By Robert Wilson
Southern Miss didn’t get the victory over an SEC team Saturday when the Golden Eagles played host to in-state rival Mississippi State in the first game of the Coach Charles Huff era, but there were some bright spots.
Southern Miss hung with MSU for at least a half and trailed only by three points at halftime before the Bulldogs gained control of the game in the second half to pull away for a 34-17 victory in the season opener for both teams before an announced crowd of 33,485 at Southern Miss’ M.M. Roberts Stadium in Hattiesburg.
Senior quarterback Braylon Braxton – who was the Sun Belt Offensive Player of The Year and led Marshall to the Sun Belt Conference championship last season – made his Southern Miss debut and completed 26 of 39 passes for 199 yards and two touchdowns and had 12 carries for 58 yards. Braxton completed passes for 11 different receivers and threw TD passes for senior wide receiver and Ole Miss transfer Micah Davis and sophomore wide receiver and West Virginia transfer TJ Johnson. Braxton – this year’s Preseason Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year – threw for 1,624 yards and 19 TDs and only two interceptions and ran for 610 yards and four TDs last season.
Junior running back and Mississippi State transfer Jeffery Pittman, a Taylorsville High alumnus, had 12 carries for 58 yards and six catches for 52 yards.
Senior cornerback and Marshall transfer Josh Moten and sophomore linebacker Chris Jones, a Hartfield Academy alumnus, led Southern Miss with 12 tackles each. Junior linebacker and Portland State transfer Michael Montgomery had an interception and junior defensive end and Marshall transfer JJ Hawkins had one sack for 6 yards. Moten led the Sun Belt and was tied for third in the country with five interceptions last season.
Sophomore kicker and Grambling transfer Reed Harradine made his field goal attempt from 42 yards and had three touchbacks on kickoffs in four attempts.
Southern Miss – which has a total of 65 transfers from four-year colleges, including 21 from Marshall, and five from junior colleges – looked like a team that could compete in the Sun Belt this year and dramatically improve on last year’s 1-11 overall record and 0-8 in the Sun Belt.
It is the closest margin of victory for MSU in the series since a 13-10 win in 1990 when Southern Miss quarterback Brett Favre was a senior.
Huff had a 32-20 record in four seasons at Marshall, including a upset over then No. 8 Notre Dame in 2023. He has 19 years of coaching experience in the NFL and college, including one year as run-game coordinator and running back coach at MSU in 2018 when he led the Bulldogs to the second best rushing team in the SEC and 20th in the country.
“I appreciate every single person that showed up today and appreciate every single person who put a lot of energy into making this a really special day. Obviously, it’s not the result we want, but it showed where we can be and it showed what it will look like when we get to the top,” Huff said. “We didn’t make enough plays throughout the game to beat a good team. Hats off to Mississippi State and to their staff and players for playing a really good game. I thought we battled in the first half and we knew it was going to be a game that if we didn’t make enough plays early, they would be able to wear us down a little bit, which it started to happen in the second half. We missed some opportunities to kind of change the momentum. We’ve got to coach better and put our kids in better position. I’m disappointed in the results because we want to win every day, but encouraged by what I found out about our team today and we will go back to work tomorrow as if we had won the game by 100. It was a great opportunity to learn. I told the guys in the locker room that you learn the most in failure. I understand that the fan base has been in this position way too long. It is a process. We will be fine. We have to continue to stay healthy, and continue to bring guys along. The first half we played with an SEC school about as well as anybody in the country. We need to play two halves and know how to finish.”
Huff was pleased with several areas of the team.
Our O-line held up in the pass game,” Huff said. “That’s a SEC line. They didn’t just cave us in. We knew it was going to an uphill battle running the ball. They gave Braylon time to get the ball downfield. He did some good things. I like what his feedback was and he had good energy and has his the ability to make plays and he played well from a leadership perspective. I was encouraged by the first half with our defense when we were fresh. We were knocking some guys back and communicating really well. We wore down a little bit in the second half. The runs that were 1 and 2 yards in the first half were 4 and 5 yards in the second half. On special teams, I thought our punter (Jack Murley from Australia) for the first time playing in American football game didn’t panic (averaged 42.8 yards on five punts) and our kicker (Harradine) hit the ball well. There was a lot of positive on the sidelines and in the locker room. When you have a lot of new guys, the culture is always the question. The guys were disappointed, don’t get me wrong. They want to win. They put in a lot of work. We are here for the journey, just not this one stop. We did played today exactly the way we have been practicing. We didn’t do some things well like in practice, but make some great plays like we do in practice. We are built pretty good, but we aren’t built for that league. In that league, they wear you down. We wanted to get to a point where they would be forced to throw it more.”
MSU took a 34-10 lead and Southern Miss cut the lead to 34-17 when Braxton led the Golden Eagles on a 73-yard, 10-play scoring drive. Braxton conceded with Johnson for a 7-yard TD pass with 33 seconds to play in the fourth quarter.
Braxton was 8-0 last season as a starter for Marshall. The Frisco, Texas, native played at Tulsa before transferring to Marshall.
“We showed who we are,” Braxton said. “We aren’t going to quit no matter what the scoreboard says. That’s a testament to who we are. When the playing field is a little more even, we will be fine. We aren’t going to feel this way too many more times, that’s for sure. This was a great learning experience for our guys. We have a lot of guys who will need to step up and we are more than ready for the opportunity. To our fans, keep showing up. Don’t turn your back on us after one time, we are going to make it happen. There are ups and downs in life, just like football games. Keep supporting us, we will treat you right. I’ve been at two other schools, I have friends all around the country, my brother (Jaylen Braxton, a sophomore cornerback and Arkansas transfer) plays at an SEC school (Ole Miss), no one has put in the work like we have. From me getting here in January and guys coming in, to another group of guys rolling in here in June and July, there is no way the work we put in goes unrewarded. I’m not sitting here promising we are going to win every game from here on, but I know for sure we are going to get what we want out of this thing.”
Southern Miss, which plays seven home games for the first time since 2020 and for only the third time in school history, plays host to its second straight in-state opponent Saturday with Jackson State. JSU defeated Hampton 28-14 in its opener this past Saturday. The Tigers won the Southwestern Athletic Conference title, the Celebration Bowl, and the HCBU national championship and finished 12-2 last season.
“I’ve known (Jackson State head) Coach (TC) Taylor a long time,” Huff said. “He has put his footprint on that program and definitely has a competitive team. Coach Taylor has done a good job. They’ve done a good job on recruiting. His team has good size, they are physical, fly around, and have energy. Their quarterback is a playmaker and their running back brings some juice to the backfield. Their quarterback is mobile and will challenge our defense. We’ve got to clean up some things or Hattiesburg High will beat us.”
Huff was excited about playing in front of a great crowd and believes good things are yet to come for Golden Eagle fans.
“The atmosphere was phenomenal,” Huff said. “The state of Mississippi, this university, the students, the fans and the administration did their part. We have to continue to get better. The way how we played, hopefully the fans and supporters will be encouraged. Do we need to get better? Yes. You look at that first half and we went toe to toe with an SEC West team, a good football team, an improved football team in Year Two. They have really good players. Small victories, I’m not excited about that, I’m not in it for the moral victories, but ultimately you learn from failure and success. Hopefully by how we played, our fans and supporters are encouraged. If not, trust me, I’ll get you back. We will go back to work. These players will get you back. We have a long way to go, but we have improved a lot.”
