Miami football stops legacy RB Frank Gore Jr. beating Southern Mississippi
The Miami football team knew it had to stop Southern Mississippi running back Frank Gore Jr. to defeat the Golden Eagles. Gore Jr. ran for 189 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-27 Southern Mississippi loss in their season opener to Liberty last week. Gore had seven carries for 10 yards and two receptions for 13 on Saturday.
Southern Mississippi was expected to feature a run-heavy offense. The Golden Eagles confused Miami in the first half with the Hurricanes focused on stopping Gore. After a strong first half, Southern Mississippi quarterback Zach Wilcke finished 16-27 for 207 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The interception by Tyrique Stevenson came in the third after Miami extended a 10-7 halftime lead to 24-7 on their previous two drives. Five of the carries from Gore were for three or fewer yards. Miami tackled Gore for losses twice. Gore had a 14-yard run that was his longest in the game called back for holding.
The first reception Gore had against Miami went for 18 yards in the second quarter. Miami had a third TFL against Gore that went for a five-yard loss in the third quarter. The ability for Miami to stop Gore contributed to Southern Mississippi running for 24 yards on 23 carries. Miami mostly stifled Southern Mississippi.
Southern Mississippi punted seven times, had two turnovers and one touchdown drive on offense. The Golden Eagles had 144 of their 231 yards on the touchdown drive and the interception that Tyrique Stevenson secured in the end zone. The Miami football strategy was clearly to make Southern Mississippi beat them by throwing.
After Southern Mississippi amassed 140 yards in the first half, Miami held the Golden Eagles to 91 after halftime. All but 22 came on the drive that Stevenson intercepted Wilcke in the end zone. By stopping Gore, Miami made Southern Miss one-dimensional. That worked early until Miami solved the Southern Miss passing game.
Next. Miami pulls away in second half to beat Southern Mississippi. dark
After wins versus Bethune-Cookman and Southern Mississippi the focus for Miami turns to Texas A&M next week. Texas A&M struggled in their season opener last week rushing 32 times for 110 yards. The Aggies were tied at seven at halftime with Appalachian State at the time this was written.