From staff reports

After two games of uneven play, Southern Miss finally found its groove.

The Golden Eagles returned two interceptions for touchdowns, and Austin Davis threw a pair of TD passes as Southern Miss clobbered Southeastern Louisiana 52-6 on Saturday night.

Southern Miss led 14-6 late in the first half, then scored two touchdowns in the last two minutes — one of them on a 60-yard interception return by Korey Williams as time expired.

The Golden Eagles (2-1) added three touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away. The last score came on a 6-yard interception return by Octavius Thomas with 6:37 remaining.

It was a needed shot in the arm for the Golden Eagles. They struggled to beat Louisiana Tech in sloppy conditions in the opener, then turned the ball over five times in a loss to Marshall last week.

“I hope it kickstarts us the rest of the way. That was the plan. To come out and play a more complete game and get ready for the next one,” Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said. “I still think there was some really good execution on offense, some good execution on defense and some good things on special teams. Like I told them in there, it’s a win. Enjoy it. Be smart tonight and take care of each other but we’re going to get working on the next one on Sunday.”

Southern Miss clicked in all phases of the game against their Football Championship Subdivision oppomnent. Sophomore Kendrick Hardy rushed for 155 yards on 18 carries and freshman Jamal Woodyard added 99 yards and and a touchdown.

Davis was an efficient 16 of 23 passing for just 143 yards, but connected with Woodyard for a 23-yard TD in the first quarter and Collin Jarbo for a 17-yard TD early in the fourth.

In all, Southern Miss gained 478 total yards and only committed one turnover. The Golden Eagles only had to punt once.

“Southern Miss was really physical up front on both sides of the ball. When you look at our height and weight and their height and weight, we were going to have a hard time running the football. We had some holes but they closed up really quickly,” said Southeastern Louisiana coach Mike Lucas.

On defense, Southern Miss held Southeastern Louisiana’s high-tempo offense to 285 yards on 74 plays — an average of 3.8 yards per play.

The defense also came up with the two scores, including Williams’ interception return at the end of the first half that gave USM a three-touchdown lead. Nathan Stanley’s pass bounced off the hands of receiver Kory Theodore and into the hands of Williams, who broke a tackle at the 10-yard line to get in the end zone.

“I think there were eight seconds left on the clock. He picks the ball and it probably took him 30 seconds to get to the endzone. I heard (linebackers coach Dave Duggan) upstairs yelling ‘Go down! Go down!’ I was like, ‘It’s wide open. Go for it.’ Somehow he got in the endzone,” Fedora said. “That’s probably the furthest he’s ever run in his life. With the ball in his hands too, I can assure you.”