Photos by: Charlie Luttrell
The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) shut out the University of Southern Mississippi 34-0 on Saturday afternoon at The Rock, handing the Golden Eagles its fifth straight loss.
The loss was the first time Southern Miss was shut out since 2014 and shut out and the first time at home since 1984.
“They beat us at all three phases, they were by far the better football program than us today and you didn’t have to be Albert Einstein to see that and figure that out,” Head Coach Will Hall said.
UAB outgained Southern Miss 388 to 107 yards. The Golden Eagles had its lowest passing totals of the season with only 32 passing yards as Jake Lange only threw for 18 yards before sitting the second half out with an injury.
On the first drive of the game, UAB marched down the field and got inside the five-yard line. On third and goal, facing pressure, Dylan Hopkins threw it into double coverage, and Malik Shorts came up with the pass breakup. Nevertheless, UAB converted on the field goal took the early lead 3-0.
Southern Miss answered with a productive drive, but it stalled as Antonio Moultrie stormed into the backfield and sacked Lange. That would only be the start of Southern Miss’s offensive woes.
On the first play of the second quarter, Hopkins found Gerrit Prince for a 34-yard touchdown. The Blazers built on the momentum as Grayson Cash blocked Southern Miss’ punt on the following drive, recovering it for a touchdown.
UAB extended its lead on a four-play drive and then took its time on a 12-play drive on its next possession for a 31-0 score.
Tee Webb entered the game at quarterback for the Golden Eagles at the start of the second half. Webb would be the fifth quarterback to enter a game for Southern Miss this season.
“He [Lange] could have played in the second half,” Hall said. “We just felt like with the way the game was going and the game being out of hand that we’d give some guys a shot to try to keep him healthy for the rest of the year.”
UAB scored once more in the game early in the third quarter as Matt Quinn kicked a 52-yard field goal to make it 34-0.
On the next Southern Miss drive, freshman receiver Chandler Pittman came into the game as quarterback, becoming the sixth quarterback to play for Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles pushed past the 50, but again punted, one of the nine times in the game.
Webb reentered the game but the Golden Eagles never found a rhythm on offense as UAB ran out the clock.
“We have an off week, and we’ve got to put our head up and work on us, not UAB, not the opponent next week, but we gotta work on us,” Pittman said. “If we do that, we will end up bringing more wins. You will like what you see out there.”
Southern Miss falls to 1-6 (0-3) and has a bye week before traveling to Murfreesboro, Tennessee, to face the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders.
