TXST FOOTBALL
Texas State will face-off with the Southern Miss Golden Eagles for homecoming as the Bobcats will look to clinch bowl eligibility.
On facing Southern Miss, Kinne acknowledged how talented Southern Miss is despite their record.
“They have a lot of talent, [so] they are not lacking in that department,” Kinne said. “They are big, fast and physical. Those guys are doing a really good job of holding that thing together over there. That is a tough situation, but the coaching staff is doing a good job. You can tell they’re fighting hard and playing.”
Southern Miss enters their showdown against the Bobcats with a 1-8 record. The Golden Eagles only win of the season came against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 35-10.
During the season, Southern Miss fired Head Coach Will Hall following the Eagles 44-28 loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves. Assistant Head Coach Reed Stringer has taken over as interim head coach for the rest of the season.
Leading the offense for the Golden Eagles is quarterback Ethan Crawford. Having started in the middle of the season, Crawford has passed for 842 yards and zero touchdowns.
In the rushing game, the duo of Rodrigues Clark and Kenyon Clay spearhead the ground attack. Clark leads the team in rushing with 402 yards on 89 carries and one touchdown. Clay has rushed for 312 yards on 51 carries and leads the team in rushing touchdowns with six.
Through nine games, the Golden Eagles have averaged 16.2 points per game.
On defense, linebacker Trey Pinkney leads the team in tackles with 60 total and 28 solo, both team highs. Linebacker Chris Jones is second in tackles with 46 total and 25 solo.
The Southern Miss defense has held opposing offenses to 34.2 points per game.
The history between Texas State and Southern Miss is brief with the first ever meeting coming in 2013.
The Bobcats won their first meeting against Southern Miss in a low scoring affair 22-15 before the two teams met again during the 2015 season.
In a game completely opposite of their first meeting, the Bobcats and the Golden Eagles engage in an offensive shootout with Southern Miss winning 56-50.
The two teams would not meet again until the 2022 season when Southern Miss joined the Sun Belt and was placed in the Sun Belt West Division.
In their first meeting as conference rivals, Southern Miss stunned Texas State on a 53-yard touchdown pass with 32 seconds remaining in the game to win 20-14.
In their last meeting in 2023, Texas State got their revenge by beating the Golden Eagles 50-36.
Kickoff for Texas State-Southern Miss is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at UFCU Stadium in San Marcos. cmcwilliams @sanmarcosrecord.com Twitter: @ColtonBMc
