Southern Miss looks to right itself versus reeling Rice

The Southern Miss offense is hopeful Rice will be the cure for what has ailed it in recent weeks.

The Golden Eagles (5-4, 3-2 in Conference USA), losers of back-to-back games for the first time this season, have scored a combined 22 points since Oct. 21. During that stretch, the team went six full quarters without scoring a touchdown.

Jay Hopson’s team will hit the field at 2:30 p.m. against the Owls (1-8, 1-4) in Houston looking to right the ship and end the skid. Rice has lost seven straight games and sports one of the worst defenses in the league. The Owls have allowed the most points per game (36.9) of all C-USA teams and are 11th (out of 14) in total defense (427.8 yards per game).

Southern Miss is expected to send redshirt junior Kwadra Griggs out to start the game at quarterback for the first time since he injured his left hand in a loss to North Texas on Sept. 30. Griggs played two offensive series last week at Tennessee, finishing 6-of-11 for 61 yards passing and scoring a rushing touchdown.

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As tough as the offensive sledding has been for the Golden Eagles the last two weeks, offensive coordinator Shannon Dawson contends the struggles aren’t as much about Xs and Os as they are something else entirely.

“We typically play week-to-week,” he said. “Whether you won or lost the previous week, you’d better move on, look forward and play that week. (But) I think that’s probably the biggest struggle with this team, specifically offensively — handling success and failure. We battled back against Louisiana Tech and did some good things in the second half. (But) we probably didn’t handle it that well.”

Although Rice has left plenty to be desired overall, David Bailiff’s defensive front has not. The Owls are third in C-USA with 22 sacks. Brian Womac has led the way with eight, which is tops among all players in the league.

“One thing that sticks out about those guys is they play extremely hard up front,” Dawson said. “Their kids play hard. I know their record doesn’t necessarily show it, but they have some really, really high effort guys, man. Some of their games got out of hand, (but) in this league, it’s going to be a dogfight. We’ve just got to get ready and get back on track.”

Rice has also had issues on offense. The Owls are averaging just 14 points per game and are 11th in C-USA with only 332 yards per game.

Hopson won’t let the numbers fool him, though.

“They do a lot of shifting, a lot of motions on offense,” he said. “A lot of misdirection. They really make you work on both sides (of the ball). But they’ve got talent in the backfield and at wideout. They run the ball hard.”

Defensive coordinator Tony Pecoraro said Rice makes it difficult to know what to expect.

“They’re definitely a little different offensively than most teams,” he said. “They do a good job of using their personnel and moving them all over the place. They have an under-the-center style of offense and they’ve got your normal spread. They’re an interesting offense, for sure.”