MOBILE, Ala. — The future looks bright for the Southern Miss backfield. It doesn't look too shabby for the Ohio Bobcats either.

Freshman tailbacks Tory Harrison and Damion Fletcher, and junior quarterback Jeremy Young showed some big-play flash in the Golden Eagles' 28-7 win over the Bobcats in the GMAC Bowl on Sunday night.

The quick, darting Fletcher rushed for two touchdowns and the speedy Harrison scored on a 43-yarder for Southern Miss (9-5).

"Sometimes we blocked well and sometimes they got a lot of yards on their own," said coach Jeff Bower, whose team had its first 2,000-yard rushing season since 1987. "Good backs do that. We've been missing that for so many years.

"If they don't become complacent and think they've already arrived, they're going to get a lot better. That's what I expect them to do."

Young, a first-year starter, passed for 160 yards.

After a scoreless first quarter, Southern Miss scored 21 second-quarter points then surged out of halftime with a season-long 17-play touchdown drive that effectively ended any comeback threat.

Frank Solich's Bobcats (9-5) were making their first bowl appearance since 1968, but fell to 0-3 in bowl games and failed to match their school record of 10 wins. It was a rough ending to a feel-good story this season featuring Solich, a former Nebraska coach who revived a struggling program that won only four games in his first year.

"We've got many more steps to take," he said. "It's obvious we've got work to do."

But the seniors who helped make it happen leave with an optimism that the program won't be a one-year wonder.

"I expect that the Bobcats are going to keep going in the right direction," senior linebacker Matt Muncy said.

By contrast, Southern Miss is accustomed to postseason play, making its fifth consecutive bowl appearance and ninth in 10 years.

The Golden Eagles used a series of big plays in the final 8:33 of the first half to build a 21-0 lead.

First, Harrison broke free for only his second touchdown run of his injury-plagued season. Young then set up Fletcher's 2-yard TD plunge with a 30-yard pass to Josh Barnes on third-and-10.

The defense added points, too. James Denley returned an interception for a touchdown.