Shannon Dawson Explains Southern Miss' Second Half Comeback

Trailing 35-10 with the first half winding down, Kentucky was prepared to run away with a season-opening win vs. Southern Miss.  Instead, the Golden Eagles did not panic and remained patient. The comeback started with a 71-yard touchdown to end the half and narrow the gap. "I think the touchdown at the end of the half was big," Dawson told reporters this week.  "That's the difference between 24 points and 17 points.  You can kind of see the light at the end of the tunnel.  They probably said the same thing on their side." Kentucky still had a significant lead in the halftime locker room, but they did not have the momentum.  The Cats panicked; Southern Miss did not. "It was really a tale of two halves.  Heck, they put it on us in the first half pretty good.  I thought it was good for our kids, especially in that first game, to not panic and come out and just try to execute." Dawson told his team in the halftime locker room: "'You're not going to get back even in one play.'  I was probably telling them that to tell myself that."  He added, "There was a certain level of patience that we had to have to chip our way back into the game, and we had some kids that made some plays." Southern Miss was able to adapt in the middle of the game.  Kentucky was not.  Mark Stoops is prepared to adjust if and when the ish hits the fan the second time around vs. Southern Miss. "The fact that we're going on the road, we always have a plan, but things change very quickly," Stoops said Monday.  "We're going to make sure we adapt much better than we did a year ago in the opener and play a more sound football game."