Whether head coach Clay Helton wants to talk about it or not the Georgia Southern Eagles have put themselves into the driver seat and control their own destiny as far as a Sun Belt title goes. A 19-3 destruction of Appalachian State last Saturday propelled the Eagles into first place in the Eastern Division of the conference as they are now 3-1.
A dominating performance by the Eagle defense in which they held Appalachian State to only six yards rushing along with three turnovers was the key to victory Saturday. Another factor was getting and maintaining the lead which has been something coach Helton believes the Eagles have had problems with.
“We took it down to the most minute thing,” Helton said. “Our struggles in the past few games were getting a lead and watching it slip back in the fourth quarter. We told our players to believe there was no score on the scoreboard and we were just going to concentrate on the next four to five seconds. We wanted to add up those tiny wins to build a mountain of wins. I felt like that would create the separation, and it did.”
This week it’s homecoming at Paulson Stadium as the Eagles welcome in the Marshall Thundering Herd. Marshall has had their ups and downs this year, but are coming off two straight Sun Belt victories.
“They come in playing well and are really running the ball well,” Helton said. “They are averaging over 160 yards rushing. They are doing a great job with their running game of getting into third and short situations that can continue drives. That’s what has helped them put up the points in the last two weeks.”
The Herd are similar to Appalachian State in the fact that they like to rotate multiple quarterbacks in and have had more success running the ball than throwing it. Helton believes he will need another solid performance by the defense and to stay away from critical penalties on offense that hurt them particularly near the red zone last week against the Mountaineers.
“They are playing with three quarterbacks with one of them more of a wildcat quarterback,” Helton said. “He’s an elite athlete and the other quarterbacks can throw it or take off with their legs. It’s a spread offense with two runners in the quarterback and running back which makes it dangerous.”
Helton says the recipe for success this year with the Eagles has been pretty clear and he expects the same to hold true Saturday.
“When we win the rushing battle and the turnover battle, we are 4-0,” Helton said. “When we have lost either of those two, we are 0-4.”
If past history is any indication, expect a tight one Saturday. Two years ago, Georgia Southern scored three touchdowns over the final 6:32 to complete the largest second-half comeback in Paulson Stadium history for a 24-23 win. Last year the Eagles recovered an onside kick attempt with 2:25 to play to close out a 24-19 win in the regular-season finale to clinch bowl eligibility.
“We have had some battles with them the last two years,” Helton said. “Coach Tony Gibson is doing a really good job in year two of his program. You can see his DNA and his toughness in the defensive style that he brings to the table with this group. Coming off two wins, they’re probably playing their best football of the season right now. They are 5-3 overall and just one game behind us so this is another important game.”
The Eagles and Thundering Herd are scheduled for a 3:30 start for a homecoming matchup Saturday at Paulson Stadium.
