USM to face South Alabama on Tuesday night

Story from USM Athletics:

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The Southern Miss football team plays its first regular season Tuesday night game since 2006 when they travel to Mobile for a midweek showdown against South Alabama on national television.

The game time is set for 6:30 p.m., and can be seen on ESPN2, as well as heard on an affiliate of the Southern Miss Sports Network.

The Golden Eagles (1-5, 0-3 Sun Belt) look to snap a current five-game losing streak as the two schools meet for the fourth-straight season and the second time as Sun Belt Conference opponents. The series began in 2020 on the opening night of the COVID-19 season in Hattiesburg. The Jaguars have won all three previous contests in the series.

Dating back to 1987, this game marks only the eighth game on a Tuesday night for the Golden Eagles and just fifth time in the regular season. This game is the first time Southern Miss has played on a Tuesday night since dropping a 31-28 tilt to Louisville in the 2010 Beef ‘O’ Brady’s Bowl (12/21) in St. Petersburg, Fla.

This is the first time Southern Miss has played in the regular season on this day since Oct. 3, 2006, when they dropped a 20-6 decision at Tulsa. The Golden Eagles also played the following week on a Tuesday and defeated UCF (9/26), 19-14, in Hattiesburg. USM is 4-3 in games on Tuesday since 1987.

In 2023, Golden Eagle quarterback Billy Wiles is expected to make his seventh start having thrown for 1,254 yards on 107-of-200 attempts with seven touchdowns and five interceptions. His top targets have been Jakarius Caston and Latreal Jones. Caston has a team-best 334 receiving yards on 21 catches, while Jones has 23 catches for 324 yards.

Frank Gore, Jr., leads the offense on the ground for the Golden Eagles with 397 yards, while Dreke Clark is next at 356.

On defense, Dylan Lawrence leads Southern Miss with 36 tackles, followed by Jay Stanley’s 34. Jalen Williams has the most by a Golden Eagle defensive lineman with 23.

South Alabama comes into the game with a 3-3 record and 1-1 in league play, defeating ULM 55-7 in its last outing.

USA coach Kane Wommack, who is in his third year with the Jaguar program, played three seasons for the USM program as a tight end and a fullback, as well as a holder. Former Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson is in his first season as the Jaguar cornerbacks coach. Hopson was the top man of the Southern Miss program from 2016 until resigning early in 2020, stepping down after the meeting with the Jaguars to open that season.

Following the USA contest, the Golden Eagles travel to App State for a Sun Belt tilt, Saturday, Oct. 28.