Trey Holly wasn’t worried about a bounce-back game.
After rushing for the third-fewest yards of his Southern career (38) vs. Alabama State on Aug. 29, the star running back was back to bouncing off defenders and accelerating to the end zone in his team’s 34-15 win over Division II Kentucky State.
“I don’t consider it a breakout game,” the redshirt junior said after having 21 carries for 99 yards and two touchdowns. “ Something I’ve been doing my whole life.”
Holly’s tempered reaction to his performance embodies how the team feels about the first win of the coach Marshall Faulk era. It won, but the team still sees plenty of room to grow.
The Jaguars offense was below their standard for almost the entire first half. Southern (1-1) punted on the first five drives and on the sixth allowed a safety with 5:54 left in the second quarter. Those were the first points for Kentucky State (1-1).
Faulk’s team remained ahead thanks to an interception returned 85 yards for a touchdown at the 13:44 mark of the second quarter. Junior linebacker Tay James swooped in to steal the overthrown pass and shed the tackle attempt by the intended receiver.
“We couldn’t really move the ball on offense,” Holly said. “Defense had to step in, you know, keep us in the game. So we want to give a big shout-out to those guys.”
Quarterback Christian Johnson explained how his group felt during the slow start.
“It is frustrating,” the junior from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College said. “But you know, to some of the older guys, they know that that’s life. To some of the younger guys, their whole world comes (down). So it’s definitely the older guys coaching up the younger guys, keeping their hearts in it because game’s never over until it’s over.”
As frigid as the Jaguars ‘ offense looked, they rallied to put together three straight touchdown drives, beginning with their last chance of the second quarter. It started with a 43-yard deep shot to redshirt freshman wide receiver Daejawn Smith, a Louisiana Tech transfer, who was down at the Kentucky State seven-yard line.
Southern football linebacker Tay James (@TooLitTay1) gets the Jags on the scoreboard.
80+ yard interception returned to the house.
Southern 7
Kentucky State 0
13:39 left in 2nd QT pic.twitter.com/6Q2FMMdgwU
— Toyloy Brown III (@TJ3rd_) September 6, 2026
Five plays later came the four-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone for Isaiah Pina, the first reception of the freshman tight end’s career.
The Go-Go offense hummed after that as Southern’s last six drives ended with four touchdowns. Johnson completed 15 of 28 passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns and no turnovers. Southern’s quarterback, like Holly, wasn’t enamored with his own outing but pleased it was enough to win.
“It was decent,” Johnson said, drawing some laughter in the background. “To reach the goals that I want to reach and that I want this team to reach, you know, it’s definitely got to be better week to week. But that’s what we prepare for.”
Faulk, like his players, wants even more sound play. He’s thrilled that his defense didn’t concede a Thorobred offensive score until 2:30 left in the third period. However, he doesn’t want the offense to rely on lights-out defense.
“We have so much to work on,” the Pro Football Hall of Fame running back said. “If I had to say one thing, it’s to continue to grow on becoming a team. There’s just a ways to go. We still made a lot of mistakes, a lot of in-game just process and things that we can get better at.”
What Southern’s coach and players will agree on, the ceiling for this team is not close to being reached.
“That wasn’t our best football, if I’m being honest,” said Holly, who started his career at LSU. “I mean, we go way harder than that in practice. So I feel like we still got a lot to improve on. We still got a lot to learn.”
