After erasing a 25-point deficit in the first half to come back and win the season opener at Kentucky 44-35 last week, Southern Miss starting left tackle senior Jacob Fleming — a North Pike graduate — is hoping the Golden Eagles can build on the momentum at home against Savannah State at 6 p.m. Saturday.
USM (1-0) trailed the Wildcats 35-17 at halftime, but Fleming (6 feet, 4 inches, 302 pounds) said first-year head coach Jay Hopson just told the athletes adversity would happen and to keep fighting.
“It was a team effort,” Fleming said. “Coach Hopson always preaches just keep fighting. Just always fight hard. I think that’s what we did. We just kept fighting until we couldn’t fight anymore. I think that’s what kept us in the game.”
The Golden Eagles went 11 plays and 84 yards to open the second half with quarterback Nick Mullens capping off the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter. That cut Kentucky’s lead to 35-24.
Fleming kicked Kentucky’s defensive end out of one play on the drive, opening a hole for Southern Miss running back Ito Smith to gain 12 yards and get a first down in Wildcats territory.
“I think the offensive line altogether had a great game,” Fleming said. “There was only one or two series where we didn’t have a pretty good series. I think we played a very good game the whole game. We were just consistently dominating the line.”
The North Pike graduate said things began to change when Mullens threw a 71-yard touchdown pass to Isaiah Jones with 26 seconds remaining in the first half to cut Kentucky’s lead to 35-17.
“I think we had momentum,” he said. “We had just scored the last play of the first half. I guess it sparked the 27 points we scored the rest of the (second) half.”
The Golden Eagles outscored Kentucky 21-0 in the third quarter and 6-0 in the fourth.
Kentucky is an SEC team, and Fleming said getting opening the season with a win was crucial for Southern Miss as it hosts the Tigers, a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference team, in Week 2.
“I think it helps us tremendously because it shows that we can play with anybody in our conference and out of our conference,” he said. “It’s always good to start 1-0 with that confidence going into Week 2.”
Southern Miss is in Conference USA.
Looking ahead to Saturday’s game, Fleming is not overlooking Savannah State (0-1) after last week’s comeback victory.
“I think for us to be successful in Week 2, we have to treat it just like Week 1,” he said. “They’re not a well-known opponent, but we still have to treat them just like we’re playing Kentucky again or we’re playing LSU. We have to train and prepare just like we’re playing them.
“We have to treat this as the most important game of the year because it’s the next game. We can’t overlook anybody.”
Fleming said Savannah State’s strength is on the defensive line that will try to put pressure on Mullens, adding the line is tall and fast.
He is in his second year at USM after playing two years at Copiah-Lincoln Community College. This is his first season starting for the Golden Eagles and he is looking forward to the home opener.
“It’s going to be a great atmosphere,” he said. “It’s always a great atmosphere at ‘The Rock’ (M.M. Roberts Stadium). I think us starting out 1-0, it’s going to be an even bigger crowd at home, and I hope that can be an influence in the game. It always is, and I hope it still is.”
Fleming also said he hopes Southern Miss does not get far behind once again this week.
“It’s always good to be on top, to not have to fight back and hope things go your way,” he said. “Always being ahead helps out.”
Fleming is the son of Kirby and Patricia Fleming from McComb.
