What We Learned In Week 3
The Georgia Southern football team took on FCS foe, South Carolina State, in Week 3. It was a great day in Paulson Stadium for the Eagles who won the game by a score of 42-14.
After forcing the Bulldogs to punt on their first drive, the Eagles offense put together an 8 play, 49 yard drive which was capped off by a touchdown pass from QB JC French to TE Tyler Fromm. The Bulldogs’ second drive ended with a missed field goal and the Eagles took over on their own 24-yard line.
From there, the Eagles had their worst offensive drive of the day: 3 plays for two yards. The Bulldogs got the ball back after a 42-yard punt by Alex Smith. Nine plays and seventy five yards later, the Bulldogs from South Carolina State punched it in the end zone to tie the game 7-7. The Eagles got the ball back after a good kickoff return by DeAndre Buchannon and four plays later, they answered with a touchdown of their own as RB Jalen White punched it in from a yard out as part of the jumbo set that OC Ryan Aplin loves on the goal line.
The Eagles defense then forced a three and out and got the ball back on the 50-yard line. After a few solid plays, the Eagles used a great play design to get RB OJ Arnold behind his man and JC French delivered it on the money for his second passing touchdown of the game which made it 21-7 in favor of the Eagles. That would be the last score of the first half and the Eagles took that lead into the locker room.
In the second half, it was more of the same as the Eagles came out, got the ball, and five plays later scored their fourth touchdown of the evening - this time a 15-yard run by OJ Arnold for his second score of the day. Five plays after the Bulldogs got the ball back, DB Tracy Hill, Jr. picked off a pass and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown which made the Eagles lead 35-7.
SC State QB, Eric Phoenix, was able to shake off the interception and led a 9 play, 75 yard drive to cut the Eagles lead to 21 points as Deondra Deuhart finished off the drive with a one yard run of his own. After the Eagles missed a chip shot field goal, the teams exchanged punts for a few drives and then the Eagles put together a 13 play, 80 yard drive for the final score of the game. The Eagles went on to win 42-14 over SC State.
What We Learned
1) Our offense looks VERY one dimensional and we HAVE to figure out how to establish a run game
Jalen White finished the game with 13 carries for 41 yards and two touchdowns which both came inside the two-yard line
OJ Arnold carried the ball 4 times for 42 yards and a touchdown, but we chose not to play the hot hand
2) JC French is an elite decision-maker and ball protector
Coach Helton said when he named JC French the starting QB that this is why and we are seeing it first hand as he does not make bad decisions and protects the ball very, very well
Winning the turnover margin is huge for getting wins in our league
3) Our defense is improving week to week, but we still have a long way to go
The secondary looks lost at times and gives up chunk plays, especially in zone coverage
The run defense is hit or miss, but when it’s on… it’s on
4) Josh Dallas is a weapon that needs to be utilized more
That guy is a PLAYMAKER and the coaching staff needs to find ways to get him more involved
Photo from Georgia Southern Athletics
