The Georgia Southern Eagles nearly pulled off one of the wildest comebacks of the season Thursday night, but their furious fourth-quarter rally came up just short as Southern Miss escaped Paulson Stadium with a 38–35 victory in a Sun Belt Conference showdown.
The Golden Eagles (4–2, 2–0 Sun Belt) led 28–7 at halftime and 38–21 midway through the fourth quarter before Georgia Southern (2–4, 0–2) stormed back with two late touchdowns to make it a three-point game. But Southern Miss recovered the ensuing onside kick and ran out the clock to secure the win before a crowd of 20,032.
Quarterback Braylon Braxton set the tone early for the visitors, throwing touchdown passes of 50 yards to Tychaun Chapman and 30 yards to Carl Chester. Running back Jeffery Pittman powered the ground game, scoring twice on short runs in the second quarter and finishing with 140 yards on 31 carries. Southern Miss led 28–7 at the break after outgaining Georgia Southern 260–115 in total offense during the first half.
Georgia Southern’s offense, led by quarterback JC French IV, came alive in the second half. French threw for 313 yards and two touchdowns but was also sacked five times and intercepted three times. He added two rushing touchdowns, including a 2-yard keeper with 2:14 remaining that brought the Eagles within 38–35.
Receiver Camden Brown had a monster night for Georgia Southern, catching 12 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown, while Marcus Sanders Jr. hauled in a 39-yard scoring strike in the third quarter. Running back David Mbadinga added a short touchdown run in the first quarter to give Georgia Southern its lone lead of the night at 7–0.
Southern Miss capitalized on three interceptions by its defense and a key fumble recovery in the fourth quarter. Defensive lineman Chris Jones anchored the unit with 11 tackles and two sacks, while Michael Montgomery and Josh Moteneach picked off passes. Kicker Creighton Wilbanks hit a 42-yard field goal early in the fourth that ultimately provided the winning margin.
Despite outgaining Southern Miss 395–421 and matching them in first downs (24–25), Georgia Southern’s turnovers and 12 penalties for 104 yards proved costly. French’s resilience kept the Eagles in it, engineering three second-half touchdown drives of 87, 75, and 61 yards.
Trailing 38–21, the Eagles scored twice in the final six minutes — a 26-yard touchdown pass to Brown and French’s 2-yard run — to pull within three. But Southern Miss’ powerful offensive line helped Pittman grind out the final first down the Golden Eagles needed to run out the clock.
Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton praised his team’s fight but lamented the early mistakes that put them in a deep hole.
“I couldn’t be prouder of how our guys battled in the second half,” Helton said. “They showed heart, toughness, and belief when the game could’ve gotten away from us. But against a good football team like Southern Miss, you can’t spot them three scores and expect to win. We’ve got to clean up the turnovers and penalties if we want to finish games the right way.”
Georgia Southern will look to regroup when it travels to Texas State next weekend, while Southern Miss returns home to host South Alabama in another key Sun Belt West matchup.
