HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP)—Stephen Reaves ran for one touchdown and threw for another in his first start at quarterback for Southern Mississippi to lead the Golden Eagles to a 28-7 victory over Southern Methodist on Saturday.
The victory ended a two-game losing streak for Southern Miss (3-3, 1-1 in Conference USA) and extended the Mustangs’ (1-5, 0-2) losing streak to four games.
After a scoreless first quarter, Southern Miss took control of the game with 21 straight points in the second period.
Reaves, who was 18-of-26 for 206 yards, hit Shawn Nelson on a 28-yard scoring pass at the 8:24 mark of the quarter.
Chris Johnson added to the lead when he raced 19 yards on a reverse for a score.
Golden Eagles running back Damion Fletcher, who eclipsed the 2,000-yard mark for his career in the game, scored on a 3-yard plunge to make it 21-0 at halftime.
Reaves added a 7-yard scoring run early in the fourth period for a 28-0 lead.
SMU avoided its first shutout in three years when a scrambling Justin Willis hit DeMyron Martin on a 16-yard scoring pass with 6:46 to play.
Fletcher finished with 108 yards on 19 carries for Southern Miss—the fourth time this season he has gone over the 100-yard mark in a game.
Head to Head - Week 7
| Team | Total Yds | Pass Yds | Rush Yds | First Downs | 3rdD% | Pen./Yds | Turnovers | Time of Poss. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Southern Methodist | 361 | 191 | 170 | 26 | 38.5% | 10/92 | 4 | 30:31 |
| Southern Miss | 415 | 206 | 209 | 25 | 36.4% | 5/49 | 1 | 29:29 |
