Tigers unable to slow down Gore, Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. | Frank Gore Jr. rushed for over 150 yards and one score as the Grambling State University football team could not slow down the Southern Miss running back as the Golden Eagles blanked the Tigers, 37-0, on Saturday night at M.M. Roberts Stadium.


Southern Miss (1-1) broke the 0-0 tie in the opening quarter by putting together a 10-play, 68-yard drive. Gore got the ball five straight times to begin the drive and Trey Lowe connected with Jason Brownless for a 12-yard touchdown pass as the Golden Eagles grabbed the 7-0 lead with 4:13 remaining in the quarter.


Grambling State (1-1) nearly cut the deficit with 12:38 left in the first half as Garrett Urban’s 47-yard field goal attempt fell just short.


The Golden Eagles responded with a 47-yard drive as Briggs Bourgeios booted a 40-yard field goal to extend the USM advantage to 10-0 with 7:39 left in the second quarter.

After a Grambling State punt, Southern Miss took over and landed in field goal range, but Bourgeious’ 50-yard attempt was wide left, keeping the Golden Eagles lead at 10-0 with 2:52 remaining in the quarter.
The Golden Eagles added to the lead with three straight rushes, capped by a Gore 51-yard rushing touchdown, pushing the USM lead to 17-0 with 7:11 remaining in the third.

USM put the game away with one minute left in the quarter as Bourgeious kicked a 25-yard field goal, giving the Golden Eagles a 20-0 lead.

Southern Miss took advantage of a short field, going 57 yards in 51 seconds as Dajon Richard scored on a 27-yard touchdown run to give USM a 27-0 advantage with 14:20 remaining.

Bourgeious added to the lead with 10:24 left with his third field goal of the night, a 34-yarder, pushing the margin to 30-0.

A Jakarius Caston 11-yard touchdown reception from Ty Keyes capped an 8-play, 50-yard drive as Southern Miss added to the advantage and extended the lead to 37-0 with 4:55 remaining.

CHECKING THE BOX SCORE
– Grambling State finished with nine first down and 152 total yards of offense

– The Tigers registered 90 pass yards and 62 rush yards- GSU committed six penalties for 41 yards

– Aldon Clark and Elijah Walker split time at quarterback- Clark was 8 of 19 passing for 60 yards and one interception- Walker went 8 of 13 passing for 30 yards

– Darqueze Brutton rushed the ball eight times for 46 yards- Brutton added four catches for 13 yards

– Donald Johnson III caught three passes for a team-high 26 yards

– Kobe Ross added three catches for 20 yards- Defensively, Blake Thomas registered eight total tackles, including five solo stops and one sack

– Lewis Matthew recorded eight tackles, with three solo stops, and one sack- Southern Miss finished with 439 total yards of offense and 22 first downs

– The Golden Eagles committed seven penalties for 55 yards- Trey Lowe started at quarterback for USM and went 10 of 13 passing for 99 yards and one touchdown

– Ty Keyes was 4 of 11 passing for 50 yards and one score

– Frank Gore Jr. rushed the ball 21 times for 162 yards and one touchdown

– Dajon Richard added 10 carries for 76 yards- Jason Brownlee caught five passes for 19 yards and one score

– Jakarius Caston finished with four catches for 50 yards

– Defensively, Malik Shorts registered six total tackls, with four solo stops

– Southern Miss controlled the time of possession (32:00)

GAME NOTES
– Grambling State and Southern Miss met for the first time in the series

– The Tigers fell to 0-2 during the Fobbs era against members of Conference USA

– The Tigers hadn’t been shutout in 73 straight games- Grambling State was last shutout in 2014 when Houston blanked the Tigers, 47-0

– GSU fell to 6-21 under Fobbs when trailing at halftime

– Grambling State kicker Garrett Urban attempted a 47-yard field goal in the first half – had he converted the kick, it would have been his career long

– Fobbs was an assistant coach (wide receivers) at Southern Miss in 2012

– GSU fell to 14-9 during the Fobbs era in night games- The Tigers were seeking their first back-to-back season-opening victories since the 2001 season

QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH BRODERICK FOBBS”I thought we played well in the first half and we made some timely mistakes with penalties. We came out and competed hard against a good Southern Miss team. Now we’ll go back and look at the film, make the adjustments we need to make and prepare for a very good Houston football team.”

UP NEXT: Grambling State returns to action on Sept. 18 as the Tigers visit the University of Houston. GSU and Houston have met twice in the series with the Cougars owning a 2-0 all-time series mark. Houston rolled past Rice to win the Bayou Bucket Classic on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. from TDECU Stadium and the game will be streamed live on ESPN+.