Watching Georgia Southern struggle through its Football Championship Subdivision semifinal loss Saturday afternoon, it appeared to be an uphill struggle from the start for the Eagles. A little bit of everything seemed to go against GSU as a few fumbles bounced the wrong way, some big plays slipped past the Eagle defense, and North Dakota State devised a great defensive scheme to slow down the triple-option.
    No matter what the main reason for the loss was, the fact remains that GSU is done for the year. But out of those possible reasons that I listed, the final one is something that I pay attention to after each Eagle setback.
    Because of the rarity and unorthodox look of Georgia Southern’s offense, it’s a favorite topic for message board lurkers, bloggers and local radio hosts to drone on about. When it’s a GSU — or Georgia Tech, Navy, etc. — fan doing the talking, much is said about the offense’s explosive capabilities, its deceptive passing threat, and its tendency to wear down opponents.
    Likewise, those who are seeing the triple-option for the first time in awhile are quick to dismiss it as a quirk or gimmick that owes more of its success to its originality than its overall scheme.
    I’m no football coach. I can’t draw up the Xs and Os and definitively state why GSU’s style of football should be considered brilliant or absurd.
    What I can do, is take an objective look at the arguments and wonder why it’s all that big of an issue in the first place.
    There are 139 other FCS teams that — like GSU — won’t be bringing home the championship this season. It works like that every season, yet while most other schools will take their medicine and face the fact that they weren’t the best team, any Georgia Southern exit seems to go hand-in-hand with an additional week of banter on the offense.
    With each Eagle win, the mystique of the triple-option grows. Players become faster, the blocking assignments become harder to adjust to, and the task of playing assignment football is deemed an impossible task for any defense. Confidence in the offense soars and — looking at the talk on message boards and features — the triple-option becomes the cure for cancer, the fountain of youth, and possibly the solution for world peace.
    Conversely, the scheme gets run through the mud after every loss — even when the more evident reason for the loss is the fact that the other team was just better. It’s not enough that the Eagles are out of the playoffs. Their fans still get the next wave of criticism talking about how their gimmick offense can’t win another title or how anyone with experience defending the option can stop it.
    It all gets old after hearing it after every loss.
    This isn’t meant to be an indictment or a defense of the triple-option. The only real point that I need to make now that the season is over is that the Eagles just need to get better, no matter what kind of offense is being run. I absolutely believe that GSU and its offense can win a championship. But I also think a scheme or strategy is far less important than the talent involved — a point that the very vanilla-looking Bison drove home pretty hard.
    Sure, I think that the triple-option can be unstoppable at times, but that’s because GSU has some pretty unstoppable guys leading the charge. A lot of those Eagles will return next season to form another team that I think will look pretty tough to beat.
    In the end, I enjoy watching a team that is so different from the majority of teams. Of course, the main difference between GSU and its competition is in the win column and not in the playbook.
    The Eagles will shake off another tough semifinal loss and be back on the field for spring practice in no time. They’ll be back to their old tricks when the offense takes the field next season with a seventh title in mind — and I think that’s a strategy that any fan can get behind.

Mike Anthony can be reached at (912) 489-9404.