Dropped passes and missed tackles.
For everything that went wrong for Southern Miss – turnovers (3), penalties (16 for 135 yards), lopsided time of possession (35:54 to 24:03, advantage Troy), field position woes (on average, Troy’s 19 drives began at its own 41-yard line) in last week’s 37-31 loss to the Trojans – the Golden Eagle coaches repeatedly identified drops and poor tackling as the scapegoats.
First-year coach Jay Hopson shouldered all of the responsibility for Southern Miss’ (2-1) setback.
“We have to work on our fundamentals,” he said during the team’s weekly press conference Monday.