Southern Miss hopes to build on Keyes' growth from Alabama loss
Oct. 1—Southern Mississippi coach Will Hall hopes the growth he saw in his freshman quarterback last week carries over to a more manageable environment.
The Golden Eagles have dropped two straight and hope to reverse that trend in their Conference USA opener at 5:30 Saturday at Rice.
Southern Miss (1-4) is coming off a 63-14 loss at No. 1 Alabama.
Freshman quarterback Ty Keyes was 11-for-24 passing for 131 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.
"We were not ready as a program yet to go into that environment and win a game," Hall said. "What we were ready to do was go in there and spill everything we had. That's what we were able to control, and that's what we did."
Hall pointed to improved play alone the offensive line as part of the Golden Eagles' effort.
He also thought Keyes did some good things moving around and playing within himself.
A three-star prospect from Taylorsville, Keyes (6-2, 205) came off the bench in Week 2 against Grambling and has been the starter each week since.
He had 61 rushing yards — before sack yardage — on 12 carries in Tuscaloosa.
"He really raised his game and played well. He got better as the game went on, and our O-line played much better," Hall said.
Keyes is the eighth true freshman since Brett Favre in 1987 to start at quarterback for Southern Miss.
Rice is 1-3 with blowout losses against Arkansas, cross-town rival Houston and Texas in the first three weeks.
The Owls broke into the win column with a 48-34 win over Texas Southern, another Houston team, last week.
Opponents have rushed for 230.0 yards a game against Rice.
Hall says the Owls play with great effort.
"They play extremely hard, one of the hardest-playing teams I've ever coached against. They get after you on defense. They're hard hitters, and they try to stop the run."
PARRISH ALFORD is the college sports editor and columnist for the Daily Journal. Contact him at parrish.alford@journalinc.com.
