Turnovers doom Southern Miss against Rice

The Southern Miss football team continued their slide on Saturday, falling to the Rice Owls 44-17 at Rice Stadium.

Despite out gaining the Owls 372-370, Southern Miss could not keep Rice from making explosive plays.

Rice began early with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Taylor McHargue to Dennis Parks for the first score of the game. Owl quarterback Driphus Jackson also provided two scores for the Owls as he connected with Donte Moore for touchdowns of 38 and 25 yards on the day. Rice safety Paul Porras provided the finishing blow when he returned an Arsenio Favor pass for a 75-yard touchdown late in the third quarter.

Southern Miss turned the ball over 5 times on the day, as Favor had two interceptions and a fumble, quarterback Cole Weeks had an interception, and running back Kendrick Hardy lost a fumble. Kicker Corey Acosta, although nailing a 50-yard field goal in the first quarter, missed a 42-yard field goal.

The Eagles got on the board in the first quarter with the Acosta field goal. Jeremy Hester added a one-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, and Arsenio Favor scored the Eagles final points on a 15-yard run in the third quarter.

Despite not scoring any points, wide reciever Tracey Lampley provided plenty of spark to the Eagles when he touched the ball. Lampley had five touches for 96 total yards on the day. 

Southern Miss is now the only school in the FBS that has started four different quarterbacks this season. The Eagles also played their fifth quarterback on the season today, as Favor and Weeks split playing time throughout the game.

Southern Miss is now 0-8 on the season and 0-4 in conference play.