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Thursday, March 28
The Indiana Daily Student

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Here's what you need to know about Georgia Southern

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IU, 1-1, will play Georgia Southern, 0-2, at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in the Hoosiers' second home game.

To get an inside look at the Georgia Southern team, the Indiana Daily Student spoke to Thomas Jilk, sports editor of The George-Anne, the student newspaper at Georgia Southern University.

1. Georgia Southern has gotten off to a poor start this season. Aside from having to play at then-No. 12 Auburn and a "home game" outside the state of Georgia, what other factors have caused the poor start?

After Tyson Summers was hired (as head coach) last season, Georgia Southern’s offense wasn’t all option all the time as it had been in the past. The 2016 team went 5-7, drastically below standards, which was partially attributable to the offensive scheme change and the players' not being used to the best of their talents. 

A perfect example of this is RB Matt Breida, now on the San Francisco 49ers, who had just over 600 rushing yards his senior season (Summers’ first season) after rushing for more than 1,600 yards as a junior under Coach Willie Fritz.

After backlash from the fans and Athletics Director Tom Kleinlein, Georgia Southern and Summers vowed to return to option football, but it has been a terrible struggle thus far. The same problem of not making the most of talent is manifesting once again.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Shai Werts has gained 240 yards on the ground but has carried the ball 54 times and lost 100 yards as well. He has been battered and is shouldering an unreasonable amount of the rushing load. Experienced running backs Wesley Fields and L.A. Ramsby need bigger holes to run through and more carries, and part of that burden lies with the underperforming offensive line.

The defense has been promising at times, including junior transfer linebackers Tomarcio Reese, but some players have also been injured and struggled mightily to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks. 

2. The Eagles have struggled in recent times under Tyson Summers. What has caused this downturn, and is Summers likely to be fired?

I wrote a column about the potential firing of Tyson Summers and how he and our athletics director have not been worth their contracts. The fact that Georgia Southern won its conference after moving up from FCS and dominated its first appearance in a bowl game was exciting and impressive, but it is unreasonable to expect a program that started FBS play in 2014 to sustain that kind of success.

That said, Summers has helmed a dramatic decline in performance on the field and is at the center of a growing controversy regarding the firing of the co-offensive coordinators last season.

He has lost the trust of the extremely passionate fans and has not met their high expectations. Kleinlein may give him until the end of the season to see if he can turn it around, but at Georgia Southern, a certain level of success is expected in football. In my opinion, if we have another losing season, Summers will almost certainly be fired.

3.  Georgia Southern obviously uses a unique triple-option scheme. How has this brand of football helped and hurt the Eagles?

The option is commonly discussed as one of the hardest offenses to stop, but also one of the toughest to execute. If you watch Georgia Tech, coached by former GSU legend Paul Johnson, their option game is precise and incisive.

This discipline takes years to develop, which is why it’s so important that Summers tampered with the scheme. 

To answer, the gun option we run now can be useful and dangerous with speed on the edge and an experienced decision-maker at quarterback. Our backfield is full of speed, including Werts, but the decision-making and offensive line play are not nearly where they need to be. 

At its worst, the option is predictable, and it has been just that too often for the Eagles this season.

4.  What has to go right for Georgia Southern to pull the upset this weekend?

In short, a lot.

They have to put pressure on Richard Lagow, which seems unlikely considering the pass rush against New Hampshire was virtually invisible. They have to force turnovers on defense and take care of the ball on offense. 

The most important factor is offensive execution. Without picking up first downs and consistently moving the ball, there is no hope for Georgia Southern. However, if they are able to get a push up front and wear out the Indiana defense, that is when long runs could open up and shift momentum in the Eagles’ favor.

GSU also cannot afford the special teams blunders, including poor punting, that have been everywhere in the first two games. 

5.  After losing to FCS school New Hampshire in its last game, what mentality does the Georgia Southern team have right now?

Summers insists the team remains confident, but isn’t denying he is “ticked off” at the result of the New Hampshire game. He says he believes in his players, but to say they all believe in him would probably be far from factual.

Everyone is saying the right things, but there is no way the mentality now is the same as it was at the beginning of the season. There’s just no way. 

The team definitely has talent, and if the players can begin to mesh more quickly, GSU has a chance to perform pretty well in Sun Belt Conference play and change fans’ minds about Summers.

6.  What's the outlook for the Eagles in Sun Belt Conference play this year?

The expectations are low right now. 

Appalachian State, the Eagles' longtime rival who moved up to the FBS the same year (2014), looks as strong as expected, along with Arkansas State and Troy.

The Eagles play all three of the teams just mentioned in conference play. If they can win two of those games, they could be in good shape to finish in the top half of the conference.

Cameron Drummond

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