'The Gut Check': Blake Anderson Says Southern Miss Has Reached 'Pivotal' Point in Fall Camp

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – The novelty of fall camp has worn off for Southern Miss two practices into Week 2. The soreness is piling up, and the Mississippi heat is taking its toll. Now, head coach Blake Anderson wants to see his team take that "gut check" and push through the adversity.

With Saturday's important first scrimmage looming, Anderson believes Southern Miss has reached one of the most pivotal stretches of camp, a week that could begin separating players who are merely getting through practice from those ready to take the next step toward being in football shape. Here are five big takeaways following Tuesday's practice.

Southern Miss in Fall Camp 'Survival Mode'

Southern Miss Football — The Golden Eagles are fighting to get into football shape ahead of their Sept. 5 season opener against Alcorn State at The Rock. | Josh House

"Everybody right now is in survival mode," Anderson said following Tuesday's practice. "I think right now, this is kind of the gut check of fall camp. They're extremely sore. The regimen and the heat... this is a really, really pivotal week. And I don't know that anybody is really in football shape yet. They're still kind of getting from summer shape to football shape."

These challenging times in fall camp will reveal players' true character and toughness. Once the guys show they can push through those stamina boundaries, that's when the coaching staff learns who they can trust the most when things get tough during the season.

"I would say we're... and probably every camp in the country... we're in survival mode to find out how tough we are," Anderson said. "Will we fight through it? And then we can turn the corner, and you start seeing guys get their legs underneath them. I really feel like that's when you start seeing guys' true capabilities."

We'll see how that survival-of-the-fittest challenge plays out for the rest of this week and throughout the first scrimmage on Saturday.

Golden Eagles' Receiver Room is Deep

Southern Miss Football, Receivers — Southern Miss receivers have stood out as one of the deepest groups the Golden Eagles have during fall camp. | Josh House

Heading into fall camp, we figured this year's receiver room would be one of the deeper groups Southern Miss had, based on the film and what numbers said on paper. Some of the guys coming in may not have been the most highly-touted prospects, but there's no lack of talent and potential among these Golden Eagle receivers. Anderson says that potential already started to show in the spring, and now it's about building on that and maybe even identifying some "feature" guys.

"I hope so," Anderson said when asked whether his receivers are an underrated group. "Right now, it's kind of hard to see because they're pretty fatigued and a little bit dead-legged. But I did feel like, at the end of spring, you started to see some glimpses of each guy's toolset. I don't know that we're necessarily going to have one guy that's just a tremendous feature guy, although I do think there are some guys that have that capability."

The Golden Eagles have a handful of receivers who could make a positive impact this year, including Kaden Saunders, Davis Dalton, Jalen Himes, Mario Sanders, Grant Page, AJ Little, Eelijah Singleton, Trey Horne and others. When it comes to the rotation this season, Anderson doesn't really see a limit to how many guys could be used.

"I think as a whole, though, there's a lot of different guys that can give us solid snaps," Anderson said. "We've had seasons where we've played eight, nine guys. We've had seasons where we've played four. I think this is probably going to be one of those years where you'll see more guys playing. But they're being coached well. ... I feel like it's a group that's willing to work every day. So I hope they really exceed maybe what they look like on paper, if there is such a thing."

An Offensive Line 'Luxury' Southern Miss Hasn't Always Had

Southern Miss Football, Offensive Linemen — Southern Miss offensive linemen putting in work during the first practice of fall camp on Tuesday. | Josh Hous

Coming into fall camp, one of the biggest questions for Southern Miss was how quickly its talented-but-overall-inexperienced offensive line would build chemistry and whether it could hold up for a full season.

The chemistry aspect was already coming along nicely, according to redshirt-junior offensive lineman Luke Rogers, but now, thanks to a court ruling allowing high school Class of 2022 athletes a fifth year of eligibility, the Golden Eagles now have experienced depth up front that they didn't have before with the return of 2025 starters Greg Nunnery Jr. and Aloali'i Maui.

“I don't mind,” Anderson said when asked about potentially playing more than five offensive linemen this season. “Not everybody can play 80 snaps at the same level. And so if we're in a position where we feel like number six, number seven, and number eight [in the offensive line room] is a guy that can maybe take a rack or two at center, a guy that can maybe rotate and take a rack or two at guard, and maybe a swing tackle, I don't have a problem with that.

"We'll never wholesale change the whole front. But if we've got six, seven, and eight that we feel like are in the same kinda range athletically and really, consistency range, then I don't think there's a huge downside to that. ... We haven't always had that luxury, but it's possible that we will, especially with adding two guys that we weren't expecting to have. But maybe that builds some depth that we weren't anticipating.”

Players Stepping Up to Anderson's Leadership Challenge

Southern Miss Football, Nasim Cairo — Southern Miss defensive lineman Nasim Cairo (#5) has emerged as one of the vocal leaders of the team during fall camp. | Josh House

After the team got off to a sluggish start during Saturday's practice to close out Week 1 of fall camp, Anderson challenged his team to be more vocal and to lead from within, without always needing his intervention. It appears that challenge has been accepted, and guys are stepping up and taking on more accountability.

“Yeah, there's some guys starting to [step into leadership roles],” Anderson said. “Starting to see a few guys [defensively]: Mathis [Haygood] is doing it. Nasim [Cairo], Kobi Albert, [Landon] Sylvie. Laquan [Robinson] never shuts up. That's just his nature, and he knows it. But he's always got positive energy.

"Offensively, think you're starting to see some of that. [Robert] Briggs has done a good job of that. Really all the quarterbacks. It’s kind of hard with them not knowing exactly who the guy is yet. I think when we kind of point in a clear direction, it'll help a little bit. That's really the one downside to not having made a decision yet. Davis Dalton's done a phenomenal job. So I think we got a few. Just would like it to be maybe a little bit more consistent than it is so far, but it's starting to emerge, and some of them are getting comfortable in that role they haven't been in before.”

Making the Correct Starting Quarterback Decision

As Anderson pointed out, one potential reason team leadership has taken a little longer to develop than the coaching staff would've liked is that a starting quarterback hasn't been officially named yet. Given what we've seen in practice, there are signs of what that decision might ultimately look like, but until it happens, none of Ethan Hampton, Landry Lyddy or John White will be able to comfortably take that next step in leadership.

“I’d like to have it as early as possible, but not till it's ready, I guess. We gotta be sure,” Anderson said of naming a starting quarterback. “It’s not a decision I wanna [make] and then have to change my mind five minutes later. I wanna know that we made the right call. It's possible it's not till game week. … It doesn't seem to be affecting necessarily our day-to-day.

"I think the leadership aspect of it's probably the biggest drawback, but we gotta make sure we make the right decision, and they're all doing really well. I mean, y'all watch practice. I think little by little it's starting to materialize, and I'd love to come out of maybe the first, or at minimum, maybe the second scrimmage and have a good feel for where we're headed.”

As Anderson continues to place more pieces together in what we labeled as "The Biggest Puzzle in College Football," depth chart decisions aren't settled, but the picture is becoming clearer. Stay tuned to Southern Miss Golden Eagles On SI for more fall camp coverage throughout the week leading into Saturday's scrimmage.

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