By: Mike Anthony

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Georgia Southern spent an entire offseason working towards the goal of erasing the memories of a disastrous 2017 campaign.

A pair of wins and some high points in a game at Clemson have shown that the Eagles are definitely on more solid ground this season, but this Saturday provides Southern with a chance to show that it is not only on the mend but a force to be reckoned with in the Sun Belt.

Every preseason poll made it clear that the prognosticators thought that Arkansas State, Troy and Appalachian State were the three teams with a chance to take home the Sun Belt title.

Georgia Southern can’t complain about the lack of attention after last season’s showing, but a defense that is taking to a new 3-4 scheme quicker than expected and an offense that is under the control of a much more confident looking Shai Werts leaves the Eagles looking much less vulnerable than they were for most of 2017.

The Eagles’ search for a revived option offense has shown signs of success, but is still a work in progress.

Head coach Chad Lunsford and offensive coordinator Bob DeBesse have been consistent in saying that the envisioned offense is much more dynamic than what has been seen so far, but that they want to see all of the building blocks of the scheme executed well before opening things up.

That leaves a lot on the Eagle defense, which has shifted seamlessly into a new 3-4 scheme.

Georgia Southern hopes that the third time will be the charm against Arkansas State. The Eagles have forced five turnovers from the Red Wolves in each of the last two meetings, but don’t have a win to show for it.

A loss on Saturday will be a bump in the road for the building momentum in Statesboro, while a win could put the Eagles’ rebuild a year ahead of schedule.

If history holds true, this week is the best chance for the Eagles to prove that they can compete in the Sun Belt.

Arkansas State has had sporadic overall records over the last decade, but the Red Wolves have been the most consistent power in Sun Belt play over that span.

The defending conference champs are riding high after notching their first back-to-back non-conference wins since moving up to FBS in 1992, giving the Wolves all the confidence in the world that another big conference run is around the corner.

Another stellar ASU defense is complemented by preseason Player of the Year Justice Hanson at quarterback for the Wolves, who is in turn surrounded by a bevy of talented skill position players.

Similarly talented Red Wolves teams have struggled to get through GS defenses over the last two years, but they still have a pair of wins to show for the effort.

For the Eagles, even a hard-fought loss would be a positive, but that’s not how they’ll be looking at Saturday’s game.

With well over 20,000 expected to pack into Paulson Stadium on Saturday night, the Eagles are riding a wave of momentum that wasn’t felt during the previous coaching administration.

If that leads to a win over Arkansas State, the thinking around Statesboro will quickly shift from wondering if the team is actually good to wondering just how good it can be.