the Tigers' deep and powerful running game. "That was, I think, one of the most (significant) improvements in the game."

Etling finished with his best numbers since taking over as starter in the third game of the season, completing 11 of 18 passes for 276 yards and three TDs.

Dupre added another touchdown on a 23-yard reception in the fourth quarter. Chark also scored a 19-yard rushing touchdown on an end-around in the first half.

Ito Smith scored the lone TD for Southern Miss (4-3) on a 1-yard run that gave the Golden Eagles their only lead at 7-0. Golden Eagles QB Nick Mullens completed 25 of 36 passes for 161 yards.

FORMIDABLE FILL-IN

Guice finished with 162 yards on 16 carries in his third start this season in place of Leonard Fournette, who is recovering from a left ankle injury and has not played since LSU's loss at Auburn on Sept. 24.

The 5-foot-11, 212-pound Guice has rushed for 155 yards or more in each of his starts.

Guice gave LSU the lead for good when he bolted through a gaping hole blown open by guard Maea Teuhema, center Andy Dodd and tackle K.J. on the left side of LSU's offensive line and galloped into the clear for a career-long scoring run .

"The linemen did a great job of setting it up for me and the rest is history, because I'm not going to get caught from behind," Guice said.

While Guice's first touchdown demonstrated his break-away speed, his second showcased his elusiveness as he darted forward and then cut suddenly outside to elude would-be tacklers.

Orgeron said he is optimistic Fournette will play next weekend.

MISLEADING STATS

Southern Miss dominated time of possession, 37:59 to 22:01 and ran 73 total plays to LSU's 42. LSU's big plays rendered those statistical advantages insignificant.

DISCIPLINE

LSU cornerback Kevin Toliver was benched the first half for breaking an unspecified team rule, Orgeron said, adding that several other starters' snaps were limited early on because "we just had some other guys that didn't practice the way they should. You've got to practice hard to play."

POLL IMPLICATIONS

LSU, a leading vote-getter among unranked teams in the AP Top 25 Poll this past week, could be ranked again after two straight resounding victories since Orgeron took over in late September.

TAKEAWAYS

Southern Mississippi: The Golden Eagles have play makers and the ability to compete in spurts with Power-5 conference teams, but need help for a beleaguered defense that has now allowed 100 points in its last two games.

LSU: The Tigers have the elite talent to turn it on suddenly and crush an underdog from a mid-major conference - and might be trending in the right direction to make a run in the Southeastern Conference.

UP NEXT

Southern Mississippi: The Golden Eagles are off next week before hosting Marshall on Oct. 29.

LSU: The Tigers host No. 12 Mississippi this coming Saturday night in a pivotal mid-season clash in the SEC West race. It is also the first of five straight SEC games to close the season for LSU.

Rhodes helps UTSA run away from Southern Miss 55-32

 Jalen Rhodes rushed for 165 yards with three touchdowns and UTSA beat Southern Mississippi 55-32 on Saturday to snap a three-game losing streak.

UTSA (2-3, 1-1 Conference USA) scored on its first four possessions, including a 71-yard touchdown pass fromDalton Sturm to Kerry Thomas Jr. and a 4-yard run by Rhodes. The Roadrunners led 28-7 after one quarter.

Rhodes added an 80-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Matt Guidry had a 20-yard scoring run in the third. Jarveon Williams had a pair of short first-quarter touchdown runs. Rhodes capped the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run with 1:57 remaining.

Southern Miss (4-2, 2-1) was led by Nick Mullens, who went 24 of 47 for 370 yards with three touchdowns while playing catch-up all day. Ito Smith gained 94 yards on 20 carries with a 1-yard touchdown run.

Mullens, Southern Miss shatter records and Rice in 44-28 win

Nick Mullens threw for 591 yards and four touchdowns and Southern Mississippi set a school record with 702 yards of total offense in a 44-28 win over Rice on Saturday night.

On Nov. 15 last year against Rice, Southern Miss (4-1, 2-0 Conference USA) set the previous school record for total offense with 682 yards.

Mullens broke Austin Davis' previous school record of 461 passing yards in a game he set against the Owls on Oct. 18, 2008.

Allenzae Staggers had six receptions for 292 yards and touchdowns of 75, 81 and 93 yards. His yardage effort broke the previous record Kendrick Lee set against Houston on Nov. 11, 1996 with 260 yards.

Staggers' 93-yarder is the third-longest TD reception in school history and put the Eagles up 27-14.

Tyler Stehling threw a 7-yard TD pass to Samuel Stewart to give Rice (0-5, 0-3) its only lead of the game at 7-3.

Stewart had 19 carries for 132 yards and two scores.

Southern Miss runs over UTEP 34-7

 Nick Mullens threw for 176 yards and three touchdowns to help lead Southern Mississippi to a 34-7 win over UTEP on Saturday night.

Ito Smith ran 16 times for 108 yards and added 33 yards receiving with a touchdown for Southern Miss (3-1, 1-0 Conference USA), who outgained UTEP by 120 yards (378-258) and forced three Miners turnovers. D.J. Thompson and Allenzae Staggers also caught TD passes for the Golden Eagles.

An Aaron Jones 68-yard touchdown run gave UTEP (1-3, 0-1) its only lead of the game late in the first quarter. But Southern Miss responded, reeling of 21 unanswered points in the second quarter for a 24-7 halftime lead.

Curtis Mikell added to the Golden Eagles lead midway through the third, intercepting a Zack Greenlee pass at the goal line and returning it 100 yards for a touchdown.

Jones led the Miners with 127 yards and one TD.

Troy rebounds, ekes past Southern Miss 37-31 on Kay FG

 Ryan Kay kicked a 43-yard field goal, his third of the night, and Troy eked out a 37-31 victory with Southern Miss left knocking at the goal line as time expired Saturday night.

Troy (2-1) rebounded from last week's six-point loss at then-No. 2 Clemson. Kay hit from 42 yards early in the third quarter to break a 24-24 tie, and the Trojans extended the lead to 34-24 on Jordan Chunn's 39-yard run.

Nick Mullins closed the gap for Southern Miss (2-1) with a 16-yard TD pass to Allenzae Staggers late in the third. Mullins completed 24 of 52 passes for 263 yards and had the Golden Eagles at the 9 with three seconds left, but was unable to connect.

Ito Smith, 131 yards rushing, ended the first half and started the second with TDs, as Southern Miss rallied to tie at 24.

Troy's defense broke up 10 passes, forced three turnovers and had a season-high eight three-and-outs.

Mullens, defense help Southern Miss beat Savannah St. 56-0

Nick Mullens threw for three touchdowns and ran for another and the Southern Miss defense allowed the fewest total yards in Conference USA history in the Golden Eagles' 56-0 win over Savannah State on Saturday night.

Mullens completed 16 of 20 passes for 216 yards. Ito Smith had 128 yards rushing - including an 86-yard scoring run - and George Payne added 116 and a touchdown on 14 carries. It was the second-consecutive game in which Smith and Payne both ran for at least 100 yards.

Mullens scored on a 1-yard run and then hit Korey Robertson for a 22-yard touchdown before Smith's score on the last play of the first quarter made it 21-0. Mullens sandwiched touchdown passes to Isaiah Jones and D.J. Thompson around Allenze Staggers' 75-yard punt return for a score and Payne added an 11-yard touchdown run to make it 49-0 at halftime.

Savannah State (0-2) had just 41 total yards and three first downs.

Since trailing 35-10 against Kentucky last Saturday, Southern Miss (2-0) has outscored its opponents 90-0.

Southern Miss rallies for 44-35 upset of Kentucky

Southern Mississippi players spread out toward Commonwealth Stadium's west end zone to celebrate one of the program's wildest victories with their happy fans.

A huge second-quarter deficit made winning seem unlikely before the Golden Eagles responded with near-perfect performances on both sides of the ball.

Nick Mullens ran for two 1-yard touchdowns - including the go-ahead score late in the third quarter - and passed for two TDs as Southern Miss scored 34 unanswered points to upset Kentucky 44-35 in its season opener on Saturday night.

The Golden Eagles' web site said their comeback was the largest since at least 2009, when they erased a 17-point deficit to beat Virginia.

"I'm really proud of just the fight and determination that our players showed," Golden Eagles coach Jay Hopson said after winning his debut. "They just kept digging, kept fighting and it was a great win."

Kentucky appeared in control with a 35-10 second quarter lead as Drew Barker threw TD passes of 72, 43, 9 and 53 yards on drives totaling 13 plays. Jojo Kemp's 7-yard TD run seemed to provide a safe cushion that the Wildcats' defense complemented with three interceptions of Mullens.

Neither Mullens nor the Golden Eagles quarterback panicked as he answered Kentucky's final score with a 71-yard TD pass to Isaiah Jones with 26 seconds left before halftime. Mullens then sandwiched 1-yard TD runs around an 18-yard scoring pass to Julian Allen, followed by two Parker Schaunfield field goals.

"My mindset didn't really change," said Mullens, who completed 18 of 28 passes for 258 yards. "I just had to relax, focus and make the next play."

Southern Miss' running backs did their part to make the comeback happen.

Ito Smith contributed 173 yards rushing and an 8-yard touchdown on 36 carries, while George Payne added 100 on 16 carries. Payne missed last season with an injury but he looked just fine on one fourth-quarter play in which he lost a yard but broke several tackles.

That play summed Kentucky's frustrating second half in which it was outgained 261-22 and was worn down by Southern Miss.

BARKER'S DAY

Barker finished 15 of 24 passing for 323 yards, but had just 36 yards after halftime and was sacked four times.

THE TAKEAWAY

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles stuck with the game despite being outscored 35-3 after scoring on their first drive, rebounding with the trio of Mullens, Smith and Payne. Offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson got the final word against his former team as Southern Miss outgained Kentucky 520-409 and dominated the final 32 minutes. "I think he's certainly proud of it," Mullens said about Dawson. "You guys (media) can do with that situation what you want to, but it was about beating Kentucky." The victory ended a 13-game losing streak to Southeastern Conference schools dating back to 2000.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats still have time to reach the six-win plateau for bowl eligibility. But they blew a huge lead and opportunity in a game they had to win toward that end, and an 0-2 start is looming with a trip to No. 25 Florida looming. Kentucky blew a 21-point lead in a 38-24 loss to Louisville in last season's finale. "That's a tough loss and our fans deserved better," coach Mark Stoops said. "And I'll tell you this, we'll play better."

UP NEXT

SOUTHERN MISS: The Golden Eagles aim to follow up their big win when they host FCS Savannah State next weekend.

KENTUCKY: The Wildcats visit No. 25 Florida next Saturday in hopes of ending a 29-game losing streak to the Gators - not to mention, annual media questions about it. Kentucky has come close the past two years and aims to finally seal the deal in the nationally televised game at The Swamp.

Southern Miss Golden Eagles Season Preview

On offense, Southern Miss lost just two skill players from last season in QB Cole Weeks and WR Markese Triplett, who both graduated. The Golden Eagles return all of their rushing yards from last season, 76.4 percent of their passing yards and 83.6 percent of their receiving yards.

Junior QB Nick Mullens tallied 263 yards passing in the season finale, marking his 14th career 200-yard passing games in 16 starts. Last season, he collected 200-yard passing games in nine of 10 starts. Mullens finished the season with 2,470 yards and 12 touchdowns in 10 games.

Sophomore WR Michael Thomas led the team in receiving yards (592) and touchdown receptions (five) during his freshman season. He collected at least one reception in every game, including four or more in five outings. Thomas had a string of four-straight games with a TD catch.

Southern Miss lost five of its top six tacklers from a year ago to graduation. Senior LB Brian Anderson returns as the top tackler from a season ago when he registered 65 tackles.

Southern Miss will open its 2015 campaign against in-state foe Mississippi State. It will be the Bulldogs first visit to Hattiesburg since 1989, which also marks the last time an opponent from the Southeastern Conference came to play at M.M. Roberts Stadium.