GREENVILLE, N.C. -- After a pair of tough rushing days against highly-ranked Nebraska and Texas A&M, Southern Mississippi spent its off week reemphasizing the basics in search of offensive balance.

The numbers didn't lie in a 39-22 victory over previously unbeaten East Carolina on Saturday.

Jeff Kelly threw for 171 yards and Derrick Nix rushed for 171 more as the Conference USA preseason favorite went to 2-0 in the league. Now, that's balance.

"You guys will come up with another angle," coach Jeff Bower joked with reporters over criticism of his team's running game that combined for just 43 yards in the team's previous two losses.

The Golden Eagles (3-2, 2-0) came into the game last in C-USA in rushing at 89 yards per game but rolled up 208 yards against an East Carolina defense that was second in the league in rushing defense.

"I have nothing but praise for the guys up front," Kelly said of his offensive line. "They came out and worked hard every day in practice. It was like they were on a mission to go out there and get better. They are the reason that we won this game."

"Their offensive line won a lot of third downs, that's what I kept seeing," said East Carolina coach Steve Logan.

Southern Mississippi had also surrendered a league-high 12 sacks this season, but Kelly was only dropped once behind the line against the Pirates (5-1, 1-1).

"Three of our first four games were against great teams so it gave us a chance to regroup and look back to see where we made mistakes," said senior offensive lineman Shederick Blackmon. "We wanted to do it because of the things people were saying about the running game and how we didn't protect Kelly. We just wanted to dominate and make a statement going into the conference run."

While the total yardage was about equal for both teams, the Golden Eagles held the ball 14 more minutes than the Pirates, essentially winning the game in the trenches and with the powerful Nix, who carried a career-high 42 times.

"We're a real physical team on offense and defense and we really showed it with the guys up front," Kelly said. "We came out and took over the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The guys up front kept pounding and pounding until they finally got tired on defense. That's what we look for."

Bower said Kelly played a near flawless game, completing 14 of 18 passes with no interceptions, and said his team didn't fold after getting down 15-3 in the first quarter on the road.

"We just gave up a few big plays. I don't think it was the lay off or anything," Bower said of his team's early troubles. "The great thing was to see the kids keep their composure and come back and play the way we did."

That included Kelly, a sophomore who threw three TD passes to spark the win.

"I thought Jeff, mentally, really managed the game well," said Bower. "He made good decisions and made some key throws for us and used the clock well at the end of the ball game."

Meanwhile, the Pirates fell from 16th to 23rd in The Associated Press poll, and have a week off to try to get healthy before getting back into action against Tulane.

"We need a bye week just from an injury standpoint," said Logan, who lost starting free safety Travis Mazyck (knee ligament) and backup Antwan Adams (ankle) in the first half alone. "This is the best football team I've been around that has been this injured. Usually when you are this injured you really can't even complete."