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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) -- Jeff Kelly had an almost-perfect game for Southern Mississippi (No. 20 ESPN/USA Today, No. 21 AP).
Kelly completed 12 of 14 passes, including three touchdowns to
Todd Pinkston, and led the Golden Eagles to touchdowns in all six
series he played in a 48-0 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette on
Saturday.
|  | | Southern Miss quarterback Jeff Kelly had a banner day in beating the Cajuns. |
"We've been working hard with all of the receivers in getting
our timing down," said Kelly, a first-year starter. "It seems
like the last couple of weeks, the timing's been little better.
That's the kind of thing only comes with time, and the last couple
of weeks we've been in sort of a rhythm."
Southern Miss (7-3) scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, including the first one after freshman Bobby Garner replaced Garner.
Derrick Nix and Dwayne Woods each ran for two touchdowns as the
Eagles posted a huge shutout over Lafayette (1-9) for the second
year in a row. Southern Miss won 55-0 last year.
With his team playing at Louisville for the outright Conference USA title and a Liberty Bowl berth next week, coach Jeff Bower had no trouble making sure his team was ready to play.
"Remember, Goliath was a 40-point favorite over little David,"
Bower said. "We did everything we possibly could to get the team
ready to play. We've learned from some negative experiences in the
past."
By halftime, Southern Miss had 299 yards and was averaging 10.1 yards per play. The Eagles finished with 412 yards (6.9 per play) and limited the Ragin' Cajuns to 128.
"We played a team that was far superior to us on the field,"
said first-year coach Jerry Baldwin.
"We're trying to build a football team here. For us, it will be
back to business as usual. We'll put this one behind us and get
ready for Wofford College."
On the Eagles' fourth play, Pinkston made a diving, one-handed
grab for a 29-yard TD.
With Southern Miss facing third-and-17 on its second possession,
Kelly stepped up in the pocket away from pressure, scrambled to his
right and found Pinkston behind the secondary for a 45-yard score.
Kelly passed for 207 yards. Pinkston caught five passes for 134
of those yards.
"I could talk for hours about him, him and Sherrod have been
doing that kind of thing all year," Kelly said. "With Sherrod's
ankle, he knew he had to come in and shoulder some of the load a
little more, and he did a great job."
Southern Miss' leading receiver, senior Sherrod Gideon, was
sidelined by an ankle injury. And Kelly's backup, Cable Davis,
wasn't in uniform after apparently quitting the team during the
week.
Woods did most of the work during a 10-play, 91-yard drive that
made it 20-0. He had eight carries for 67 yards, going the final 12
untouched on a sweep, and also caught a 10-yard pass to convert
third-and-10.
After another Lafayette punt, Kelly saw Pinkston streaking
downfield among three defenders and laid a pass right in his arms
for a 43-yard TD.
Southern Miss made it 5-for-5 in the first half after Shawn
Mills returned a punt 78 yards to the Lafayette 5 with 1:13 left
before halftime.
Mills sidestepped one defender and then weaved through a series
of blocks until he found an opening along the right sideline.
Kyries Hebert finally dragged Mills out of bounds, but Nix scored
on the next play to make it 34-0.
A 4-yard run by Nix capped the opening drive of the second half,
and Woods scored on a 5-yard run on the first drive after Garner
took over.
The left-handed Garner, whose father played quarterback at Ole
Miss in the 1970s, was expected to redshirt this season. But after
Davis failed to show for practice this week, the Eagles had no
other quarterback to play and the redshirt was lost.
"We planned on playing him if he could get substantial playing
time," Bower said. "We felt like we had to get him in because if
something were to happen to Jeff Kelly, you don't want it to be his
first game."
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ALSO SEE
College Football Scoreboard
Louisiana Lafayette Clubhouse
Southern Mississippi Clubhouse
College football Top 25 overview
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