Georgia Southern Eagles College Football Preview 2021: Keys To The Season
Georgia Southern Eagles Biggest Key: Offense
It’s this simple – the ground game has to work really, really well. This is what Georgia Southern does. The passing attack has to be efficient enough to keep things moving once in a while, but if the Eagles can’t run, there’s a problem.
They’ll be fine. The line is great, the backs are there, and the quarterback options are good enough to overcome the loss of Shai Werts, but to control the clock and own the tempo, the O has to grind it out.
The Eagles failed to hit 200 rushing yards three times and lost all three games. Throw in the loss to Appalachian State, and the team was 0-4 when not getting to 250 yards.
The program has lost its last ten games going back to the middle of 2018 when it didn’t get to 200.
Georgia Southern Eagles Biggest Key: Defense
Keep it all going. The Georgia Southern defense has been consistently great at getting into the backfield, the run defense was fantastic, and most of all, the program has figured out how to take the ball away.
For the most part, the losses last year came fwhen the offense didn’t work. Defensively, Georgia Southern was able to overcome most problems with takeaways, coming up with two or more in nine of the last ten games. That’s been part of the process since moving into the FBS world back in 2014.
Go lead the Sun Belt in run defense again, and lead the nation in taking the ball away, and lead the league in total D again. Do all of that in a loaded Sun Belt, and it’ll be another strong year.
Georgia Southern Eagles Key Player To A Successful Season
QB James Graham, Jr.
Or junior Justin Tomlin, or one of the several other options to try taking over the quarterback gig.
The Eagles have the offensive line, they have the running backs, they have a defense that might be the best in the Sun Belt and they’ve got an all-star kicking game that should be a rock. All that’s missing is certainty under center.
Shai Werts wasn’t Trevor Lawrence, but he was an effective passer for what the offense does, hitting 57% of his throws with 34 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Devastating as a runner, he left for Louisville with over 3,000 yards and 34 touchdowns.
Graham has the experience and ability to be ready right out of the box, but the new quarterback has a lot to live up to.
Georgia Southern Eagles Key Game To The 2021 Season
Louisiana, Sept. 25
The Eagles get almost all of their big games at home – except for the date at Appalachian State at the end of the regular season – and they’ve got to come out of the gate hot.
They’ve been able to battle with App State over the years, and the rivalry with Georgia State is a big deal, but it would be a huge deal to make an early statement against a Louisiana team that’s given them a whole bunch of problems.
Georgia Southern is 1-3 since it joined the Sun Belt, but it provided a big push in last year’s 20-18 loss. The league isn’t going to be easy with Arkansas State up next followed up by two road games. Beating the Ragin’ Cajuns would be a huge deal.
– Georgia Southern Schedule Analysis
2020 Georgia Southern Eagles Fun Stats
– Time of Possession: Georgia Southern 33:19 – Opponents 26:41
– 1st Quarter Scoring: Georgia Southern 76 – Opponents 36
– Rushing Yards: Georgia Southern 3,472 – Opponents 1,458