Coming off a narrow, season-opening loss to Kentucky, Southern Miss is back at home this Saturday looking for their first win against the Southern Jaguars. Jay Hopson says his Golden Eagles took many positives away from week one against the Wildcats.
“I thought our guys played hard,” Hopson said. “I thought at the end we gave ourselves a chance there in the fourth quarter to win the ballgame. Just came up short. I thought our guys competed hard. Tough loss but a lot of bright spots, too.”
One of those bright spots was quarterback Kwadra Griggs, who nearly led Southern Miss to the win. Keon Howard got the start and played the first half, while Griggs, a redshirt junior, took over in the second. Griggs finished with 222 passing yards and two touchdowns, as he earned the right to start this week.
“We’re probably going to start with Kwadra this week,” Hopson said. “I think that’s something we’ll do like we’ve done. We’re going to let them both compete. He [Kwadra] probably earned that. Both quarterbacks played a half, and he [Kwadra] really had an outstanding second half.”
Hopson did not rule out Keon Howard playing against Southern.
“Keon will be ready when his opportunity comes.”
On the other side, Southern makes the trip to Hattiesburg on the heels of a 14-8 season-opening win over South Carolina State. Hopson and company are not taking the Jaguars lightly.
“They’re a football team that has my and our team’s utmost respect,” Hopson said. “They’ve always had a lot of playmakers and are a physical football team. We know we have a good football team coming to town.”
Kickoff of Southern Miss-Southern is scheduled for 6 pm at M.M. Roberts Stadium.
