Defense is the key factor for Southern Miss

HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Southern Miss shutout the Southern Jaguars, 45-0, and a lot of it had to do with its defensive line.

The Golden Eagles forced four turnovers and kept the Jaguars (0-12) on 3rd down conversions.

Head coach, Jay Hopson said, "They're all playing about the same amount of plays. So, we got a nice little rotation going. I thought upfront they played physical."

Free Safety, Tarvarious Moore said, "Them going (0-12) is something we just preach on every day. Getting them off the field on 3rd down and giving the ball back to our offense. We were number three in the country last year in 3rd down defense. One of our big emphasis as a goal as a defense this year is we want to be number one. So, we wanted to just up that level of play from last year."

Southern Miss will play its first game on the road Saturday against Louisiana Monroe, and will hope to have similar success.