Munz: Wins are great, but Southern Miss far from perfect
Twice so far this season, Southern Miss has won football games it probably shouldn't have.
Some might say that's the sign of a good team.
We're not ready to go quite that far just yet. There are fundamental and monumental differences between the 2013 and 2014 Golden Eagles.
The fact is, given the way Southern Miss (2-2) played in its wins over Alcorn State and Appalachian State, it probably shouldn't have won either.
Both victories – 26-20 over the Braves 26-20 and 21-20 over the Mountaineers – shouldn't have even been close in the first place.
So how did the Golden Eagles pull it off?
Fortunate
Southern Miss had a list of problems in Saturday's win over Appalachian State.
• The defense gave up 29 first downs to Appalachian State. Alabama achieved 31 first downs against the Golden Eagles last week, and it scored 52 points. Fortunately for Southern Miss, the Mountaineers couldn't convert as many into scores.
• Southern Miss came up empty on a trio of golden scoring opportunities due to a lack of precision and/or focus. The Golden Eagles attempted a double pass during Saturday's game where Tez Parks had Kyle Foster wide open near the end zone.
The ball was underthrown slightly, and Foster failed to adjust. Michael Thomas made a touchdown catch late in the game that was negated by an offensive pass interference call, albeit questionable. A high snap on a field goal try also cost them points.
• The Mountaineers also ran for 191 yards as a team. Southern Miss' run defense, which ranks 117th in the nation, continues to be an area of major concern.
• Another big issue for the Golden Eagles is already the amount of time the defense has had to spend on the field. On Saturday, Appalachian State dominated time of possession, keeping Southern Miss' defense on for almost 36 minutes.
• Outside of the Golden Eagles' first and last drives of the game, and one in between, the offense did not look good. Coach Todd Monken's club was just 2-of-11 on third down, and Nick Mullens threw two interceptions. Ouch.
• The rushing offense is still almost as bad as its run defense. The Golden Eagles ran for 61 yards Saturday on 25 attempts. Granted, two of those rushing attempts ended up in the end zone thanks to George Payne, but the team is still ranked 112th in the country in rushing offense.
Monken likened his team's performance in Saturday's win to a pitcher in baseball that finds a way to lead his team to victory despite not having his best stuff.
"That is a good sign," he said. "At the end, what matters most is finding a way to win. Now, we have to find a way to do it better (next Saturday) against a Rice team that is stung a little bit. We will continue to get better. I know it. We have the right kind of guys."
If improvement is to be shown, and victory is to be had against Rice in Southern Miss' Conference USA opener, it's going to have to come across the board.
The Owls, despite their 0-3 record, are the defending league champions. And given that they are winless so far this season, it's safe to assume they will be highly motivated to keep from falling any further into the hole they've dug.
Contact Jason Munz at (601) 584-3107 or jmunz@hattiesburgamerican.com. Follow @munzly on Twitter.