Given a bye week and -— after dodging Hurricane Irma — about 10 days to prepare for Indiana, the Georgia Southern Eagles fell flat, to say the least.
    An exchange of three-and-outs was the closest the Eagles ever got to being in the game and the Hoosiers racked up a 31-0 lead before coasting to a 52-17 victory Saturday evening in Blioomington, Ind.
    Two critical fumbles and a turnover on downs in the first half set up the Hoosiers (2-1) with short fields. While Indiana entered Saturday as a pass-heavy team, it was Morgan Ellison’s 186 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries that helped the Hoosiers pull away early.
    After the teams traded three-and-out series on their first drives, the Eagles (0-3) were forced to punt for a second time. Indiana’s offense came to life as it sped down the field on a 10-play, 73-yard drive that culminated with Ellison plunging in from 2 yards out.
    Georgia Southern’s offense sputtered again, and J-Shun Harris slipped two tackles before racing a Matt Flynn punt back to the house for a 14-0 Hoosier lead.
    The first promising play of the day from the Eagle offense ended with a fumble by L.A. Ramsby near midfield. Indiana recovered and Ellison broke off a 34-yard run to put the Hoosiers in business again. Indiana drove inside the GS 5 yard line and, while Ellison fumbled short of the goal line, IU receiver Simmie Cobbs fell on the ball in the end zone for a 21-0 advantage before the first quarter was over.
    Indiana added a field goal early in the second quarter and a fumble by Werts at the GS 36 led to a 1-yard plunge by Ellison to make it a 31-0 game in the Hoosiers’ favor.
    The game may have already been out out of hand, but the Eagles put together, arguably, their best offensive drive of the season late in the first half. An 8-play drive saw just one play go for fewer than five yards and Werts found a wide open Ellis Richardson for a 23-yard pass-and-catch to make it a 31-7 score that held into halftime.
    Unfortunately for the Eagles, any momentum gained from the late first half score was erased in the opening moments of the second half when IU quarterback Richard Lagow (8-for-13, 130 yds., 1 TD) found tight end Ian Thomas for a 71-yard strike.
    The Eagle offense sputtered yet again in its first attempt of the second half and Indiana backup quarterback Peyton Ramsey found Devonte Williams for a 42-yard scoring strike and a 45-7 IU lead.
    From there, Indiana cleared its bench on both offense and defense. The Eagle defense was able to hold its ground and Georgia Southern cut into the lead with a 63-yard hookup from Werts to Deonte Glenn and a 32-yard field goal by Tyler Bass before the third quarter came to an end.
    With both sides seemingly running through the motions in the fourth quarter, the final points of the day were registered when GS quarterback Kado Brown completed a short out to Obe Fortune, only to see Indiana’s Andre Brown rip the ball out of Fortune’s hands and sprint 22 yards for another Hoosier touchdown.
    With the loss, Georgia Southern is off to its first 0-3 start since restarting the football program in 1981. The Eagles will have another long week of preparation before hosting Arkansas State on Oct. 4 in a nationally televised Wednesday night game.