Why Southern Miss coach Blake Anderson blamed himself for loss in New Orleans Bowl
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NEW ORLEANS — Southern Miss football had plenty of challenges entering the New Orleans Bowl against Western Kentucky.
Most notably, Charles Huff left after the regular season to become the coach at Memphis. Offensive coordinator Blake Anderson was promoted to head coach.
Yet Anderson chose to shoulder the blame after the Golden Eagles suffered a 27-16 loss at the Caesars Superdome on Dec. 23.
“At the end of the day, it’s my job to get points on the board,” he said. “We didn’t do a good enough job of that today or even just the last few weeks. As we got beat up as the season went on, it didn’t quite look the same.
“Today was the same thing: yards at times, but not enough points. Great effort, but poor execution. That falls on me. I told the guys in the locker room this is on me, all me, my responsibility.”
Southern Miss (7-6), which ends its season with four straight losses, was in command for most of the first half, outgaining Western Kentucky in total yards 265 to 84, yet it led only 13-7 at halftime.
The second half was completely different. Western Kentucky (9-4) powered through Southern Miss, outscoring it 21-3 and outgaining it 338-112. The Golden Eagles were ahead 16-13 entering the fourth quarter but never scored again.
The Hilltoppers had a new quarterback in the second half after starter Rodney Tisdale Jr. suffered an injury. Even though Southern Miss safety Corey Myrick forced a fumble near the WKU goal line and snagged an interception, both in the third quarter, WKU’s offense was difficult to stop with Maverick McIvor at quarterback.
McIvor, who threw for 199 yards and one interception, and rushed for 48 yards and a touchdown, was named the bowl game’s MVP.
“The defense played good enough to win,” Anderson said. “Offensively, we got to do a better job. It’s that simple.”
The Golden Eagles kicked a field goal in the second half. Otherwise, they punted four times, turned it over on downs once and threw an interception. Quarterback Braylon Braxton was 24-for-47 passing with 258 yards, one touchdown and one interception overall. But in the second half, he was just 8-for-20 for 63 yards.
“Without really being able to go through and dissect it, I don’t want to point fingers in any particular area,” Anderson said. “They executed better than we did. Bottom line. Maybe schematically I didn’t put us in a great position. I’ll look. I’ll take the ownership. It’s my fault.”
Sam Sklar is the Mississippi State beat reporter for The Clarion Ledger. Email him at ssklar@usatodayco.com and follow him on X @sklarsam_.
This article originally appeared on Hattiesburg American: Blake Anderson takes blame for Southern Miss loss to WKU in New Orleans Bowl
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