Former Gulfport QB T.Q. Newsome making impact for Southern Miss at linebacker

When T.Q. Newsome was the quarterback at Gulfport High School in 2017 and 2018, he accounted for 52 total touchdowns.

Now, a converted linebacker at Southern Miss, his sole focus is stopping teams like UAB from finding the end zone as much as he did.

During the third quarter of Saturday’s game, the former Admiral did just that, forcing a goal line fumble that would be recovered for a touchback.

Perhaps the biggest play of a second half that saw USM hold the Blazers to just three points, following a 28-point second quarter.

All thanks to a high school quarterback recruited to play running back that somehow managed to play neither position as a redshirt freshman at Southern Miss. Newsome said, “It just came with being a team guy. Got here my first year – I was recruited here as a running back – so I kind of came here understanding that, and the staff at the time felt like I would be able to help the team the most over at linebacker. And so just buying into the program, buy into the system, just being a selfless guy. If that’s what the team needed, that’s what I was willing to do. So, I put on about 10-15 pounds and kind of just worked, worked, got better and now I’m in a position to where the coaches trust me enough to rotate me in and try to help the defense.”

During his junior and senior seasons at Gulfport, Newsome accounted for more than 4,300 total yards.