Southern Miss football QB Ethan Hampton reinjures hand in loss to UConn

When Southern Miss football took the field for the second half of its 48-20 loss to UConn on Sept. 19, the offense had a different quarterback running the show.

Senior Ethan Hampton, who started the game for the Golden Eagles (1-2) at Renasant Stadium, was replaced by another senior, Landry Lyddy. Some time in the first half, Hampton had aggravated an injury to his throwing hand that had plagued him during the preseason.

Southern Miss coach Blake Anderson said Hampton’s hand is not broken, but the injury was significant enough that Hampton could not hold or throw a football.

“He’s not OK right now,” Anderson said. “He hit that same hand on a helmet somewhere during the course of the first half and was unable to squeeze or hold the ball at halftime . . . It is likely a similar bone bruise of some kind.”

Hampton initially suffered a bone bruise on his hand during the team’s first scrimmage of the offseason on Aug. 15. He missed the team’s second scrimmage and did not return to practice until Aug. 31.

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“The question is how long is that going to linger,” Anderson said. “The last one took longer than we expected. How hard was it hit? How deep is the bone bruise?”

Even before leaving the game, Hampton struggled. He completed 14-of-25 passes for 93 yards, and threw an interception on the Golden Eagles’ first drive of the game. Through the first three weeks of the 2026 season, he has thrown for 326 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions.

Lyddy played the entire second half against UConn and completed 14-of-25 passes for 194 yards, one touchdown and one interception that was a pick-six.

“I thought, with the exception of a couple poor decisions on his part, he did some really, really good things, which is kind of what I expected he would potentially do,” Anderson said.

Davis Wilson covers Southern Miss athletics and Hattiesburg news for the Hattiesburg American. Email him at DWilson@hattiesb.gannett.com or find him on X at @Davis_Wilson