Southern Mississippi’s talented football team has earned a reputation for being a slow starter. Saturday’s game with UTEP seemed to be a change to that pattern as the Golden Eagles only needed a little over five minutes to notch a field goal and an early 3-0 lead.
But, less than four minutes later, UTEP’s league-leading ball carrier Aaron Jones broke free for a 68-yard touchdown run to give the Miners a 7-0 lead. Unfortunately, those were the last points UTEP scored while Southern Miss broke away for 31 straight and a 34-7 win in El Paso.
Ito Smith led the way for the Golden Eagles as he kept alive his string of 100 yard games by accumulating 108 on 16 carries.