Southern Miss Golden Eagles
Sun Belt
0-0 (0-0 conf)
SP+ #94
Ratings
2025 final
- SP+
- -7.1 (#94)
- SP+ Offense
- 27.0
- SP+ Defense
- 32.8
- SRS
- -8.6
- FPI
- -8.6
- Elo
- 1275
- Talent
- 603
- Recruiting
- —
2026 Outlook
Projected wins
5.0p10 3.0 — p90 7.0
| Round | Prob | |
|---|---|---|
| Win conference | 1.0% | |
| Make CFP | 0.0% | |
| Quarterfinal | 0.0% | |
| Semifinal | 0.0% | |
| Natl. final | 0.0% | |
| Natl. champ | 0.0% |
Schedule
proj record 5.4–6.6
Schedule
83rd
toughest of 136
Offenses faced
72nd
toughest of 136
Defenses faced
84th
toughest of 136
Strength of schedule — how tough this team's opponents are, ranked 1 (hardest) to 136 (easiest) · by 2025 SP+ · 1 FCS game.
| Wk | Opponent | SP+ | Score | Proj | Win% | Res |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | vsAlcorn State | FCS | 43-5* | +38.3 | 99% | — |
| 2 | @Auburn | +11.6 | 13-38 | -24.7 | 4% | — |
| 3 | vsUConn | +5.1 | 24-30 | -6.2 | 33% | — |
| 4 | @Tulane | +6.3 | 20-33 | -12.8 | 19% | — |
| 6 | @Troy | -4.8 | 25-30 | -5.4 | 35% | — |
| 7 | vsArkansas State | -8.8 | 28-23 | +4.9 | 63% | — |
| 8 | vsLouisiana | -10.1 | 29-24 | +4.5 | 63% | — |
| 9 | @UL Monroe | -21.6 | 35-24 | +11.3 | 79% | — |
| 10 | vsJames Madison | +12.3 | 22-30 | -8.1 | 28% | — |
| 11 | @Louisiana Tech | -1.3 | 23-31 | -7.6 | 29% | — |
| 12 | vsSouth Alabama | -12.7 | 30-25 | +4.8 | 63% | — |
| 13 | @Old Dominion | +5.9 | 23-32 | -8.8 | 26% | — |
* FBS-vs-FCS estimate from the SP+ gap — no per-game model for FCS opponents.
Quarterbacks · 5
2026 · 76
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QB | 1st | Braylon Braxton | SR | 6'2" | 230 | — |
| QB | 2nd | Landry Lyddy | JR | 6'0" | 200 | ★★★ |
| QB | 3rd | Jacobe Robinson | SO | 6'3" | 220 | — |
| QB | 4th | Ethan Hampton← Illinois | SR | 6'3" | 220 | ★★★ |
| QB | — | John White | SO | 6'0" | 210 | ★★★ |
Running Backs · 6
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RB | 1st | Jeffery Pittman | JR | 6'1" | 215 | — |
| RB | 2nd | Brandon Hood← Massachusetts | FR | 5'10" | 200 | ★★★ |
| RB | 3rd | Matt Jones | SR | 6'0" | 202 | — |
| RB | 4th | Robert Briggs | JR | 5'9" | 185 | ★★★ |
| RB | 5th | Jamarice Wilder← Louisville | FR | 5'9" | 180 | ★★★ |
| RB | 6th | Josiah Basten | SO | 5'9" | 180 | — |
Wide Receivers · 11
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| WR | 1st | Elijah Metcalf | SR | 5'9" | 170 | ★★★ |
| WR | 2nd | Micah Davis | SR | 6'0" | 195 | — |
| WR | 3rd | Carl Chester | SR | 6'3" | 200 | — |
| WR | 4th | Bralon Brown | SR | 6'2" | 205 | ★★★★ |
| WR | 5th | Davis Dalton | JR | 6'3" | 210 | ★★★ |
| WR | 6th | Chuck Montgomery | SR | 5'10" | 180 | ★★★ |
| WR | 7th | Mario Sanders II← Illinois | JR | 5'10" | 190 | ★★★ |
| WR | — | Kaden Saunders← Penn State | JR | 5'10" | 180 | ★★★★ |
| WR | — | Cace Reed | FR | 5'7" | 150 | — |
| WR | — | A.J. Little← Chattanooga | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| WR | — | Jaylen Himes← Wingate | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Tight Ends · 5
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TE | 1st | Kyirin Heath | SR | 6'5" | 240 | — |
| TE | 2nd | Kadinn Morris | SR | 6'3" | 235 | ★★★ |
| TE | 3rd | TJ Johnson | SO | 6'4" | 230 | — |
| TE | — | Preston Kilgore← East Texas A&M | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| TE | — | Jeremiah Beck← Arkansas | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Offensive Line · 2
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OT | — | Da'Jy'Quwan Jackson-Payne← Liberty | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| OT | — | Braden Cain← Texas Southern | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Defensive Line · 14
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DL | 1st | Jameer Lewis | SR | 6'2" | 230 | — |
| DL | 2nd | JJ Hawkins | JR | 6'2" | 280 | ★★★ |
| DL | 3rd | Isaiah Gibson Sr. | SR | 6'4" | 320 | — |
| DL | 4th | Xavier McIver← East Carolina | SR | 6'3" | 320 | ★★★ |
| DL | 5th | Eric Thomas Jr. | SR | 6'3" | 280 | — |
| DL | 6th | Najae Hallenbeck | SR | 6'5" | 350 | — |
| DL | 7th | Quinzavious Warren | SR | 6'2" | 330 | — |
| DL | — | Jackson Banks← Western Carolina | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| DL | — | Josh Johnson← Nicholls | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| DT | 1st | Brodarius Lewis | SR | 6'2" | 295 | — |
| EDGE | — | Amari Wilson← Georgia Southern | FR | 6'1" | 230 | ★★★ |
| EDGE | — | Jeffery Rush← Ole Miss | FR | 6'1" | 265 | ★★★ |
| EDGE | — | Will Smith← North Texas | SO | 6'3" | 231 | ★★★ |
| EDGE | — | A'mari Wilson← Campbell | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Linebackers · 6
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LB | 1st | Melvin Spriggs← Akron | SO | 6'1" | 215 | ★★★ |
| LB | 2nd | Joseph Harper | SR | 6'1" | 235 | — |
| LB | 3rd | Mathis Haygood | SO | 6'3" | 228 | — |
| LB | 4th | Avery Sledge | JR | 6'2" | 220 | ★★★ |
| LB | 5th | Peyton Anderson | JR | 6'3" | 215 | — |
| LB | — | Andrew Martin← Stetson | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Defensive Backs · 22
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CB | 1st | Josh Moten | SR | 6'0" | 185 | — |
| CB | 2nd | Champ Lewis← Tulsa | JR | 6'1" | 185 | ★★★ |
| CB | 3rd | Jyaire Brown← UCF | JR | 5'11" | 177 | ★★★ |
| CB | 4th | Malakai Murphy | FR | 6'0" | 195 | — |
| CB | 5th | Brendan Toles | SR | 6'0" | 181 | ★★★ |
| CB | 6th | Ishmael Ibraheem | JR | 6'0" | 180 | ★★★★ |
| CB | — | Jonah Martinez← TCU | JR | 6'0" | 180 | ★★★ |
| CB | — | Michael Robinson III← UConn | JR | 6'0" | 190 | ★★★ |
| CB | — | Hiroshi Carr← Morgan State | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| CB | — | Kelby Hampton← New Hampshire | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| S | 1st | Josh Battle | SR | 6'0" | 205 | — |
| S | 2nd | Laquan Robinson← Kansas | JR | 6'1" | 200 | ★★★ |
| S | 3rd | MaLik Caswell | FR | 6'0" | 180 | ★★★ |
| S | 4th | Kolby Peavy← Alabama | JR | 6'1" | 190 | ★★★ |
| S | 5th | Dominick Hill | SR | 6'1" | 210 | — |
| S | 6th | Khalil Foster | FR | 5'11" | 180 | — |
| S | 7th | Shaddai Carter | FR | 5'9" | 165 | — |
| S | 8th | Jordan Pride← Texas A&M | FR | 6'1" | 196 | ★★★ |
| S | — | Kobi Albert← UConn | SO | 5'11" | 180 | ★★★ |
| S | — | Caleb Williams← Faulkner University | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| S | — | Baron Taylor← Southern Utah | — | — | — | ★★★ |
| S | — | Landon Sylvie← Southeast Missouri State | — | — | — | ★★★ |
Special Teams · 5
| Pos | Depth | Player | Cl | Ht | Wt | ★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LS | 1st | Luke Beard | SO | 6'1" | 220 | — |
| P | — | Dusty Zimmer← Washington | — | — | — | — |
| PK | 1st | Reed Harradine | SO | 6'3" | 230 | — |
| PK | 2nd | Jack Murley | FR | 6'2" | 215 | — |
| PK | 3rd | Creighton Wilbanks | FR | 5'10" | 185 | ★★★ |
Season History · last 12
0 AP top-10 · 6 postseason
| Season | Record | Conf | SP+ | AP | Post |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7-5 | 5-3 | #94 | — | 0-1 |
| 2024 | 1-11 | 0-8 | #133 | — | — |
| 2023 | 3-9 | 2-6 | #116 | — | — |
| 2022 | 6-6 | 4-4 | #80 | — | 1-0 |
| 2021 | 3-9 | 2-6 | #116 | — | — |
| 2020 | 3-7 | 2-4 | #101 | — | — |
| 2019 | 7-5 | 5-3 | #89 | — | 0-1 |
| 2018 | 6-5 | 5-3 | #92 | — | — |
| 2017 | 8-4 | 6-2 | #84 | — | 0-1 |
| 2016 | 6-6 | 4-4 | #65 | — | 1-0 |
| 2015 | 9-4 | 7-2 | #70 | — | 0-1 |
| 2014 | 3-9 | 1-7 | #117 | — | — |
Recruiting Classes
avg #87 · 0 blue-chip
■ 5★■ 4★■ 3★110 rated signees
| Class | Natl | Pts | 5★ | 4★ | 3★ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #105 | 141 | 0 | 0 | 11 |
| 2024 | #77 | 168 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 2023 | #81 | 161 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 2022 | #79 | 152 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 2021 | #124 | 104 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2020 | #76 | 162 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| 2019 | #82 | 156 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 2018 | #80 | 158 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2017 | #74 | 153 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| 2016 | #100 | 126 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
247Sports composite · class rank vs all FBS
Roster Talent
2026
Portal in 37net +9Out 28
Portal avg stars (in / out)3.0 / 3.0
Notable Portal Moves
| ▲ | Kaden Saunders | WR | 4★ | ← Penn State |
| ▲ | Jonah Martinez | CB | 3★ | ← TCU |
| ▲ | Will Smith | EDGE | 3★ | ← North Texas |
| ▲ | Jyaire Brown | CB | 3★ | ← UCF |
| ▼ | Zach Ruffin | S | 4★ | → Memphis |
| ▼ | Garrick Ponder | EDGE | 3★ | → Baylor |
| ▼ | Ian Foster | S | 3★ | → Memphis |
| ▼ | Chris Jones | LB | 3★ | → Florida State |
returning PPA · portal · talent composite · 2026
Injury Report · 0
No injuries reported.
Team News
1 items
- Southern Miss Football Preview 2026: Rebuilding the RebuildAfter a one-year turnaround under Charles Huff, Southern Miss is starting over again with Blake Anderson rebuilding almost the entire roster.