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.
