New Orleans ? After winning its previous four games to become bowl-eligible, Southern Mississippi needed one last rally to extend its streak of seasons without a losing record to 15.

Michael McGee blocked a potential game-tying field goal attempt in overtime, lifting Southern Mississippi to a 30-27 victory over Troy in the New Orleans Bowl on Sunday.

Troy held Southern Miss to Britt Barefoot’s 39-yard field goal on the first possession of OT, but that wound up being enough for the Golden Eagles to win their third New Orleans Bowl in as many appearances.

McGee knifed in from the left end, diving as he smothered Sam Glusman’s 28-yard kick to clinch the win.

“I was trying my best to get there and by the time I got three yards away from the ball, I didn’t see nobody trying to block down on me, so I just dove and gave it my all,” McGee said.

Southern Miss (7-6) finished the season with a five-game winning streak.

“I just can’t say how proud I am of this whole football team,” first-year Southern Miss coach Larry Fedora said. “They were probably the only ones out there that really believed we would get it done. They never gave up, they believed in the coaches. … They grew and they became a heck of a football team.”

The Trojans (8-5), winners of the Sun Belt Conference, led, 27-17, after Jerrel Jernigan’s six-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

Southern Miss began its comeback when Austin Davis rolled out on fourth-and-2 and lofted a 35-yard touchdown to tight end Jonathan Massey with 7:20 left in regulation.

“The day I took the job I said we were going to attack … and we’ve had that philosophy all year,” Fedora said. “That’s a play we’ve worked and executed numerous times in practice and that’s not the first time we’ve hit that play in a game so I don’t think it was that big of a risk to be honest.”

Barefoot tied it with his 46-yard field goal with 2:50 to go.

Southern Miss was forced to play most of the game without leading receiver DeAndre Brown, who broke his left leg on an awkward landing in the first quarter.