Tuesday Takeaways: Southern Miss

I think we’ve figured it out: Defense REALLY good, Offense bad. I don’t know where else to go with it except to diagnose the issues at hand.

Taylor Powell is a great quarterback. He’s at his best when he’s able to escape the collapsing pocket and make a play.

The problem is, that pocket collapses way too often. Powell has been sacked nine times this season, five times against Liberty and four times against Southern Miss. For reference, that’s one more than the 2016 team gave up all year, and just six shy of 2017’s total.

Kimani, BJ and Jamontez are all great running backs. Kimani picked up 83 yards by himself against Southern, but that’s more than the whole team picked up in the last two games combined.

Tez Johnson has become a breakout star in the receiving corps, and Luke Whittimore is on track for a career season. The Lewises are sharing the load as receiving tight ends, which is a welcome change to the offensive scheme.

The issue is consistency. We’ve seen a fantastic offense for a game and a half, but the other side of the coin is an offense that doesn’t produce at all.

This was the same issue Troy faced last year, and the back half of the 2019 season. The defense has become one of the best in the country, but the offense (which *was* one of the best in the country) has faded into mediocrity.

The weapons are there. The question is how to use them better.

Pros

• The defense might be Troy’s best in the FBS era. It’s 8th in the country in scoring, it’s giving up the fewest points since the 1995 season, and it held a Heisman candidate to 151 yards passing.
• Taylor Powell is a smart quarterback. I wonder what would happen if he made adjustments at the line from reading the defense.
• The offense has solid weapons.

Cons

• The offense is inconsistent. Southern Miss has a solid defense, but there’s no reason Troy shouldn’t have scored in the first half.

Conclusion

ULM is another dummy that Troy can use to get its offense clicking again. If the Warhawks hold Troy to 30 points or fewer, there are bigger problems at hand.