HUNTINGTON -- Southern Miss carried out the message written on the wrist bands they wore for Saturday's Conference USA game against Marshall at Joan C. Edwards Stadium.

"Finish."

By not doing that the Golden Eagles let games get away late at Louisville and Houston that saddled them with an 0-4 mark away from Hattiesburg.

"We hadn't done that on the road," said Korey Williams, middle linebacker for the Golden Eagles who had 1.5 sacks in the game. "We kept looking at the bands and yelling, 'finish.' It ended up the defense made the plays at the end of the game. We brought the heat."

Southern Miss, leading 27-20 with 3:43, stopped the Thundering Herd on its final two possessions to secure the win by that count. Defensive back Justin Wilson came up with two big interceptions, the first at the Southern Miss 2 with 2:06 left and the second at the visitor's 7 on a 4th-and-16 with 17 seconds remaining.

The Golden Eagles (6-4 overall, 4-2 C-USA) became bowl eligible for the eighth straight year.

Marshall fans were on their feet for the late fourth-quarter drama, and that's a setting Southern Miss thrives in.

"I love that setting. It's my favorite part of the game," Williams said. "The last two (possessions) the ball's in our court. It's up to someone to make the big play. Justin did. We end that road losing streak. It gets a lot off our chests."

Cordarro Law, who mans the Rock position on defense, said Marshall, which had the league's No. 2 rusher in Darius Marshall, surprised the defense by going to the air so often. Marshall quarterback Brian Anderson completed 29 of 52 attempts for 337 yards, the second-highest total allowed by Southern Miss this season. Darius Marshall had just 22 yards on 11 carries before leaving in the fourth period with a bad ankle.

"We had to make some adjustments," Law said.

Wilson said he read Anderson's eyes on the first pick. The second he got in the right place at the right time.

"I thought they were going to come over the top," he said. "I read his eyes and he took me to the ball. The last one I was in the right spot. All I could think is take a knee and let's get out of here."

Southern Miss had other big playmakers Saturday.

Freshman Tracey Lampley returned a kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown in the second period. He had a 59-yard return later in the game and finished with a school-record 211 yards and a personal-best 225 all-purpose yards.

"I want to thank God," Lampley said. "I'm blessed to get the opportunity and deliver. It's about the other 10 guys on the (return) team. They have pride and want to make plays. I believe someone has to make a big play and I want to be that guy.

"This is a big win. We come in 0-4 on the road and we're in a hostile environment. We kept our focus and were able to finish."

Senior running back Damion Fletcher had just 55 yards rushing, but he hauled in a 39-yard TD pass from junior quarterback Martaveious Young. On the play, Young rolled right and Fletcher slipped out of the backfield, went down the left sideline and was all alone.

"We caught them off guard," Fletcher said. "We finally win on the road. We fight hard, but don't put teams away. The defense needed to step up at the end and did. It's like the playoffs for us now."

Young's second TD pass, a 36-yarder to DeAndre Brown on a post pattern, put the Golden Eagles ahead to stay, 27-20, with 6:54 to play.

The Southern Miss quarterback said Marshall played well enough to win, but. ...

"We made the plays we had to make to win a football game," he said.

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