If there is anyone out there thinking Georgia Southern’s season is over after the Eagles lost to Houston, 42-28, last Saturday to drop to 1-3 going into Saturday’s Sun Belt Conference opener at Coastal Carolina they better think again.

At least that’s the opinion of Georgia Southern center Ty Furnish. And he has history on his side. The last time the Eagles started 1-3 was in 2019. That team rebounded to win six of its last eight games to earn a Cure Bowl invite.

“I still believe deep down we have a really good football team, a good squad,” said Furnish who is in his second season at Georgia Southern after playing three years at Virginia. “It’s not quite the start we wanted but every goal is still ahead of us.

“We just have to keep digging and get to conference play,” Furnish said. “We have to win some games, close them out and we can accomplish everything we wanted.”

The 6-foot-3, 295-pound furnish is the anchor of an all-new offensive line that, despite the results to date, is jelling into a cohesive, productive unit.

It has been said by more than one person the smartest people on offense are linemen and Furnish isn’t about to disagree with that statement.

“I think it’s a nice thing people like to say about the linemen and my experience supports that,” said Furnish who played at Blessed Trinity under legendary coach Tim McFarlin. “I think in order to play the offensive line you have to have a good understanding of everything you want to do on offense and you also have to be able to adjust as quickly as possible.

“If they’re going to blitz you have got to be able to see it coming. You’ve got to be able to make the pre-snap read, you’ve got to be able to block back as a group. I think that’s very hard, it’s hard to drill into it. It’s hard to see it happening in a game.”

Furnish is joined on the offensive line by Matthew Williams at left tackle, Brandon Stoner at left guard, Ethan Williams at right guard and Colin Alexander at right tackle. Williams and Alexander were not available against the Cougars and were replaced by Jaylen Slaughter and Caelen Williams.

There are a couple of keys, Furnish said, to being a successful offensive line, especially one with five new starters.

“The first one, I would say, is preparation,” Furnish said. “We watch game film on Monday as a group to get an idea of who we’re going to be playing against. Then we go through the normal game prep during the week.

“The second thing to tie us together is we communicate as much as possible to see if we’re all seeing the same thing,” Furnish said. “We can then make all the same call, we can all be tied together. In the game with the preparation we have leading up to it is the communication we have with everyone on the offensive line.”

Although everyone on the offensive line is new to the starting lineup with the exception of Furnish, who is in his second year in the program, they are all homegrown having come in as freshmen. Still, everyone has to come together and function as one and the assimilation is not always easy.

“It’s time spent together, it’s getting through spring ball, going through winter and summer workouts together to initially build that trust,” Furnish said. “We hang together on off days, on weekends, try to get together at restaurants. I think the time you spend together helps build that trust.

“I think we have done a great job as an offensive line and I think it might be the easiest group to deal with. Every offensive line I’ve been a part of has been a really tight group. Everyone gets along, everyone gives each other crap and laugh and go out to eat, especially.”