Georgia Southern Eagles
Eagles To Soar In 24?
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Year two for Clay Helton at the helm in Statesboro started out with a bang in 2023.
The Eagles jumped out to a 4-1 start and improved to 6-2 after a Thursday night matchup with in-state rivals Georgia State in which Southern obliterated State 44-27 on ESPN2.
Then….it wasn’t so good. The blue and white finished the 2023 campaign losing their last five games including 41-21 to Ohio in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
Although Eagle Nation is hoping for a different ending to 2024, to me “more of the same” is what could be a huge key to the GS success. Coach Helton has brought it up a couple of times leading into the 2024 season the consistency in the leadership for Georgia Southern Football.
That extends not only on the field with names like Jalen White and Marques Watson-Trent, but also to the coaching staff. Not only do the Eagles have Clay Helton continuing to build in year number three, but defensive coordinator Brandon Bailey returns for year two; as well as special teams coordinator Turner West back for year three manning the specialists.
The only coordinator change is the departure of former offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis, who is now on staff at Alabama under first year Head Coach Kalen DeBoer in Tuscaloosa.
While a new offensive coordinator slides into the office, Coach Helton promoted from within and elevated Ryan Aplin to the role of OC. With the stability, virtually all the schemes and language will be the same within the Ted Smith Family Football Operations Building and keep some consistency that frankly hasn’t been there for one reason or another in about a decade.
While the scheme is the same, some new names will be flocking at Allen E. Paulson Stadium and the most notable will be who takes over as the signal caller for the 2024 season.
At Sun Belt Conference Media Day in mid-July, Coach Helton confirmed that the quarterback spot is at least a three-way competition.
The first candidate is a newcomer to the program in Indiana transfer Dexter Williams II. Williams spent four years in Bloomington, but only saw action in four games which all came in 2022 earning two starts for the Hoosiers.
The Macon native from Mount de Sales Academy only tallied 225 passing yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions in the 2022 season with Indiana.
The other two would-be signal callers were already on the roster for GSU. David Dallas has been on the Eagles roster since January 2022 out of Trinity Christian, but the Sharpsburg native has yet to take a snap.
The final option for the blue and white got a baptism by fire last season as JC French was thrown into 10 games last season with injuries and lack of production at times from Davis Brinn.
French only took 48 snaps on the year but accounted for 122 yards through the air and a touchdown after redshirting at Memphis in 2022.
Outside of the quarterback for Georgia Southern, there is plenty of production returning for the Eagles as Jalen White looks to build off of last year that was injury riddled but still put up almost 900 rushing yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
The Eagles return all three backs that accounted for more than 100 yards rushing (White-889, OJ Arnold-411, and David Mbadinga-112) from a running back room that was disguised as a MASH unit last year.
Receiving wise, the Eagles lose their leading receiver from a year ago, but the core of Derwin Burgess Jr (74 rec., 813yds, 6 TDs), and Dalen Cobb (40 rec., 601yds, 2 TDs) return for another year in the blue and white.
Along with that dynamic duo, some familiar names look to take a big leap forward with Josh Dallas (Brother to QB option David Dallas), Josh Thompson, and Freshman Carmelo Mays could make a splash in his first season in the Boro.
On defense, the Eagles look to take a huge step forward behind one of the best defenders in the league with Marques Watson-Trent who has taken an incredible leadership role within the entire team but is a dramatic difference maker on the field as well.
This was another unit last year that was a revolving door because of injuries down the stretch, but the experience for young guys that were thrust into the fire out of necessity (probably before they were fully ready), will pay off huge dividends in 2024.
To me, 2023 showed what Georgia Southern could be when at it’s best (when it was 6-2). 2024 will show that next step and I think year three under Helton could be big things for Eagle Nation and plenty of times, in the words of Danny Reed, it will be “well with my soul at Paulson Stadium.”
Jekyll And Hyde
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
The 2023 football season in Statesboro has been a year out of Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
Year two for the Georgia Southern Eagles in Statesboro for Clay Helton has seen highs of capping off a 6-2 start with a Thursday night 44-27 victory over rival Georgia State, and devastating lows of finishing the regular season by falling in the final four games including 55-27 in Boone, NC to App State.
Despite the downhill slide in the back half of the year, the Eagles finish the regular season with a 6-6 record and earned an invitation to the Myrtle Beach Bowl to face Ohio from the MAC. So how did we get to this point?
The Eagles began the season taking care of business to the tune of 2-0 with an opening game win over The Citadel and a revenge victory over the Blazers of UAB 49-35.
Helton’s crew then soared to Big Ten country to take on Wisconsin. Although a good showing early, 6 turnovers (including 5 interceptions) got the best of the Blue Birds and saw the Badgers pull away late 35-14.
Georgia Southern would respond the next week on the road at Ball State with 530 yards of total offense and pick up a road win in Muncie 40-3.
After falling to a rolling and undefeated James Madison 41-13 on the road, the blue and white would rattle off 2 straight wins at the prettiest little stadium in America. A come from behind victory against ULM 38-28 at Paulson set up a 5-2 Georgia Southern hosting a 6-1 Georgia State team on ESPN 2 the Thursday prior to Halloween.
Georgia Southern dominated the Panthers from the word go, racking up almost 300 yards rushing, and knocking off the in-state rival 44-27.
That’s when the Jekyll turned to Hyde for GSU with a tough final 4 games of the year and 3 of those on the road.
It began with a 45-24 Texas State victory deep in the heart of Texas to a much-improved Bobcat team under first year head coach GJ Kinne.
Next, Marshall would get the best of the Eagles 38-33 on an emotional weekend in Huntington, WV as the Thundering Herd remembered the 30-year anniversary of the Marshall plane crash.
The Blue and White would return home to try and get off the spiral against Old Dominion but wouldn’t go the way for the Eagles. ODU led in this game 17-10 in the 4th quarter, Georgia Southern tied the game at 17-17 on a Davis Brinn TD pass to Jjay Mcafee with 1:25 remaining.
It appeared that the game would be heading to overtime, but Monarch QB Grant Wilson ran for 28 yards up the middle to the 5-yard line to set up the Ethan Sanchez 22-yard field goal as time expired to snatch the win away from GS 20-17.
The season would wrap up at the Rock against Appalachian State in-front of a sold-out crowd at Kidd Brewer Stadium.
Georgia Southern would take a 14-3 first quarter lead, but App State would score the next 6 touchdowns and take a 48-17 lead thanks to 4 Eagle turnovers. The Mountaineers would finish off the regular season finale 55-27 over the Eagles.
It’s not only been a Jekyll and Hyde Season for the team as a whole, but for some individuals as well. Quarterback Davis Brin has seen highs of throwing for over 300 yards 6 times this year including a high of 383 at Wisconsin, but also the lows of multiple interceptions in 4 games with the high of 5 also coming against the Badgers.
OJ Arnold, who has been hampered by injuries this year, has shown what the future at running back can look like with 405 yards and 4 scores in just 9 games played. Jalen White racked up just shy of 900 yards on the ground and 10 total TDs.
Now the Eagles head to the postseason in a familiar spot. The Eagles were invited to the Myrtle Beach Bowl to face the MAC’s Ohio at Brooks Stadium (home of Coastal Carolina) on December 16th.
Will it be Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde at the beach?
Flying Higher
By: Colin Lacy
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
Year one for Clay Helton in Statesboro saw a ton of buzz around the Georgia Southern program before he stepped foot on the field at Allen E. Paulson stadium.
When he did step foot on the field, he and his crew took a huge step forward to get Georgia Southern back to prominence in the Sun Belt Conference.
Because of an incredible number of injuries, last season turned out to be an up and down affair in Statesboro. The Eagles started on a high by winning three of the first four games including upsetting Nebraska in week 2, after a couple of tough losses against UAB, and rival Georgia State, the Eagles knocked off James Madison, who came into Paulson Stadium ranked in the top 25 after winning their first 5 games as a FBS program.
The lull came when the Eagles lost 3 straight and had to win the regular season finale against Appalachian State to become bowl eligible. Georgia Southern did just that against their rivals by pulling out a 51-48 overtime victory.
While the record came out of 2022 reading 6-7 after falling to Buffalo in the Camellia Bowl, the Eagles made huge strides with a completely new system.
When Clay Helton and offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis arrived in Statesboro, the days of option football in the ‘Boro’ were halted but brought a new life to the passing offense for Southern with the help of Buffalo transfer Kyle Van Trease who set most passing records in Georgia Southern history.
In 2023, Van Trease has graduated (now the director of business development for the newly formed Eagle Nation Collective), and now time to pass the reins of the offense again to a new arm.
The transfer portal was the answer again for Helton going and getting Davis Brin from Tulsa, and Beau Allen from Tarleton State (after starting his career at Kentucky).
Brin looks to be QB1 and is impressing those in Statesboro in the first days of fall camp after leading the nation in passing after 3 games last year at Tulsa before going down with injury.
The Eagles will also turn to other weapons on the offensive side, including Jalen White, OJ Arnold, Kaleb Hood, and Derwin Burgess.
White and Arnold will be a huge threat for the Blue and White coming out of the backfield. In years past, White has been overshadowed by older backs in Statesboro, but this year it’s his show to run with (literally).
Kaleb Hood and Derwin Burgess thrived in the new spread offense for GSU. Burgess missed the final 3 games of the year with injury in 2022, but still managed to be the 2nd leading receiver for the Eagles a year ago.
One aspect of the new Eagle offense that gets lost in the shuffle is the offensive line, which proved to be a key to the success.
Last season, the offensive line only allowed seven sacks all season on 611 pass attempts. This unit returns 3 starters and adds transfer Bryson Broadway from Georgia State and should be a key group again.
Defensively the Eagles don’t necessarily return the numbers Clay Helton would hope with just four returning starters, but the depth is more than in years past.
Two of the four starters returning land in the linebacking core. Marques Watson-Trent looks to have a huge 2023 after 114 tackles and 5.5 tackles for loss last season. The other familiar name is former North Carolina transfer Khadry Jackson who started 11 games for the blue and white last year.
Georgia Southern looks to build off a terrific first step last year, but the schedule doesn’t want to cooperate. Most of the toughest games for GSU will come away from Statesboro with matchups with Wisconsin, James Madison, Marshall, and App State all on the road.
Look for the Eagles to turn some heads in the Sun Belt Conference this year and be ahead of schedule in year two under Clay Helton.
Eagles Shuck Huskers
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
WOW………. Almost a million and half is how much The University of Nebraska paid Georgia Southern University to come be a sacrificial lamb of a football team in Memorial Stadium in Lincoln Nebraska.
Well, I don’t know if they have Eagles in Nebraska but I can tell you the Cornhuskers don’t want to see the birds from Statesboro again, ANY time soon.
Georgia Southern football took a giant step forward by handing the Cornhuskers a shocking home loss 45-42 earlier in the month.
How shocking? After the game Cornhusker Coach Scott Frost said “we can’t let this divide us” ………. The next morning, he was no longer the coach. And the school paid him 15 million to leave!
While this Nebraska team might not be feared in college football the way they were in the past. They were prohibitive three touchdown favorites.
I guess everyone wants to know how many yards the Southern option attack rolled up right? Uhhhhhhh, those days are long gone sports fans. Behind the revamped offense of Clay Helton and the play of QB Kyle Vantrease the Eagles rolled up SIX HUNRED and FORTY TWO yards against the BIG 10 school.
Vantrease, who I wrote about in the season preview was spectacular. He was 37 of 56 for 409 yards and scored the winning touchdown on an 8-yard run with 36 seconds left.
Southern had a great all-around effort on offense with Gerald Green running for 132 yards on only 10 carries and 2 scores and Jalen White added another 85 yards and 2 TDs.
Derwin Burgess led the potent Eagle receiving corp with 12 catches for 119 yards. While the Eagle defense had to fight the bigger Cornhuskers all day and gave up a lot of yards and points, they held at the end and forced a 52-yard field goal attempt that went wide left. The party was on in Statesboro and the visitor’s locker room at Memorial Stadium.
Kudos have to go out to the job Clay Helton has done in a very short period of time at Georgia Southern. That’s a BIG 10 school that the Eagles just took down ON THE ROAD.
First is not the fact that they beat Nebraska……. The deal is they were just better. Nebraska had no answer for the Eagles offense. GSU, actually led most of the game in Lincoln.
It seems that the Eagles have gotten themselves a very good head coach. Clay Helton has coached at the highest level of college football. Many wondered how he would adjust to the smaller school, smaller budgets and small-town atmosphere of Statesboro, as opposed to the glam of Los Angeles.
Well to see him on the sidelines at the end of the game Saturday you woulda thought that this guy is all in. I did.
It’s a long season and there will be ups and downs for this Eagle team for sure. They face a tough schedule ahead. In my preview of the Eagles last month, I said that after last year’s debacle the Eagle nation needed to have some patience with this squad. I think that still holds true………. but WOW! Just WOW!
Ascending Eagles
By: Joe Delaney
TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services
So many question marks as the Georgia Southern Eagles begin the 2022 season.
With a new coach, a new staff and a revamped offense and defense, these guys may take some time to learn their true identity.
Take into account a very tough schedule that is not going to be conducive to a learning curve and the word in Statesboro may be PATIENCE in 2022.
This team will look like the 21 outfit in uniforms only as Clay Helton will bring a more balanced attack to the Eagles. Coming from the west coast and USC [yeah, THAT USC], Helton will look to mix it up with offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis calling the shots.
It looks like the Eagles will turn to a transfer with experience and RPO ability in Kyle Vantrease at QB. He brings a wealth of experience after transferring from Buffalo. A 6th year graduate transfer, Vantrease started 26 games and threw for 4400 yards and 23 touchdowns with a 61% passing percentage and also rushed for 13 touchdowns. Keeping him healthy will be crucial to success.
The Eagles are well stocked at running back with Gerald Green and Jalen White leading the way. Between the two, they rushed for 9 touchdowns last year. There is depth also at RB.
Receivers are untested and will need to step up to take the strain off teams loading the box on them. One answer to this will be returning tight end Beau Johnson. The 6’ 1” 225lb returning starter should get a lot of looks from Vantrease.
Southern does return 4 of 5 on the o-line and as I type this, they are probably working on pass protection! This should be a good group led by tackle Brian Miller. If they can make the transition from an option attack to a balanced offense, this could be a much more explosive offense moving forward. And that is Clay Helton’s plan.
Kicking and punting should be in capable hands with Alex Raynor back for PATs and FGs and Anthony Beck back at punter. Beck is a good one, averaging 45yds per punt. He punted 64 times last year. Helton and company will hope to reduce that number this year
Defensively, the Eagles have got a lot of work to do. They gave up 31.4 points and 289.5 yards thru the air last year and return only 4 starters off that outfit.
Look for them to improve on this as much of the secondary returns and will be led by safety Anthony Wilson. He led the team in tackles.
Other returners include stud Justin Ellis at DE, Dillon Springer at DE and Justin Birdsong at DB. Most of the new starters have seen a lot of action and this will be a veteran defense with 7 seniors and 4 juniors. They just have got to step up. New defensive coordinator Will Harris has a lot to work with.
The schedule is not going to do the Eagles any favors. A September date with the Nebraska Cornhuskers followed by a trip to UAB, then Ball State and at Coastal Carolina………. that’s gonna be tough.
Throw in Georgia State, Louisiana, Marshall, and App State and a break-even scenario starts looking plausible.
Georgia Southern is a great school with a great football tradition. It is moving in the right direction with Clay Helton. It just may take a little while to get there.
Look for the Eagles to be competitive and definitely improve on the 3-9 debacle of last year. If the defense can come on and Vantrease has a great year, the Eagles could surprise a lot of people.
Look for the Eagles to take a big step back to respectability this year and start laying a foundation for the future.
