Southern Miss is bowl eligible for the first time since 2019

MONROE, La. (WLBT) - It wasn’t pretty, but the Southern Miss Golden Eagles spoiled the University of Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks’ Senior Day event to become bowl eligible for the first time since 2019 and for the first time in the Will Hall era.

Southern Miss was on a three-game skid going into the all-important matchup in Monroe. However, that didn’t stop the Golden Eagles from getting out to a flying start to begin the ballgame.

The Golden Eagles’ offensive line established the line of scrimmage on the first drive of the night for the black and gold, who saw early offensive success. Wide receiver Jakarius Caston capped off an efficient drive with a 29-yard pass from quarterback Trey Lowe to give Southern Miss an early 7-0 lead.

Senior kicker Briggs Bourgeois hit a 20-yard field goal with 4:41 left in the first quarter to make it 10-0 for the Colden Eagles.

Despite gaining consistent yards throughout the contest, Southern Miss had trouble turning the yards into points. After a missed tackle, ULM capitalized on the shortcomings of the Southern Miss offense with a touchdown of their own, trailing 10-7 at halftime.

The Warhawks tacked on a field goal midway through the third quarter to tie the game 10-10 heading into the fourth.

However, the Nasty Bunch was ever-present in the crucial contest, recording 4 sacks on the night and putting the team on their back. None was more important than Southern Miss’ sack leader, Dominic Quewon, who dropped ULM quarterback Chandler Rogers for a loss of seven yards halfway through the fourth quarter, which led to a blocked punt and a Frank Gore Jr. 33-yard touchdown run to give the Golden Eagles a 20-10 victory.

Gore Jr.’s career day of 199 rushing yards - who also got a touchdown - saw him reach over 1,000 rushing yards for the season, making him the first Southern Miss running back to eclipse the mark since 2017.

In just his second year at the helm of the football program, Head Coach Will Hall leads his team to six wins, clinching bowl eligibility in another program-building win.

The bowl game will be announced in the coming weeks.

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