Georgia Southern has had some tremendous running backs over the years. Names like Adrian Peterson, Jayson Foster, Jermaine Austin, Jerick McKinnon, Matt Brieda and Joe Ross are etched forever in Eagle lore.
Not to be forgotten, too, are quarterbacks such as Tracy Ham, Greg Hill, Chaz Williams, Raymond Gross and J.R. Revere who excelled as running threats, too. Throw in Shai Werts and Kevin Ellison and you have a group of players who all gave Eagles fans memorable moments.
None of them, however, had a night like OJ Arnold had in last Saturday’s 45-40 win over Coastal Carolina in what was a do-or-die game for Georgia Southern as far as keeping it’s post-season hopes alive.
Arnold accounted for 393 yards of total offense as he rushed for 267 yards and two touchdowns on 21 carries, caught four passes for 53 yards and a touchdown and threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Camden Brown. He is the first Georgia Southern player to rush for a touchdown, catch a touchdown pass and throw a touchdown pass in the same game in program history.
It was the fifth-best rushing game in Eagles history and the best since Georgia Southern became an FBS program in 2014. With 879 yards on the season Arnold is looking to become Georgia Southern’s first 1,000-yard rusher since Wesley Fields who had 1,050 in 2018.
The touchdown pass was the fifth of Arnold’s career and his second of the season. He has completed five of seven pass attempts in his four years and all have gone for scores.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever as a player or coach, and I’ve been doing it over 35 years, have seen that good of a game at his position,” Coach Clay Helton said on the Sun Belt Conference media teleconference this week. “He just had a look in his eye on that night that he wasn’t going to be stopped.
“He was so hot that even that last drive, third-and-12, backed up we said alright go with the hot hand and he busted out another 50-yard run to really end the football game. There’s a reason he’s played all four years. He’s a special player, a competitive player and he carried the entire football team the other night.”
The Eagles (5-5, 3-3) will need a similar performance this Saturday when they take on Old Dominion (7-3, 4-2). Georgia Southern, which ends regular season play at Marshall next week, needs one more win to become bowl eligible. Game time is 1 p.m. at Paulson Stadium.
Almost lost on Arnold’s historic night was a three-touchdown catch game by Brown which tied the school single game mark set by Corey Joyner in 1998. Brown also added to his single season school record which is now at 12.
While Arnold is closing in on the 1,000-yard rushing mark Brown, a transfer from Auburn, is looking to become the first 1,000-yard receiver in school history. He has 51 receptions for 872 yards. Khaleb Hood has the single season mark with 978 in 2023.
Arnold and Brown are among 25 seniors who will be in their final home game: 11 of them have spent their entire career at Georgia Southern while the remaining 14 transferred into the program.
The homegrown Eagles, per the team roster, are: Morgan, Dalen Cobb, Marcus Sanders, Jr., Justin Meyers, Latrell Bulloch, Caelan Williams, Pichon Wimbley, Caleb Cook, Jackson Wheeler, Da’Shaw Davis and Davion Rhodes.
Transfer players in their final game are: Brown, Brendan Harrington, Jacob Ferguson, Ahman Green, Ethan Pouncey, Prince Green, Samual Jamarian, Darrian Smith, Chris Couch, Ethan Dirrim, Chance Gamble, Ty Furnish, Chance Carroll and River Helms.
It’s quite possible, of course, there will be others who are suiting up at Paulson for the last time as they decide to either give up football or hit the transfer portal.
For his performance Arnold was the SBC’s Offensive Player of the Week. This came a week after quarterback J.C. French IV and kicker Tripp Bryant were honored by the conference as Offensive POW and Special Teams POW, respectively.
Sanders, who is having a break out season at wide receiver, said it didn’t matter whether the seniors were players like him who had been in the program four years or those like Brown who will have been around only this season they were all Eagles.
“We’re all brothers, we’re all Eagles,” Sanders said. “For all of us when we go on the field for the last time at Paulson it’s going to be emotional. It’s going to be very special.
“To beat Old Dominion and become bowl eligible in our last home game would be really special.”
