Week 3 Preview: App State vs. Southern Miss

Southern Miss looks to build off the momentum from last week’s 38-20 defeat of Jackson State, as they welcome App State to town for their conference opener. Last week notched the first win in Hattiesburg for coach Charles Huff.

The Mountaineers are coming off of a one-possession win over FCS opponent Lindenwood. App State will look to remain undefeated.

Southern Miss

Southern Miss is coming off of a double-digit win over fellow Mississippi school Jackson State.

The team was led by quarterback Braylon Braxton, who finished the game with 214 yards passing and three touchdowns. Braxton also added 20 yards on the ground on 10 total carries.

Coach Huff wants him to be more efficient, but isn’t worried with how many times he carries the ball.

“Try to be efficient. You know, I think week to week it changes,” said Huff. “We don’t have a, you know, ‘hey, we’re going to run him,’ or, ‘we’re not going to run him.'”

On the ground, Jeffery Pittman led the Golden Eagles with 71 yards on 10 carries. This came off the heels of a rough week, only running for 16 yards against his former team in Week 1. Robert Briggs and Matt Jones also had eight and seven carries, respectively.

Braxton was able to spread the ball around against the Tigers, finding nine different receivers. Bralon Brown led the team in yards with 52 while also adding a touchdown. The receiving corps is led on the season by Carl Chester, who has caught nine passes for 93 yards.

The defense was improved from their Week 1 loss, but still struggled to contain the rushing game. The Tigers ran for 191 yards, and both of their touchdowns came on the ground.

Southern Miss’ pass defense was key in the victory, holding the Tigers to only 131 yards. Freshman MaLik Caswell and Marshall transfer Ahmere Foster also grabbed their first interceptions of the year.

Special teams was the catalyst for the victory, blocking the first punt of the game and returning it for a touchdown. They also got a hand on the next punt, setting up the offense with great field position. Even with this early success, Huff saw some room for improvement.

“We’ve got to be a little bit more consistent with our fundamentals and techniques to be a little more effective,” Huff emphasized.

App State

The Mountaineers are coming off a game where they outgained Lindenwood by nearly 300 yards, but would only win by a score of 20-13.

Despite over 500 yards of total offense, it would be self-inflicted wounds that would keep App State from pulling away from the Lions. Three fumbles, one interception, two failed fourth down conversions, multiple dropped passes, and nine penalties for 80 yards are all things the Mountaineers will need to fix if they want to defeat the Golden Eagles.

Head Coach Dowell Loggains acknowledged this in his Monday press conference.

“My main concerns right now are Mountaineers beating Mountaineers,” said Loggains.

Quarterback AJ Swann finished the game going 19-for-34 for 294 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception. His 662 total passing yards to start the season sees him ninth in the nation in passing.

Swann has two clear targets with the ball in his hands. Jaden Barnes has 14 receptions for 205 yards, including a big Week 1 with 134 yards against Charlotte. In Week 2, it was Dalton Stroman, who finished the game with three receptions for 142 yards and one touchdown. This lands Stroman as the leading receiver through two weeks, with 230 yards total.

Senior running back Rashod Dubinion has been the workhorse of the offense. Dubinion is already nearing a career-high for rushing yards in a season with 305, which puts him second in the country. The Arkansas transfer has touched the ball 47 times through two games, with 25 of those coming last week.

The defense was dominant, holding Lindenwood to only 216 yards of total offense, and minus-one yard rushing. Loggains gave a lot of credit to the defensive line for this performance.

“Lindenwood wasn’t able to hurt us and expose us on a couple of things because the D-line was causing havoc,” Loggains noted.

The defensive line was led by redshirt junior Thomas Davis, who had seven total tackles last week, with three of those being for a loss. Linebacker Colton Phares led the team with eight total tackles.

App State at Southern Miss

Kickoff: Saturday, Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. EST (6 p.m. CT)

TV: ESPN+

Radio: WUSM-FM 88.5 locally (also on Varsity Network app)

For information on tickets, fans can visit southernmiss.com. Fans can also contact the ticket office via phone at (800) 844-TICK(8425) or (601) 266-5418, or via email at ticket.office@usm.edu.