Southern Miss Wins a 35-31 Shootout on a Late Jamarice Wilder Run
Nobody led by more than seven all day, so it took until 0:58 of the fourth quarter to settle. Jamarice Wilder ran 16 yards for the touchdown that put Southern Miss ahead for good, 35-31 over Louisiana.
The lead changed hands three times and the game was tied four times. Louisiana went up 7-0 on a Lunch Winfield run, Southern Miss answered and led 21-14 after Steven Robinson's third rushing touchdown, and Winfield's 4-yard pass with 31 seconds left before halftime made it 21-21. Louisiana then took a 28-21 lead late in the third on a 31-yard pass to Anthony Reagan Jr. That held until Kolby Peavy returned an interception for a touchdown with 10:05 to play to tie it at 28.
Tony Sterner's 22-yard field goal with 2:51 left put Louisiana back in front 31-28. It lasted just under two minutes. Southern Miss had trailed by as many as seven and never by more.
The yardage splits were opposite. Louisiana threw for 299 and ran for 118, while Southern Miss ran for 290 on 42 carries and threw for only 164. Southern Miss lost one fumble and Louisiana threw the one interception, and that interception was a 7-point swing that became a touchdown. Southern Miss is 2-5 now. Louisiana is 5-3 and probably wants its fourth quarter back.
Southern Miss did most of its damage on the ground, and the box score shows how lopsided that was. Robinson had 22 carries, Wilder 13, and Landry Lyddy threw 38 passes for just 164 yards, so the offense was the running backs and not much else. Louisiana's passing game was the opposite, with Shelton Sampson Jr. catching five for 58 and Caden Jensen three for 55. Neither style was enough to put the other away. For Louisiana it is a missed chance in a game it led twice in the second half, and for Southern Miss it is a rare win in a season that has had few.
Fantasy owners who had Robinson got the week's best line from this game, and it was not close.