Usually, the only time a football team has more than two weeks between games is from their last game of the regular season until their bowl game.
A Thursday night contest against Old Dominion followed by a bye week has the Georgia Southern Eagles in a unique situation, as it will be 16 days between their last game and Saturday’s Halloween matchup with Appalachian State.
According to coach Clay Helton, it has been a very productive and healing time for the Eagles.
“We had a lot of opportunities to recover our bodies in the strength and conditioning room,” Helton said. “We had three strength and conditioning sessions. The guys are walking in here fresh again, fresh minded with fresh bodies. will get some bodies back. I think David Mbadinga and Jeremiah Ware are getting really close.
"Max Johnson had two throwing sessions which were productive. I thought he gained a lot of confidence. In our Sun Belt reports I had him listed between questionable and probable. We’ll see how that progress continues but at the end of the day you’re going to put the guy out there that you feel is ready in the moment.”
Turner Helton did a good job in relief of Johnson who went down with a shoulder injury against ODU. Weston Bryan also got some snaps at quarterback and leads the team in rushing touchdowns. Helton said whoever starts or plays Saturday behind center he has total faith in them.
“I don’t like the label back up,” Helton said. “They have to prepare like a starter each and every week and so we donate those rep opportunities at practice. We’re about 60-40 in the ratio of quarterback snaps at practice and I think that paid off whether it’s Turner or Weston.
"I don’t expect production to fall at all and that’s what’s demanded at that position as you have to be ready for your opportunity. Max has progressed well and put a lot of work into rehab. I think you can always tell by their eyes and the confidence level he has is there. He will get some live reps and we will evaluate from there."
Helton said they also did a lot of self-scouting during their extended time off. Looking at tendencies on offense and defense.
“We have been trying to create some tendency breakers,” Helton said. “On offense that may be looking at first down run vs. pass ratios. On defense maybe it’s if you’re calling your pressures and blitzes at certain times.
"We are just trying to break tendencies that you have across the board. When you have 16 days you get to take a really good deep dive into them so it was nice to have that opportunity not only to take a deep breath but really look at yourself and say what do we need to alter so we’re a little bit more unpredictable.”
If anyone is aware of what to expect from the Eagles, it’s this week’s opponent the Appalachian State Mountaineers. The two teams have played 41 times with the Mountaineers owning a 21-19-1 record against the Eagles. Georgia Southern is 4-1 against App State under Helton including beating them twice last year as they played in the regular season and in their Bowl game.
"This is a totally different team than who we saw last year,” Helton said. “They have 75 newcomers so their personnel are much different. It all starts with the quarterbacks where Malachi Singleton and Henry Hasslebeck are doing a really nice job. It doesn’t matter which one is in they are being an ultra-productive. They’ve got several skilled receivers and a running back Jaquari Lewis who can pound the rock in the red zone.
"Defensively they are creating turnovers and are plus five in turnover margin with 10 interceptions. That’s what’s keeping them in these tight ball games. They have six games that are 10 points or less and that’s the most in the country. We have to hold onto the ball and find a way to put some pressure on their quarterbacks.”
Helton takes a lot of pride in being 4-1 against the Eagles’ biggest rival and feels like the coaches and players understand the magnitude of the game Saturday and the rivalry.
“It’s an honor to be a part of this game,” Helton said. “I’ve been involved in some of some rivalry games whether it’s Auburn vs. Alabama or USC vs. Notre Dame and this is right there with them. The passion will be in the stadium whether it’s here in Statesboro or in Boone.
"We’ve got a lot of respect for each other, but we love competing against each other. Usually, it’s at the highest level with the history and honor of both places with success both at the FCS and FBS levels. I’d like to say it’s just the next game, but it’s not it is different.”
