Georgia Southern has tough start to schedule

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Savannah Morning News beat writer sees hard road for Georgia Southern improving on 2018:

Heading into the 2019 season, Lunsford has said his team is living by the motto: “Good To Great.” On social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the creed is more recognizable as #GTG.

But as the schedule for this upcoming season was released Friday, the idea of improving on the incredibly rare 2018 campaign became a little harder to envision. For me, at least.

The aftermath of the Eagles’ Raycom Media Camellia Bowl victory was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Rightfully so, but the 2-10 season in 2017 made last year’s success feel more like an ending than a beginning.

The 2018 season was the closing of a chapter, and the 2019 season has now become the true beginning of whatever is to come in Statesboro. Gone are the seniors from 2018 who endured so much during their time as Eagles. Running backs Wesley Fields and Monteo Garrett, offensive linemen Jeremiah Culbreth and Curtis Rainey and defensive mainstays in Logan Hunt, Sean Freeman and Joshua Moon will have to be replaced. Unlike 2018, Georgia Southern won’t have the luxury of easing into the 2019 season.

In 2018, GS opened with home games versus FCS opponent South Carolina State and FBS Independent Massachusetts the following week. This year, the Eagles open with a road game at SEC power LSU on Aug. 31 before hosting Maine on Sept. 7 and traveling to Big Ten country for a date with Minnesota on Sept. 14.

LSU needs no introduction, as the Tigers will begin 2019 as a top-10 team in nearly every poll that matters. Maine, an FCS school coming off a 10-4 season and semifinal appearance in 2018, is no slouch. Minnesota is a Power Five school which comes into 2019 having won seven games last year including a 34-10 beating of Georgia Tech in Paul Johnson’s last game running the option offense as the coach of the Yellow Jackets.

The first two GS opponents in 2018 ended up winning a combined nine games last season. This year, the first two GS opponents won a combined 20 games last season.

There is no time for Georgia Southern to ease into the year. There’s not just a desire to be great in the season’s first few weeks — there’s a need to be great if the Eagles hope to get off on the right foot.

For openers

Beating LSU is unlikely and not a requirement for going from good to great, but it’ll be a measuring stick for where this team is in its quest to start a new chapter of Georgia Southern football. The games in Weeks 2 and 3 are, for now, winnable.

It’s tough to imagine a 2019 season in which the Eagles duplicate the record-setting numbers of 2018, but this time last year it was to imagine them going 10-3 and beating Appalachian State and Georgia State in the same season for the first time since 2014.

It would be easy to say that stranger things had happened, except for until last season, they hadn’t. Rising junior quarterback Shai Werts knows that the expectations are high for this year, and he’s got his sights set squarely on LSU already.

“Obviously (LSU is) a Power Five school, and last year we opened with an FCS team,” Werts said on the first day of spring practice on Feb. 13 in Statesboro. “But (LSU) puts their pads on the same way we put our pads on. We aren’t scared of anybody. We aren’t going down there just to play.

“We’re going down there to win.”

2019 won’t be a continuation of what happened in 2018 because that was the closing of a roller-coaster chapter in GS football history. No matter the results of this campaign, this year is the start of something.

For Lunsford, Werts and the rest of the Eagles, they’ll hope it’s the start of something great.

Travis Jaudon is a sports reporter for the Savannah Morning News covering Georgia Southern athletics. Follow him on Twitter @JaudonSports and contact him at 912-652-0353 or [email protected].

https://www.savannahnow.com/sports/...great-start-to-tougher-2019-football-schedule
 

Savannah Morning News beat writer sees hard road for Georgia Southern improving on 2018:

Heading into the 2019 season, Lunsford has said his team is living by the motto: “Good To Great.” On social media sites like Twitter and Facebook, the creed is more recognizable as #GTG.

But as the schedule for this upcoming season was released Friday, the idea of improving on the incredibly rare 2018 campaign became a little harder to envision. For me, at least.

The aftermath of the Eagles’ Raycom Media Camellia Bowl victory was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Rightfully so, but the 2-10 season in 2017 made last year’s success feel more like an ending than a beginning.

The 2018 season was the closing of a chapter, and the 2019 season has now become the true beginning of whatever is to come in Statesboro. Gone are the seniors from 2018 who endured so much during their time as Eagles. Running backs Wesley Fields and Monteo Garrett, offensive linemen Jeremiah Culbreth and Curtis Rainey and defensive mainstays in Logan Hunt, Sean Freeman and Joshua Moon will have to be replaced. Unlike 2018, Georgia Southern won’t have the luxury of easing into the 2019 season.

In 2018, GS opened with home games versus FCS opponent South Carolina State and FBS Independent Massachusetts the following week. This year, the Eagles open with a road game at SEC power LSU on Aug. 31 before hosting Maine on Sept. 7 and traveling to Big Ten country for a date with Minnesota on Sept. 14.

LSU needs no introduction, as the Tigers will begin 2019 as a top-10 team in nearly every poll that matters. Maine, an FCS school coming off a 10-4 season and semifinal appearance in 2018, is no slouch. Minnesota is a Power Five school which comes into 2019 having won seven games last year including a 34-10 beating of Georgia Tech in Paul Johnson’s last game running the option offense as the coach of the Yellow Jackets.

The first two GS opponents in 2018 ended up winning a combined nine games last season. This year, the first two GS opponents won a combined 20 games last season.

There is no time for Georgia Southern to ease into the year. There’s not just a desire to be great in the season’s first few weeks — there’s a need to be great if the Eagles hope to get off on the right foot.

For openers

Beating LSU is unlikely and not a requirement for going from good to great, but it’ll be a measuring stick for where this team is in its quest to start a new chapter of Georgia Southern football. The games in Weeks 2 and 3 are, for now, winnable.

It’s tough to imagine a 2019 season in which the Eagles duplicate the record-setting numbers of 2018, but this time last year it was to imagine them going 10-3 and beating Appalachian State and Georgia State in the same season for the first time since 2014.

It would be easy to say that stranger things had happened, except for until last season, they hadn’t. Rising junior quarterback Shai Werts knows that the expectations are high for this year, and he’s got his sights set squarely on LSU already.

“Obviously (LSU is) a Power Five school, and last year we opened with an FCS team,” Werts said on the first day of spring practice on Feb. 13 in Statesboro. “But (LSU) puts their pads on the same way we put our pads on. We aren’t scared of anybody. We aren’t going down there just to play.

“We’re going down there to win.”

2019 won’t be a continuation of what happened in 2018 because that was the closing of a roller-coaster chapter in GS football history. No matter the results of this campaign, this year is the start of something.

For Lunsford, Werts and the rest of the Eagles, they’ll hope it’s the start of something great.

Travis Jaudon is a sports reporter for the Savannah Morning News covering Georgia Southern athletics. Follow him on Twitter @JaudonSports and contact him at 912-652-0353 or [email protected].

https://www.savannahnow.com/sports/...great-start-to-tougher-2019-football-schedule

So they think they have no chance against LSU... but they see the Minnesota game as "winnable".

I wonder if they have wet blanketeers on their fan board who will dispute this.
 

The aftermath of the Eagles’ Raycom Media Camellia Bowl victory was filled with a sense of accomplishment. Rightfully so, but the 2-10 season in 2017 made last year’s success feel more like an ending than a beginning.


So they went 2-10 in 2017 ... then went 9-3 in 2018 ... and they bust out that jerkish comment?

Man and we think gopher fans sometimes are downers.... I get they lost some players but damn.
 

So they went 2-10 in 2017 ... then went 9-3 in 2018 ... and they bust out that jerkish comment?

Man and we think gopher fans sometimes are downers.... I get they lost some players but damn.

I haven't checked the roster, but those names mentioned in the article cause me to think Georgia Southern was a senior heavy team last year. If they had gone 9-3 with a bunch of underclassmen, I bet the expectations would be much higher.
 

I haven't checked the roster, but those names mentioned in the article cause me to think Georgia Southern was a senior heavy team last year. If they had gone 9-3 with a bunch of underclassmen, I bet the expectations would be much higher.


Georgia Southern returns 7 players on each side of the ball. Lost some key players.
 


I haven't checked the roster, but those names mentioned in the article cause me to think Georgia Southern was a senior heavy team last year. If they had gone 9-3 with a bunch of underclassmen, I bet the expectations would be much higher.

This has been posted before, but I think it's worth revisiting and it dovetails into your point.

According to sbnation, Georgia Southern ranks #19 in the country in returning production. Gophers rank #10.

https://www.sbnation.com/college-fo...9-ncaa-football-returning-starters-experience
 

Lurking the boards during the offseason and came across this thread and thought I would help clarify a few things for you leading up to the season.

1. The article posted are the words and thoughts of one of our beat writers, not necesssarily our entire fanbase. While many do see the Minnesota game as winnable there is a big difference in playing a "winnable" game against you and a "winnable" game against one of our conference opponents - we understand that.

2. Don't be offended that we think you will be an easier opponent than LSU, there are very few people in the country that wouldn't agree with that statement. It just is what it is - especially since they will likely be a preseason top 10 team.

3. One of the major advantages you guys have (aside from the difference in depth) is the fact that this will be the 3rd time in 5 years that PJ Fleck has played us. The first game did not end so well for him but Western Michigan got the better of us in 2016. It should be noted (and you'll hear this ad nauseum when some of our less palatable GS fans invade this board in a few months) that 2016-2017 is the worst 2 year stretch in the history of Georgia Southern football. Thankfully that coach was fired and we seem to have reached more stable waters.

4. This is a warning that in a few weeks there will be several GS "characters" that show up on this board. They will intentionally use poor grammar and spelling to annoy you - nobody knows why they do it... they just do and there isn't a thing the rest of us can do about it - sorry.

5. In conversations leading up to our game you're going to repeatedly hear why slowing down GT does not necessarily mean you'll slow us down. I won't get into the x's and o's right now but it's generally true, we run two very different offenses even though they are both considered option oriented.

6. Depth: I saw someone question our depth. Our biggest loss will be the 2 senior safeties and how we replace those. I'm not concerned about losing 2 senior RB's because that is by far the deepest position we have on the field. Our DL is pretty strong and so are our LB's. Probably the strongest position we have is DB and we currently have 2 DB's that are likely to get drafted at the end of this season. Also I have 100% confidence in our kicking game - so if it's going to take us kicking 40-50 yard FG's to win this thing we will.

That's all - Just here to have friendly chat. I'm not going to talk any crap cause well... the chances of us beating you are pretty slim.
 

Pretty sure PJ has been losing some sleep over this game since last year. I think the Gophers will be ready for this game but I look forward to reading about how we will slow down Georgia Southern!
 

Lurking the boards during the offseason and came across this thread and thought I would help clarify a few things for you leading up to the season.

1. The article posted are the words and thoughts of one of our beat writers, not necesssarily our entire fanbase. While many do see the Minnesota game as winnable there is a big difference in playing a "winnable" game against you and a "winnable" game against one of our conference opponents - we understand that.

2. Don't be offended that we think you will be an easier opponent than LSU, there are very few people in the country that wouldn't agree with that statement. It just is what it is - especially since they will likely be a preseason top 10 team.

3. One of the major advantages you guys have (aside from the difference in depth) is the fact that this will be the 3rd time in 5 years that PJ Fleck has played us. The first game did not end so well for him but Western Michigan got the better of us in 2016. It should be noted (and you'll hear this ad nauseum when some of our less palatable GS fans invade this board in a few months) that 2016-2017 is the worst 2 year stretch in the history of Georgia Southern football. Thankfully that coach was fired and we seem to have reached more stable waters.

4. This is a warning that in a few weeks there will be several GS "characters" that show up on this board. They will intentionally use poor grammar and spelling to annoy you - nobody knows why they do it... they just do and there isn't a thing the rest of us can do about it - sorry.

5. In conversations leading up to our game you're going to repeatedly hear why slowing down GT does not necessarily mean you'll slow us down. I won't get into the x's and o's right now but it's generally true, we run two very different offenses even though they are both considered option oriented.

6. Depth: I saw someone question our depth. Our biggest loss will be the 2 senior safeties and how we replace those. I'm not concerned about losing 2 senior RB's because that is by far the deepest position we have on the field. Our DL is pretty strong and so are our LB's. Probably the strongest position we have is DB and we currently have 2 DB's that are likely to get drafted at the end of this season. Also I have 100% confidence in our kicking game - so if it's going to take us kicking 40-50 yard FG's to win this thing we will.

That's all - Just here to have friendly chat. I'm not going to talk any crap cause well... the chances of us beating you are pretty slim.

Welcome to the board. I hope most Gopher fans realize LSU will be considered a tougher opponent than GS.

But if the gophers lose to GS, it's most likely a sign that gophers aren't as good as we think they are. But the reality is the gophers can't look past any opponent, we're not that good of a team. After containing georgia tech's option offense, we're confident in our ability to stop option attack. Possibly too confident, but in end, whats fans think, say, or do, doesn't matter. And what happened vs GT doesn't mean we can beat any option team




I'll be at the game, looking forward to it
 



Lurking the boards during the offseason and came across this thread and thought I would help clarify a few things for you leading up to the season.

1. The article posted are the words and thoughts of one of our beat writers, not necesssarily our entire fanbase. While many do see the Minnesota game as winnable there is a big difference in playing a "winnable" game against you and a "winnable" game against one of our conference opponents - we understand that.

2. Don't be offended that we think you will be an easier opponent than LSU, there are very few people in the country that wouldn't agree with that statement. It just is what it is - especially since they will likely be a preseason top 10 team.

3. One of the major advantages you guys have (aside from the difference in depth) is the fact that this will be the 3rd time in 5 years that PJ Fleck has played us. The first game did not end so well for him but Western Michigan got the better of us in 2016. It should be noted (and you'll hear this ad nauseum when some of our less palatable GS fans invade this board in a few months) that 2016-2017 is the worst 2 year stretch in the history of Georgia Southern football. Thankfully that coach was fired and we seem to have reached more stable waters.

4. This is a warning that in a few weeks there will be several GS "characters" that show up on this board. They will intentionally use poor grammar and spelling to annoy you - nobody knows why they do it... they just do and there isn't a thing the rest of us can do about it - sorry.

5. In conversations leading up to our game you're going to repeatedly hear why slowing down GT does not necessarily mean you'll slow us down. I won't get into the x's and o's right now but it's generally true, we run two very different offenses even though they are both considered option oriented.

6. Depth: I saw someone question our depth. Our biggest loss will be the 2 senior safeties and how we replace those. I'm not concerned about losing 2 senior RB's because that is by far the deepest position we have on the field. Our DL is pretty strong and so are our LB's. Probably the strongest position we have is DB and we currently have 2 DB's that are likely to get drafted at the end of this season. Also I have 100% confidence in our kicking game - so if it's going to take us kicking 40-50 yard FG's to win this thing we will.

That's all - Just here to have friendly chat. I'm not going to talk any crap cause well... the chances of us beating you are pretty slim.

Thanks for posting. Will your team be ready for the sub-zero September temperatures that we sometimes get?
 

Thanks for posting. Will your team be ready for the sub-zero September temperatures that we sometimes get?

C'mon, Word. The guy posted a nice message, in good faith. Don't give him a bunch of static.

Toasty, don't worry about it. September here isn't (usually) as bad as you've heard. Just make sure the trainer packs the appropriate gear... and bring some of those huge sideline heaters! You'll be fine.
 

Lurking the boards during the offseason and came across this thread and thought I would help clarify a few things for you leading up to the season.

1. The article posted are the words and thoughts of one of our beat writers, not necesssarily our entire fanbase. While many do see the Minnesota game as winnable there is a big difference in playing a "winnable" game against you and a "winnable" game against one of our conference opponents - we understand that.

2. Don't be offended that we think you will be an easier opponent than LSU, there are very few people in the country that wouldn't agree with that statement. It just is what it is - especially since they will likely be a preseason top 10 team.

3. One of the major advantages you guys have (aside from the difference in depth) is the fact that this will be the 3rd time in 5 years that PJ Fleck has played us. The first game did not end so well for him but Western Michigan got the better of us in 2016. It should be noted (and you'll hear this ad nauseum when some of our less palatable GS fans invade this board in a few months) that 2016-2017 is the worst 2 year stretch in the history of Georgia Southern football. Thankfully that coach was fired and we seem to have reached more stable waters.

4. This is a warning that in a few weeks there will be several GS "characters" that show up on this board. They will intentionally use poor grammar and spelling to annoy you - nobody knows why they do it... they just do and there isn't a thing the rest of us can do about it - sorry.

5. In conversations leading up to our game you're going to repeatedly hear why slowing down GT does not necessarily mean you'll slow us down. I won't get into the x's and o's right now but it's generally true, we run two very different offenses even though they are both considered option oriented.

6. Depth: I saw someone question our depth. Our biggest loss will be the 2 senior safeties and how we replace those. I'm not concerned about losing 2 senior RB's because that is by far the deepest position we have on the field. Our DL is pretty strong and so are our LB's. Probably the strongest position we have is DB and we currently have 2 DB's that are likely to get drafted at the end of this season. Also I have 100% confidence in our kicking game - so if it's going to take us kicking 40-50 yard FG's to win this thing we will.

That's all - Just here to have friendly chat. I'm not going to talk any crap cause well... the chances of us beating you are pretty slim.

Thank you for the insight, ToastyGS. It's most welcome. Don't be a stranger on this board.
 

Any early predictions on the humidity?
 




Thanks for posting. Will your team be ready for the sub-zero September temperatures that we sometimes get?

I figured with all that P5 money you'd find a way to heat the field. Maybe you could build an enclosed facility like NDSU or Idaho? ;)

I was actually in Michigan (yes I know Minnesota usually gets colder) last September and it wasn't too bad - just a little cold and rainy. I know you were likely being funny but I hadn't seriously thought about the weather. I guess it COULD be a factor if it were to get unusually cold, but we'll have to play in the mountains in Boone, NC on Halloween night so I'm going to guess that's likely going to be our coldest game of the year.
 
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I figured with all that P5 money you'd find a way to heat the field. Maybe you could build an enclosed facility like NDSU or Idaho? ;)

I was actually in Michigan last September and it wasn't too bad - just a little cold and rainy. I know you were likely being funny but I hadn't seriously thought about the weather. I guess it COULD be a factor if it were to get unusually cold, but we'll have to play in the mountains in Boone, NC on Halloween night so I'm going to guess that's likely going to be our coldest game of the year.

The chances of a game that time of year being too hot are larger than too cold. September weather is among the best of the year in this part of the country (although it is possible to still get steamy 90 degree weather in mid Sep). If the weather is anywhere close to normal - it will be perfect.
 

I figured with all that P5 money you'd find a way to heat the field. Maybe you could build an enclosed facility like NDSU or Idaho? ;)

The field actually is heated. Not enough to warm the players but warm enough to keep snow/ice from accumulating.
 


Field Heating Coils

That's pretty sweet. We have the opposite problem in south Georgia in Aug/Sep.

To be honest, the heating system for the field was funded by the Vikings when they played in our stadium for two years during construction of US Bank stadium. The heated field wasn't considered a necessity for college games when the stadium was built a little over a decade ago since Thanksgiving weekend is the latest we play home games and it's not usually much below freezing if at all at that point. For the Vikings it was a necessity due to December/January late regular season and playoff games. We got a good benefit out of that as now it can be used for when we do occasionally have cold November games.
 

GS is traditionally a good team that can put a scare in some blue bloods. Probably will be an uncomfortably close game. If we whoop GS, I'm going from 6 to midnight on the season and dreaming Pasadena.
 

To be honest, the heating system for the field was funded by the Vikings when they played in our stadium for two years during construction of US Bank stadium. The heated field wasn't considered a necessity for college games when the stadium was built a little over a decade ago since Thanksgiving weekend is the latest we play home games and it's not usually much below freezing if at all at that point. For the Vikings it was a necessity due to December/January late regular season and playoff games. We got a good benefit out of that as now it can be used for when we do occasionally have cold November games.

I kinda suspect they didn't build the heating system... because they figured the Vikings would eventually come and pay for it ;)
 

I figured with all that P5 money you'd find a way to heat the field. Maybe you could build an enclosed facility like NDSU or Idaho? ;)

I was actually in Michigan (yes I know Minnesota usually gets colder) last September and it wasn't too bad - just a little cold and rainy. I know you were likely being funny but I hadn't seriously thought about the weather. I guess it COULD be a factor if it were to get unusually cold, but we'll have to play in the mountains in Boone, NC on Halloween night so I'm going to guess that's likely going to be our coldest game of the year.
I was totally joking... Average high for mid September is about 72.... And typically low humidity. Best weather possible.

Sent from my phone using Tapatalk
 

GS is traditionally a good team that can put a scare in some blue bloods. Probably will be an uncomfortably close game. If we whoop GS, I'm going from 6 to midnight on the season and dreaming Pasadena.

No doubt. We've had our fair share of ups and downs since we joined FBS in 2014. Most people remember us for beating Florida in 2013, but lets be honest that Florida team was awful. I think where our P5 matchups have usually hurt us is late in games when we just cant keep up with depth - we've had plenty of close calls but could never close the game out.

L 2014 - NC State (8-5) - Leading late in the 4th
L 2014 - GT (11-3) - Leading late in the 4th
L 2015 - UGA (10-3) - Lost in OT
L 2016 - Ole Miss (5-7) - Within 1 score until a late 4Q FG put the game away.

We've also had a few games were we just got flat blown out too. We try to forget our 2017 season entirely and in 2018 we had the unfortunate luck of playing Clemson as our only P5 game. So all that to say, while I don't anticipate us winning I will be surprised if you flat blow us out. Kudos to you if you do though.
 

No doubt. We've had our fair share of ups and downs since we joined FBS in 2014. Most people remember us for beating Florida in 2013, but lets be honest that Florida team was awful. I think where our P5 matchups have usually hurt us is late in games when we just cant keep up with depth - we've had plenty of close calls but could never close the game out.

L 2014 - NC State (8-5) - Leading late in the 4th
L 2014 - GT (11-3) - Leading late in the 4th
L 2015 - UGA (10-3) - Lost in OT
L 2016 - Ole Miss (5-7) - Within 1 score until a late 4Q FG put the game away.

We've also had a few games were we just got flat blown out too. We try to forget our 2017 season entirely and in 2018 we had the unfortunate luck of playing Clemson as our only P5 game. So all that to say, while I don't anticipate us winning I will be surprised if you flat blow us out. Kudos to you if you do though.

I don't know yet. But it's possible that we are a great team this year. Need some luck with health and things, but we were very young and rolling at the end of the year. I think your team will be a better litmus test than Fresno St even.
 

3. One of the major advantages you guys have (aside from the difference in depth) is the fact that this will be the 3rd time in 5 years that PJ Fleck has played us. The first game did not end so well for him but Western Michigan got the better of us in 2016. It should be noted (and you'll hear this ad nauseum when some of our less palatable GS fans invade this board in a few months) that 2016-2017 is the worst 2 year stretch in the history of Georgia Southern football. Thankfully that coach was fired and we seem to have reached more stable waters.

4. This is a warning that in a few weeks there will be several GS "characters" that show up on this board. They will intentionally use poor grammar and spelling to annoy you - nobody knows why they do it... they just do and there isn't a thing the rest of us can do about it - sorry.

5. In conversations leading up to our game you're going to repeatedly hear why slowing down GT does not necessarily mean you'll slow us down. I won't get into the x's and o's right now but it's generally true, we run two very different offenses even though they are both considered option oriented.

Thank you, Toasty. That’s hilarious. You will find only level-headed, reasonable, well thought out posts here.
 

I don't know yet. But it's possible that we are a great team this year. Need some luck with health and things, but we were very young and rolling at the end of the year. I think your team will be a better litmus test than Fresno St even.

I'd want no part of Fresno St. that defense was crazy good last year.

Confession: The only game of yours I watched last season was the bowl game and I forgot that Rashod Bateman was once a Georgia Southern commit. I hope he has a good future with you guys. And just a little tidbit to prove recruiting biases. When he was commited to us his ranking was like an .82 or .83. A week after he was committed to you it jumped to like an .89.
 

I'd want no part of Fresno St. that defense was crazy good last year.

Confession: The only game of yours I watched last season was the bowl game and I forgot that Rashod Bateman was once a Georgia Southern commit. I hope he has a good future with you guys. And just a little tidbit to prove recruiting biases. When he was commited to us his ranking was like an .82 or .83. A week after he was committed to you it jumped to like an .89.

You're barking up the wrong tree if you think committing to Minnesota gets kids an automatic rating bump. Those situations are reserved for the tOSU's & Michigan's of the B1G.
 

The biggest problem Georgia Tech had was they were overpowered by our OL and couldn’t stop the run. If an option team gets behind, things tend to snowball like they did against GT.

Georgia Southern’s chance to stay in the game is to stop the run and have some early success on offense so they don’t get behind right away.

This is also a bit of a trap game for the gophers coming off what’s expected to be a tough road game at Fresno st, with a bye and then the opener at Purdue next.
 

I'd want no part of Fresno St. that defense was crazy good last year.

Confession: The only game of yours I watched last season was the bowl game and I forgot that Rashod Bateman was once a Georgia Southern commit. I hope he has a good future with you guys. And just a little tidbit to prove recruiting biases. When he was commited to us his ranking was like an .82 or .83. A week after he was committed to you it jumped to like an .89.

Had no idea. Sorry, man. Bateman’s rating jumped a few times, ended up a solid 4 star and he totally looks the part. Barring injury, he will be in the NFL in a few years.
 

The biggest problem Georgia Tech had was they were overpowered by our OL and couldn’t stop the run. If an option team gets behind, things tend to snowball like they did against GT.

Georgia Southern’s chance to stay in the game is to stop the run and have some early success on offense so they don’t get behind right away.


This is also a bit of a trap game for the gophers coming off what’s expected to be a tough road game at Fresno st, with a bye and then the opener at Purdue next.

I agree. Our offense was REALLY slow starting all year. On the flip side our defense was pretty good early in games - we allowed a TD in the 1st quarter to only 3 teams all season. My hope for this changing this year is that this will be the first time in at least 4 years that we've had the same offensive system in back to back seasons so our offense should be much more prepared this year simply because they know the scheme better.

Offensive Points by Quarter:
1st - 54
2nd - 121
3rd - 114
4th - 107

Defensive Points by Quarter:
1st - 40
2nd - 85
3rd - 69
4th - 86

I think one misconception of option offenses is that we cant score quickly. It certainly is more difficult for us than say an air-raid offense, but it's more about efficiency on drives than scoring quickly. As long as you can get stops and score points then you can work your way back into a game. Where we struggle is when we need several scores late in games and are forced to throw, but even then nobody wants to be in that position - except maybe Tom Brady.
 
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