Southern Miss is off to a frustrating start as the Golden Eagles have lost five straight games after a season-opening victory over Alcorn State.
OFFENSIVE LINE TROUBLES
A bulk of the issue surrounding Southern Miss has been its offensive line play. Up until last week’s game against Old Dominion, the Golden Eagles had been outscored 70-20 in the first quarter.
One of the main issues has been keeping a clean pocket for quarterback Billy Wiles. This season, Wiles has thrown for 1,254 yards, seven touchdowns and five interceptions while completing 53.5% of his passes.
According to Pro Football Focus, which is a sports analytics website that provides grades for every player in FBS as well as the NFL, when Wiles has a clean pocket, he completes 66% of his passes and has thrown for 1,059 yards and seven touchdowns while being intercepted once. When Wiles is under pressure, he completes just 27.5% of his passes, has thrown for 195 yards and has been intercepted four times. Notably, when Wiles faces a blitz, he completes just 53% of his passes but has thrown for 384 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
As a team, Southern Miss’ grade in run blocking stands at 52.6, which ranks 113th in the country, while the pass block stands at 54.5, which sits at 103 out of 133 schools graded.
Yes, Southern Miss shook up the offense line drastically last week. The offensive line experienced a major change this week with Matt Ryals moving to left guard, Briason Mays to right tackle, Gerquan Scott to center and Gabe Cavazos taking over starting left tackle, while John Bolding remained at right guard.
There was some improvement against Old Dominion. Since the Alcorn State game, the offensive line received its best grade in pass blocking at 69.5, but the run blocking received its second-lowest grade of the season at 49.5. Notably, the best grade the run blocking has received was a 61.2, against Alcorn.
Cavazos, a Mississippi State transfer, turned in the best marks in pass blocking and posted a 64.7 in run blocking. Mays was the most consistent after posting a 76.6 in pass blocking and a team-high of 75.2 in run block.
The shakeups will need to continue to happen, and with the season slipping away, it might be time to give younger linemen a chance to gain experience.
CLARK NEEDS LARGER ROLE
As mentioned, the run blocking and run game have been overall lackluster this season, and part of the issue is in the running back room.
Frank Gore Jr. has been a special player for Southern Miss during his tenure, but as of late, he has not looked to be what he has been. Yes, the run blocking hasn’t helped, but Gore has excelled behind the same group of linemen in the past.
In 103 touches this season, Gore has rushed for 397 yards and four touchdowns, which comes to an average of 3.9 yards per carry. Through the first six games last season, Gore had run for 477 yards, four touchdowns and averaged 4.9 yards per carry.
Gore’s special talent is creating missed tackles. Last year his 83 missed tackles ranked No. 3 in the country according to PFF, and through six games last year, he had 37. This season, Gore has 23 missed tackles, which ties him for No. 32.
In the past, Gore has not had a consistent No. 2 running back to compliment him, but Memphis transfer Dreke Clark has provided life for USM down the stretch. This season, Clark has run for 356 yards and two touchdowns on just 50 touches, which comes to an average of 7.9 yards per carry.
Clark is entering the game later, which means he’s facing a more worn-down defense, but still, the production says he should get his touches sooner.
Let it be said that Gore is still a special running back, but sharing the load might help open things up for him moving forward.
INCONSISTENCY IN ALL THREE PHRASES
The most frustrating part of the team has been the inconsistency in all three phases of the game, and it’s hard to point to any stat that clearly shows the reason for it.
Outside of the Alcorn State game, Southern Miss has yet to play consistently on offense, defense and special teams against an FBS team this season.
For example, Southern Miss’ offense put up more than 30 points in back-to-back weeks prior to being held to just 13 points against Old Dominion. The same can be pointed out about special teams and the defense. Although USM being short of three cornerbacks does provide some understanding for the defensive side of the ball.
The same thought process could be applied that if USM plays decently in each phase, then the program likely has three wins in the last three weeks.
It’s hard to say what the remedy is for the inconsistency, but at the end of the day, it falls on coaching, and Southern Miss’ Will Hall has taken that responsibility.
But taking responsibility has yet to lead to wins this season, and Southern Miss needs a win sooner rather than later.
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