Southern Miss hoped to turn around the season as the Golden Eagles traveled up to Monroe, Louisiana to take on the UL Monroe Warhawks. The Warhawks wouldn’t let that be the case though as they would win against the Golden Eagles 38-21.
For the first time this season and third time in his career, Ethan Crawford started under center for the Golden Eagles, leading the team down the field to take an early 3-0 lead off of Connor Gibbs’ 22-yard field goal. The sequence took 5:35, marking the longest scoring drive of the season for the Golden Eagles. But the Warhawks quickly responded, thanks to freshman running back, Ahmad Hardy who ran for a 34-yard touchdown to give ULM a 7-3 lead to end the first quarter.
During second quarter action, ULM freshman quarterback Aidan Armenta connected with Jay Jones on a 36-yard passing touchdown, giving the Warhawks a 14-3. But the Golden Eagles got back on the board with a 37-yard field goal from Gibbs, shrinking ULM’s lead to 14-6 at the half.
Early in the third, ULM went up 17-6 after a 47-yard field goal. But during the Warhawks’ second field goal attempt, from 41 yards, USM’s DeMeco Roland blocked, his second of the season. His teammate, Braxton Myers returned it 69 yards for a touchdown. Crawford then connected with Ti Mims for a successful two-point conversion, shrinking ULM’s lead to three.
Armenta would then ignite a 21-0 run for the Warhawks after tossing a six-yard touchdown pass to Julian Nixon. After Armenta rushed for a four-yard touchdown, Hardy followed suit and scampered for a 31-yard touchdown of his own. Despite a late touchdown by USM’s Keynon Clay, the Golden Eagles fell to 1-5 on the season and 0-2 in conference play.
The Golden Eagles return to The Rock on Oct. 19 to take on Arkansas State at 6:00 p.m. for homecoming.