Week Two Preview: Nevada
After a disappointing start to the game against the Boise State Broncos, the Georgia Southern Eagles clawed back to take the lead in the 3rd Quarter and again in the 4th Quarter. Unfortunately, the Eagles ran out of gas down the stretch and lost 56-45 to a very good Broncos squad. After the 1st Quarter, the offense for Georgia Southern settled in and found their groove but the defense was overpowered from the jump as Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty ran for 267 yards and 6 touchdowns (both school records).
The good news is that the performance from August 31st is behind them and Eagles can shift their focus to a solid Nevada Wolf Pack (1-1) team who beat 2023 Sun Belt Champion, Troy, on the road last week. The match up with Georgia Southern will be Nevada’s third game after they participated in Week 0 with a close loss to SMU. Both games that Nevada has played thus far have been decided by five points or less. The Wolf Pack squad is averaging 26 PPG while giving up 27.5 PPG. As of Monday, September 2, 2024, the Eagles are 3-point favorites heading into this game.
On the offensive side of the ball, Nevada is led by QB Brendon Lewis, who has completed 31/46 passes for 290 yards and 4 TDs over the first two games. On the ground, RB Savion Red has carried the ball 23 times for 165 yards and a touchdown while adding 2 receptions for 10 yards. 6’6”, 210 pound WR Jaden Smith, who has 10 catches for 113 yards, is the only receiver for the Wolf Pack who has eclipsed 100 yards on the season. WRs Cortez Braham (1), Marcus Bellon (1), and TE Jace Henry (2) have each caught touchdown passes through two games. The offense runs an extremely balanced attack and will use multiple running backs and designed quarterback runs to keep the defense on its toes. Gap assignments and discipline by the secondary by Georgia Southern will be needed to ensure Nevada doesn’t break off big plays.
Defensively, Nevada has only one sack through two games which was split by DE/EDGE Henry Ikahihifo and DE/EDGE Kristopher Ross. LB Drue Watts leads the team in tackles with 21 (12 Solo) followed by LB Tongiaki Mateialona who has 15 through two games. The Wolf Pack typically only play two traditional defensive linemen at a time with two edge defenders splitting time between linebacker and linemen roles. Their starters are relatively undersized, but they are extremely fast and strong. The heaviest defensive lineman listed on their Week One depth chart is NT Mackavelli Malotumau who is listed at 6’2”, 281 Pounds. The defense tends to rush three guys and drop eight into coverage more often than other teams which puts quite a few bodies between the quarterback and receivers.
Nevada K Matthew Killam has attempted just two field goals this season, making one and missing the other. On kickoffs, he has 4 touchbacks through 11 kickoffs. P Guy Gillespie is averaging 42 yards per punt and has pinned the ball inside the twenty yard line on 6 of his eight punts this season. Three different players have returned kicks for the Wolfpack including WR Marquis Ashley, S Kitan Crawford, and RB Ashton Hayes. Of the three, Ashley looks to be the most dangerous as his long return so far has been for 43 yards.
For Georgia Southern offensively, it took a couple of drives to settle in, but QB JC French gave Eagle Nation a glimpse of what can be this season. Against Boise State, he completed 28/50 passes for 322 yards and 2 TDs while adding 39 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. After falling behind early, OC Ryan Aplin was forced to go away from the ground game and RB Jalen White was limited to just 11 carries for 35 yards. In goal line sets, his number was called quite a few times and he was able to get the ball in the end zone on three occasions. The receivers were led by WR Derwin Burgess, Jr. (4 catches, 93 yards) and WR Dalen Cobb (4 catches, 55 yards, 1 TD) but in all, eleven different Eagles caught passes from French which shows that he sees the field well and goes through progressions to find the open man. With Nevada’s undersized defensive front, fans should see more of Jalen White in the run game as long as the Eagles do not fall behind early.
Defensively, the Eagles were overpowered by Boise State from the very beginning. There is a lot to work on for DC Brandon Bailey’s group but most of the issues were caused by poor gap discipline and bad tackling. Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty broke two school records against Georgia Southern after rushing for 267 yards and 6 TDs on just 20 carries. The Eagles were led by LB Marques Watson-Trent who finished 7 tackles, S Justin Meyers and S TJ Smith who finished with 6 tackles each. This group will likely spend a lot of time this week watching film to clean up missed assignments and poor tackling. With the game in Nevada, the team will likely leave Statesboro on Thursday to get acclimated to the time change which makes for a short week after a poor performance. Expect this group to be much better this as there several veteran leaders in the locker room that were extremely unhappy with the group’s performance against Boise State.
The Eagles special teams group looked solid in week one as K Gavin Stewart converted his lone field goal attempt from 31 yards and was a perfect 4/4 on PATs. P Alex Smith punted the ball 4 times for an average of 39.25 yards with 3 being fair caught by the returner. WR DeAndre Buchannon was a spark for the Eagles in the return game with 5 kicks returned for an average of 27 yards including a 45-yard return to give the Eagles great field position. Look for him to continue being aggressive in the return game and do not be surprised when he springs one for a touchdown soon!
Eagles beat Nevada if:
1) Win the turnover battle
2) Jalen White gets more than 18 carries
3) The defense stays disciplined with gap and player assignments
