Southern Miss football snapped a five-game losing streak and earned its first Sun Belt Conference victory of the season with a 35-31 win over Louisiana at Renasant Stadium on Oct. 24.
The Golden Eagles (2-5, 1-2) had dropped several close, winnable games during the skid, while also suffering a handful of lopsided defeats.
"I'm beyond proud of this group of dudes," Southern Miss coach Blake Anderson said after the game. "To get to this point, it's been really, really hard, as everybody knows. Very frustrating process. I cannot give them enough credit for how they have continued to come to work and fight through just a grueling stretch of disappointment on top of disappointment on top of disappointment."
It was a game that hung in the balance throughout. Midway through the fourth quarter, after sophomore kicker Creighton Wilbanks missed a 41-yard field goal attempt and Louisiana (5-3, 2-2) answered with a touchdown to take a 28-21 lead, it appeared the Golden Eagles were headed for another heartbreaking loss.
But Southern Miss came back to secure the win thanks to a pair of key moments. Junior defensive back Kolby Peavy intercepted quarterback Lunch Winfield and returned it 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the game at 28 with 10:05 left in the game. It was Peavy's first career interception.
"He's a role player on defense that does exactly what you tell him and ask him to do at all times," Anderson said. "It was awesome to see a guy like that make a play and really spark us the way he did."
The second key play was the winning 16-yard touchdown run by redshirt freshman running back Jamarice Wilder that gave the Golden Eagles a 35-31 lead with 58 seconds left. It capped off the eight-play, 75-yard drive and ignited the home crowd.
"To go have to fight for it and finish it off, that was an awesome feeling out there," Anderson said. "That's what a stadium is supposed to feel like. It's what it's supposed to sound like. Our guys can build on that, so I think it's huge.
"This is still just one game, but it could not have come at a better time."
Southern Miss will have an opportunity to build on the dramatic win on the road against Louisiana Monroe on Oct. 31 (2:30 p.m. CT, ESPN+).
Davis Wilson covers Southern Miss athletics and Hattiesburg news for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at DWilson@hattiesb.gannett.com or find him on X at @Davis_Wilson.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Key moments from Southern Miss football's skid-ending win over Louisiana