For the first time since 1993, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Monroe will match up Saturday night. The Golden Eagles (1-1) will make the 3-hour trip to Malone Stadium in search of a second-straight win following their blowout of Southern last week.
“It was a good win on Saturday,” Southern Miss head coach Jay Hopson said in his weekly Monday press conference. “It’s certainly like every week because there are still things we need to get better on, but I thought we played hard.”
Hopson was more than pleased with quarterback Kwadra Griggs, who made his first start under center for the Golden Eagles. Griggs led a balanced offense, passing for 209 yards and two touchdowns in the 45-0 win.
For the first time all season, the redshirt junior was officially listed as the No. 1 option on Monday’s depth chart. Still, Hopson has not ruled out Keon Howard playing there in the future.
“It’s an ongoing battle, but after week one, he [Kwadra] earned it and, through week two, he did a good job. So he’ll start week three,” Hopson said. “I’m going to let the competition continue. Keon came in and had a nice throw to Jaylond (Adams). He went through a couple of series and did a good job, but we’ll start off with Kwadra and go from there.”
Griggs and the Golden Eagles will face a Warhawk team that did not play last week after their matchup with Florida State was postponed due to Hurricane Irma. The Warhawks opened the 2017 season two weeks ago with a loss 37-29 loss to Memphis. Hopson says a couple of things jump out on tape.
“They do subtle things,” Hopson said of Louisiana-Monroe. “They’re a multiple team offensively. They put up some big plays against Memphis. They won the stat battle against Memphis. It was a hard-fought game. They give multiple looks. We have to be ready.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 pm in Monroe, LA.
