Western Kentucky defeats Southern Miss 45 to 28 in Conference USA championship

But USM faces a WKU team with similar strengths, and coach Todd Monken knows something must give. These are two teams that are equally matched. But, I am proud of our team. Taylor was wide open in the end zone after he beat the Southern Miss coverage for a 39-yard completion and a 31-28 lead.

In a game that was expected to be an offensive shootout, it was WKU quarterback Brandon Doughty’s offense that had by far the most success.

Doughty and his teammates were able to celebrate a conference championship in front of their fans. Here being the Conference USA Championship.

“That’s a huge motivation, ” USF senior guard Thor Jozwiak said. “It’s an incredible feeling”.

Three of those turnovers came in the second half.

Taggart, after playing on the hill from 1994-1998, served as an assistant until 2006 before spending three seasons as Stanford’s running backs coach under Jim Harbaugh. Mullens, on the other hand, had a reversal in the TD/INT category, and threw for 181 yards on 15-30 through the air.

Southern Miss regained the lead on its first possession of the second half. “That’s what we didn’t do today”.

As was just announced, South Florida is bowl eligible for the first time since 2010 and it will be looking to win its fourth straight bowl game that it has been in.

GOLDEN ARMS: WKU sixth-year senior Doughty has thrown for 9,014 yards and 91 touchdowns the past two seasons, including 4,184 and 42 TDs this year. And, despite giving up two last-minute scores in the first half, Southern Miss came out with the fire, putting the first points of the half on the scoreboard following a 37-yard Ito Smith touchdown run re-giving the Golden Eagles a 28-21 advantage.

WKU responded with a pair of scores, including a 2-yard touchdown toss from Doughty to Taylor with 11 seconds left in the first half to tie the game at 21-21 at the half. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers recorded 361.1 passing yards and 159.0 rushing yards while allowed 238.4 passing yards and 153.5 russhing yards with turnover differential of -1.1. Western Kentucky took a solid 28 point lead against Southern Miss during the third quarter. Last time out, the Golden Eagles never trailed as they easily beat Louisiana Tech, 58-24.

“We just had to settle down, myself included”, Doughty said. “The trip will be fun, but we have business to take care of”. We had to settle down. “We’re excited to be a bowl game – any bowl game – but this (will) be special”.

Smith joined Richard in the 1,000-yard club this season and Mullens also hit 4,000 yards passing.