Nathan Deen, who covers Georgia Southern for the Savannah Morning News, steps in to break down the Eagles and Saturday's Tech-Southern game from the opposition's perspective. You can follow Nathan on Twitter here and read his coverage here.
Q: How different does the Georgia Southern offense look than the version Georgia Tech saw two years ago with then-coach Willie Fritz?
A: Well, it's kind of funny because Georgia Southern threw for a season-high 245 passing yards in that game two years ago. Unbelievably, GS has hit more big plays in the passing game than in the running game this season, so it wouldn't surprise me if they end up with over 200 passing yards again on Saturday.
Last season, I always wondered how good GS could be with any kind of passing game. Fritz and his staff just never could get the Eagles off the ground. This new staff seems to have had no problem improving the accuracy of quarterbacks Favian Upshaw and Kevin Ellison, and this team has a pretty good corps of receivers. But Summers and his staff have lost Georgia Southern’s identity on offense. The Eagles are actually struggling to run the ball. They were outgained on the ground 377-191 in the Arkansas State game. Star running back Matt Breida has yet to have a 100-yard game in his senior season. Both of those facts seem unfathomable, but that’s where we are.
Q: What does it say about Georgia Southern that it won the turnover margin 5-0 against Arkansas State but lost the game 27-26? (According to sports-reference.com, teams that turn the ball over five or more times while not gaining any takeaways are 7-201 since 2000.)
A: Again, an identity crisis on offense. Statistically, the Eagles are a coin flip on scoring touchdowns in the red zone, 10 of 20 on the season. But get this: Five of those converted red-zone touchdowns came in the season opener against Savannah State. Since then, the Eagles have really been terrible when they're inside the 20, settling for field goals or turning the ball over.
Q: It looks like quarterbacks Favian Upshaw and Kevin Ellison split time fairly evenly. How are they different, and how is their playing time divided?
A: It appeared Upshaw was a little banged up in the Arkansas State game and didn't see many snaps. Ellison pretty much played the whole game. It's a true two-quarterback system, with one player starting one game and the other starting the next. But sometimes Summers will rotate them in the middle of the drive. I've seen Ellison start a drive at the 20, and by the time GS gets inside the opponent's 30, Upshaw will come in.
Q: What impact did the hurricane have on the team?
A: Summers said the players were definitely worried the morning of the Arkansas State game, which was a Wednesday. The team landed in Savannah early Thursday, and classes were canceled that afternoon. Most of the players went home. The team had everybody back on Monday and held its regular afternoon practice. So it's been a normal week of preparation.
Q: Do you think players will have payback on their minds from 2014?
A: Absolutely. This game has a lot of implications for them: payback from the last meeting, playing an in-state rival, trying to knock off a Power 5 team. They want to get to 4-2 first and foremost, but they're thinking about all those things.
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