Field goals don't add up

Three points is good. Seven points is better.

The Southern Miss Golden Eagles left Neyland Stadium following their 39-19 loss to Tennessee talking about their missed opportunities Saturday night.

“We had chances to score and we settled for field goals when we needed to get touchdowns,’’ Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower said. “Then, we turned the ball over in the second half and gave them a short field too much.

“Just too many mistakes against a good team.’’

Golden Eagles quarterback Jeremy Young and receiver Chris Johnson echoed their head coach’s sentiments on the red zone inefficiency.

“It was lost opportunities,’’ said Young, who passed for a career-high 254 yards on 19-of-36 passing. “You do so much to get downfield, and then you don’t reward yourself.

“Three points is fine, but you want six.’’

Johnson, who hauled in eight passes for 127 yards and a touchdown, said he appreciates his kickers as much as anyone.

“But we want them to kick extra points, not field goals,’’ said Johnson, who hauled in a 69-yard touchdown pass. “Three points isn’t cutting it.’’

The Golden Eagles’ four field goals — which included a 51-yarder from Britt Barefoot on the first attempt of his career — tied a school record.

But they also gave the Vols (1-1) an opportunity to take a 17-16 lead heading into halftime before the crowd of 106,311.

Four times, Young threw incomplete on third down from inside the UT 40 in the first half, bringing out the Southern Miss field-goal unit.

“They had presented us with some one-on-one matchups, and we made some plays,’’ said Young, who also ran for 48 yards. “We ran some naked bootlegs and the option.’’

The Golden Eagles (1-1) didn’t, however, get All-American tailback candidate Damion Fletcher on track.

Fletcher, who ran for 1,388 as a freshman last season and 156 yards in a 35-13 season-opening win over UT-Martin, was held to 37 yards on 11 carries.

Bower appeared angry when reporting Fletcher was among “several’’ players who got dehydrated. Fletcher was limited to three carries for 10 yards in the second half.

“I started cramping up; I don’t know what happened,’’ Fletcher said. “The cutback (runs) really weren’t there because their defensive ends were pinching early. We had to run some different plays.’’

Bower pointed to the Vols’ ability to establish the run in the second half as a key swing in the game.

Tennessee rushed for 151 yards in the second half after managing just 42 in the first half.

“Our biggest concern coming in was the pass; I wasn’t real concerned about the run game,’’ said Southern Miss middle linebacker Gerald McRath, who had a game-high 15 tackles. “But once they got that run game going, it opened up some things.

“We forced two turnovers, but they came late in the game. (Arian) Foster fumbled, but they got it and ended up scoring. That would have been big.’’

So would have scoring touchdowns instead of kicking field goals in the first half.