HATTIESBURG — Larry Fedora promised an attacking, wide-open style of football when he became head coach at Southern Miss in December.

He delivered in big fashion in his debut Saturday night.

Southern Miss set the school record for total offense with 633 yards, Damion Fletcher broke his own single-game rushing mark with 222 yards and the Golden Eagles stormed to a 51-21 victory over Louisiana-Lafayette in their first game under a coach other than Jeff Bower since Nov. 10, 1990.

“One down,” Fedora said, “but we’ve got a bunch more to go.”

Southern Miss averaged 389 yards per game last season under the conservative offensive play calling of longtime head coach Bower.

Fans’ discontent and sagging attendance led to Bower’s forced resignation at the end of last season and Fedora promised from the first day that his style would be something Southern Miss faithful had never seen.

The Golden Eagles scored 34 first-half points and extended the lead in the fourth quarter to 51-14 before substituting liberally. It was the most prolific offensive performance since 1981 when Southern Miss gained 630 yards against Texas-Arlington.

“Offensively we did some good things tonight,” Fedora said.

Fletcher torched the Ragin’ Cajuns for 184 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, sophomore quarterback Austin Davis scored on two touchdown runs and added a TD pass as Southern Miss accounted for 328 yards of offense in the first half.

Fletcher, who came into the game fourth all-time on the Southern Miss rushing list, moved quicky into the No. 3 spot and eclipsed 3,000 yards for his career on his second carry of the night. His most dynamic touchdown came with 6:31 to play when he ran around right end, vaulted teammate Ed Morgan and dove head-first into the end zone to give the Eagles a 28-7 lead.

Fletcher, who surpassed Sammy Winder to move into third all-time, now needs 399 yards to surpass Ben Garry as Southern Miss’ all-time leading rusher. Garry ran for 3,595 from 1974-77.

While Fletcher’s numbers were the most staggering, several Golden Eagles had huge evenings. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Davis, a converted baseball player, completed 13 of 19 passes for 171 yards and two touchdown passes. He also ran for 71 yards on 12 carries and two scores.

Backup running back Bubba Kirksey surpassed the 100-yard mark with 110 yards on 20 carries, the first time two Southern Miss backs have rushed for more than 100 yards in a game since 2002.

“There is nothing we saw that we didn’t expect,” Louisiana-Lafayette linebacker Antwyne Zanders said. “The fact that we didn’t play as well as we wanted to is what is really disappointing. Not to take anything away from Southern Miss, they ran the plays and won the game.”

Southern Miss accounted for 206 yards through the air and an M.M. Roberts Stadium-record 427 on the ground. Even highly touted freshman wide receiver DeAndre Brown had a night to remember with four catches, 92 yards and a touchdown, a 29-yarder in the fourth quarter that gave Southern Miss a 51-14 lead.

“I thought his decision-making process was solid tonight and he did a good job,” Fedora said of Davis, who will start on Saturday at Auburn. “Obviously if you are able to run the football like we did tonight and spread the field, it will make it a whole lot easier on the quarterback.”

Mic Desormeaux ran for a team-high 146 yards on 16 carries and completed 9 of 20 passes for 98 yards and two interceptions.

Former Warren Central standout Chico Hunter started his first game at safety and had six tackles and a pass breakup. Standout linebacker Gerald McRath, the preseason Conference USA Player of the Year, had 15 tackles.

Southern Miss is scheduled to play at Auburn next Saturday in a game to be televised by WJTV-12 in Jackson at 11:30 a.m.

“Next week will be a whole lot different, but I think we will be all right,” Hunter said.