Southern Miss historically bad in loss to previously winless Conference USA foe. Now what?

Southern Miss fell victim to much of the same on its way to hitting a new low point Saturday.

The Golden Eagles (1-3) were dismantled by Conference USA’s Jacksonville State (1-3) on the road, 44-7. It was the worst non-conference Group of Five loss for USM in the Will Hall era and worst since 2020.

The previously winless Gamecocks racked up 509 yards of offense and scored 30 unanswered points by taking advantage of numerous Golden Eagle mistakes.

Southern Miss quarterback Tate Rodemaker was benched after throwing interceptions on each of USM’s first two possessions. True freshman John White led the first touchdown drive of the game, which was capped by his own two yard scamper — the first touchdown of White’s career.

“We just felt like it was time to give John a shot,” Hall told the Southern Miss radio show after the game. “He’s going to be a really good player, though. He’s young, he’s got a lot of charisma.”

But White would fumble at the goal line just before halftime with a chance to cut Jax State’s lead to one score, and throw an interception in the third quarter that led to the Gamecocks’ third touchdown off a USM turnover. He would throw another in the fourth quarter.

Southern Miss’ six total turnovers were the most since giving the ball away six times in a loss to Texas State in 2013.

What’s next?

Southern Miss enters Sun Belt play with a losing record for the second straight year.

It will do so marred by miscues and botched execution that continues to prove detrimental through four games of Hall’s fourth year.

The 12 season turnovers are the most in the SBC and USM’s most through four games since 2013 when the Golden Eagles went 1-11. The offense has converted on third down just nine times, which is also the fewest in the conference. The 58 total first downs are the fewest at this point for the Eagles since 2000.

The pressure to win this season was already high after a disappointing 3-9 season last year. It’s even higher now in Hall’s contract season as USM stares down a conference slate that features a Texas State team that nearly knocked off Arizona State, a James Madison team that hung 70 on North Carolina and a South Alabama team that set a conference record with 87 points scored against Northwestern State.

The quarterback question mark only exacerbates the situation. Rodemaker has thrown four interceptions and Ethan Crawford was unavailable against Jacksonville State due to an injury.

White isn’t the first true freshman to get playing time under Hall. Zach Wilcke threw eight touchdowns against nine interceptions across eight games during the 2022 season.

A floundering offense and a defense that has given up 642 rushing yards between the last two games are officially on the clock when the Golden Eagles return from next week’s bye against conference rival Louisiana.