Scoring Summary
Southern Miss. 13 8 0 14 - 35
Idaho 7 21 7 7 42
TEAM STATISTICS
USM UI
First downs 25 26
Rushes-yards 40-117 34-130
Passing 362 291
Return Yards 19 60
Comp-Att-Int 31-52-0 24-41-0
Punts 4-43.5 5-39.0
Fumbles-Lost 6-5 3-3
Penalties-Yards 5-44 9-59
Time of Poss. 31:23 28:37
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS Southern Mississippi
Rushing Att Yds Avg TD Lng
D. Nix 29 122 4.2 3 23
Woods 3 15 5.0 0 11
Roberts 8 -20 -2.5 0 23
Passing C-A Yds Int TD Lng
Roberts 30-51 342 0 2 42
Purser 1-1 20 0 0 20
Receiving No Yds Avg TD Lng
Gideon 12 117 9.8 2 26
T. Pinkston 7 101 14.4 0 42
Shaw 5 83 16.6 0 28
D. Nix 3 29 9.7 0 14
Heard 2 7 3.5 0 4
Thomas 1 20 20.0 0 20
Gulley 1 5 5.0 0 5
Tackles Tac Ast Tot
Gonzalez 8 3 11
Slaughter 6 2 8
B. Bell 6 2 8
Trahan 3 3 6
Watts 2 2 4
C. Scott 4 0 4
Parrish 4 0 4
J. Nix 2 2 4
Houston 2 1 3
Brutley 2 1 3
Thomas 2 1 3
Der. Scott 1 1 2
Stewart 2 0 2
Idaho
Rushing Att Yds Avg TD Lng
Jo. Thomas 22 86 3.9 1 11
Welsh 11 48 4.4 0 21
Alderson 1 -4 -4.0 0 -4
Passing C-A Yds Int TD Lng
Welsh 24-41 291 0 4 31
Receiving No Yds Avg TD Lng
Prestimnco 5 61 12.2 1 28
Jones 4 49 12.3 0 22
Townsley 4 62 15.5 1 31
Jo. Thomas 4 42 10.5 0 15
Roberg 2 35 17.5 1 21
Lacy 2 22 11.0 0 16
Je. Thomas 1 -1 -1.0 0 -1
Alderson 1 19 19.0 0 19
Moody 1 2 2.0 1 2
Tackles Tac Ast Tot
Skinner 9 11 20
Nofoaiga 9 2 11
Gardner 5 4 9
Tosi 6 1 7
Jasik 1 6 7
Beck 4 3 7
Hill 6 1 7
Rayner 6 0 6
Alexakos 1 2 3
Johnston 2 1 3
Tenner 2 1 3
Knowles 2 0 2
Evero 2 0 2
Kinney 1 1 2
Giampietri 2 0 2
Daniel 1 1 2
Gibbs 1 1 2
Rice 2 0 2
Mayer 0 1 1
Martin 1 0 1
A19,664.
HOW THEY SCORED First quarter
Southern Miss 7, Idaho 0
Sherrod Gideon 2-yard pass from Lee Roberts, Tim Hardaway kick. 66-yard drive in eight plays, 3:41. Southern Miss starts at its 34 after T.J. Slaughter recovers fumble. Roberts completes 4 of 4, including 28- and 19-yarders to Eddie Shaw.
Southern Miss 7, Idaho 7
Jerome Thomas 98-yard touchdown on kick return, Ben Davis kick. Thomas follows a wave of blockers and is never touched by a defender.
Southern Miss 13, Idaho 7
Derrick Nix 8-yard run, PAT blocked by Mao Tosi. 36-yard drive in four plays, 0:59. Golden Eagles take over with great field position after stopping Idaho deep in its territory. Roberts hits Todd Pinkston with a 28-yard pass. Blocking by USM receivers pins Idaho’s defense inside, clearing Nix’s TD sweep around left end.
Second quarter
Southern Miss 21, Idaho 7
Nix 1-yard run, Gideon pass from Robertson on two-pointer. 67-yard drive in seven plays, 2:45. Roberts connects with Shaw for 15 yards on third-and-5. Roberts tosses 42-yard pass to Pinkston, who beat Ighe Evero. Nix scores easily from the 1.
Southern Miss 21, Idaho 14
Jeffrey Townsley 12-yard pass from John Welsh, Ben Davis kick. 70-yard drive in seven plays, 2:20. Welsh hits Ryan Prestimonico for 16 and Joel Thomas for 15 before finding Townsley open in the end zone. Southern Miss had two costly penalties.
Southern Miss 21, Idaho 21
Mike Roberg 21-yard pass from Welsh, Davis kick. 45-yard drive in four plays, 1:04. Welsh scoots 13 yards on a draw and Joel Thomas runs for 11 yards on two carries, setting up Roberg’s TD catch.
Idaho 28, Southern Miss 21
Michael Moody 2-yard pass from Welsh, Davis kick. 59-yard drive in six plays, 0:43. Vandals take over after Wil Beck recovers a fumble forced by Tosi with 43 seconds left. Welsh passes to Roberg (14 yards), Chris Lacy (15), Joel Thomas (13) and Willie Alderson (19) to move ball to the 2 with 2 seconds left. Idaho shuns field goal to go for the touchdown. Welsh fakes a handoff and Moody is all alone in right corner of end zone.
Third quarter
Idaho 35, Southern Miss 21
Joel Thomas 1-yard run, Davis kick. 32-yard drive in 10 plays, 3:56. Vern Benard’s 50-yard punt return set UI up at Southern Miss’ 32. Joel Thomas plowed 13 yards with a screen pass on fourth-and-6 and Ethan Jones caught an 11-yard slant on third-and-9. Thomas barely squeezed into the end zone for the score.
Idaho 35, Southern Miss 28
Gideon 7-yard pass from Roberts, Hardaway kick. 51-yard drive in nine plays, 2:03. Roberts zipped a 6-yard completion to Pinkston on fourth down to keep the drive alive.
Fourth quarter
Idaho 35, Southern Miss 35
Nix 15-yard run, Hardaway kick. 45-yard drive in six plays, 1:43. Idaho’s Mike O’Neal shanked a punt, giving USM possession at Idaho’s 45. The key play was a 17-yard third-down completion to Gideon. Nix burst through a big hole up the middle on the TD run.
Idaho 42, Southern Miss 35
Prestimonico 28-yard pass from Welsh, Davis kick. 68-yard drive in four plays, 2:01. Welsh passed to Townsley for 15 yards to start the drive. Welsh scrambled for 21 yards and then passed to Lacy for six yards. Prestimonico adjusted his route to catch Welsh’s pass.