Plenty of members of Eagle Nation had a feeling Georgia Southern may return from their California road trip to open the season at 0-2. It isn’t the fact that the Eagles lost both games that has so many fans concerned, but rather the way it happened.
The Eagles were leading Fresno St., 14-13, at the half before surrendering 29 unanswered points, giving up more than 500 yards of offense in a 42-14 loss. Coach Clay Helton said adjustments needed to be made primarily on the defensive side of the ball. The team responded by giving up the most yardage in a game in school history, yielding 750+ yards to unranked Southern Cal in a 59-20 blowout.
This week, the Eagles open their 2025 home season at Paulson Stadium, playing host to Jacksonville State. Helton continued to address the defensive issues this week, knowing if things continue, they will have a lot of trouble stopping a Jacksonville State team that comes in on the heels of an impressive 34-24 win over Liberty.
“I thought we showed some individual growth by players like Brandon Tyson and Prince Green but we still need continued growth,” Helton said. “Credit to USC – they did an outstanding job on offense. From an assignment standpoint, I thought it was a lot better than against Fresno St. When we are in position, we need to do a better job of getting the ball to the ground and make plays. We had one assignment bust that really stood out. I thought the assignment and alignment pieces were better, now we need to be able to get the ball down when we are in position.”
Despite two poor performance, Helton remains confident the team can rebound and believes the team goals for the season remain intact.
“I know the team will leap forward and I hope it will show in our next two home games,” Helton said. “I have total confidence in our football team and our staff and that they will put their best foot forward. We know people are disappointed and we are disappointed, too. Now we get the chance to come back to Paulson Stadium and play an important game. We made advancements from game one to two, and you will see this team get better with each game.”
Jacksonville State comes in after a season opening loss to UCF and a win last week against Liberty, in which they put up just under 400 yards of offense, including 330 on the ground. Helton and his players understand they must show much improvement on defense in order to come out on top Saturday.
“You see where their strength is and what they are leaning on,” Helton said. “They have two quarterbacks who are sometimes on the field at the same time. Clint Trickett is their offensive coordinator and does a great job. He was here last year, so we know who he is. They did a great job of identifying their strength of running the ball and adjusting to that between games one and two.
On offense, the Eagles come in only averaging 17 points per game and know they may have to help the defense Saturday by extending drives and putting more points on the board.
“I feel like from week one to week two we made major strides,” said Eagle running back David Mbadinga. “We are doing a better job of controlling the flow of the game. We have an amazing opportunity in front of us this week. You can’t sulk and stay in the past. You have to remind yourself this is a long season and be ready to go 1-0 this week.”
The Eagles are excited for the first chance to play before the home fans at Paulson Stadium. Two former Eagle players are now at Jacksonville State in Tyler Bride and Isaac Walker and they will get the visitors treatment Saturday.
Georgia Southern linebacker Brandon Harrington transferred this year from Appalachian State so he knows what it feels like to get booed running onto the field in Statesboro and he is looking forward to actually being cheered at Paulson Saturday.
“It is going to be special,” Harrington said. “Having been on the other side of the field it’s hard being right there in front of the student section. Night games down here in Statesboro are tough to play in, and that’s the way they should be. It should be respected and it should be known that when you come into Paulson Stadium we expect to win and we are representing something bigger than us.”
Coach Helton announced Monday that three players have officially been removed from the team. Starting linebacker Davon Hicks, starting defensive back Jayden Davis and defensive back Antonio White Jr. are no longer on the team.
Georgia Southern and Jacksonville State are scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff at Paulson Stadium.
