Eagles lose to Louisville dropping to 3-3 overall

Southern Miss lost its third straight away game Saturday night against the Louisville Cardinals.

After the Golden Eagles scored with 2:13 left in the game, the Cardinals' Trent Guy returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards, putting Louisville in field goal range. Three runs and a sack later, the Cardinals' sealed the deal with a 32 yard field goal to win the game 25-23.

"We had a tough loss in Louisville," head coach Larry Fedora said. "It came down to a matter of a couple of plays. Louisville made those plays and we didn't. It was a tough loss for us."

 The game marked the first start of the season for quarterback Martevious Young, who replaced the injured Austin Davis in the game. Young threw for 229 yards, including a 36-yard pass downfield to star wide receiver DeAndre Brown, the longest pass of Young‘s career.

"I thought Martevious played really well," Fedora said. "He played well enough for us to win a football game. He didn't turn the ball over; he took care of it and made some nice throws."

The running game was also effective against the Cardinals. Running backs Damion Fletcher and Tory Harrison averaged over four yards per carry and each had a score Saturday night. Fedora credits a lot of that success to the offensive line.

"I thought our offensive line took the game over in the fourth quarter and that's why we were able to run the ball successfully," said Fedora.

Both backs getting a nearly equal amount of carries continues a trend that Fedora says can be expected to continue.

"Its kind of been that way since we got here. We haven't been in a game where Damion carried every ball as it is and probably won't. The guy that is making plays is the guy that's going to be on the field."

 The loss marks the Golden Eagle's fourth straight to Louisville, dating back to 2000, although Southern Miss still holds a 18-9-1 advantage over the Cardinals all-time.

 The Golden Eagles return to the Rock this weekend to face off against the Memphis Tigers in the annual Black Out game.