Gore Jr.'s career day leads Southern Miss past UL Monroe

MONROE, La. (AP) — Frank Gore Jr. ran for a career-high 199 yards and a key touchdown and Southern Mississippi became bowl eligible by defeating UL Monroe 20-10 on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles (6-6, 4-4 Sun Belt) qualified for a bowl for the 19th time since 1997 and will return to the postseason for the first time since 2019.

Gore finished the regular season with 1,053 yards and reached 1,000 yards for the first time in his three years with the Golden Eagles.

Trey Lowe's 29-yard touchdown pass to Jakarius Caston got the Golden Eagles on the board and Briggs Bourgeois added two short field goals.

Between Bourgeois's field goals, the Warhawks (4-8, 3-5) scored on a 23-yard pass from Chandler Rogers to Andrew Henry and a 37-yard field goal by Calum Sutherland. UL Monroe trailed 13-10 before Gore sealed the win for Southern Miss with a 33-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter.

Rogers completed 17 of 27 passes for 122 yards and Lowe was 10-of-16 for 170 yards.

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