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  • West Virginia shuts down the Eagles 44-0

    Morgantown, West Virginia - Georgia Southern's first ever contest on the gridiron versus a Big XII opponent will be one that most Eagle fans will not soon forget. Coming off a successful debut season in the Sun Belt, the Eagles were not able to carry that momentum forward and have it translate into a meaningful outcome.

    With the graduation of a senior offensive line, coach Willie Fritz and staff knew that there would be challenges in immediately crafting an equivalent replica across the offensive front. Further complicating the reformulation was the suspension of starting quarterback Kevin Ellison, whose absence in the contest versus the Mountaineers was clearly felt.

    Favian Upshaw was tapped for the start and performed poorly, passing for a scant 29 yards on 13 attempts while throwing a Georgia Southern single-game record four interceptions. Upshaw also accounted for 64 net yards on the ground on 16 carries, a 4.0 ypc average. The Eagles finished with 224 yards of total offense, a significantly lower output than 2014 averages which signals the opportunities that exist for the reconstituted offensive line.

    Defensively, the Eagles showed flashes of solid play especially at the linebacker position. Despite poor field position attributed to turnovers, Georgia Southern defenders were able to limit WVU to field goals and punts early in the contest which kept the Eagles within striking distance. Overall, the defensive secondary was overmatched allowing multiple pass plays exceeding 40 yards, with Shelton Gibson catching three passes for 130 yard and Javon Duranted hauling in three throws for 121 yards.

    West Virginia ran the ball 40 times for 185 yards net rushing but it was the passing of Skyler Howard, going 16 of 25 for 359 yards that did the most damage.

    The Eagles come back to Statesboro with a September 11th, 2015 matchup against the Western Michigan Broncos, who fell to #5 Michigan State this week. Both the Eagles and Broncos are 0-1 on the young 2015 season and will be looking for their first victory.

    http://www.gsufans.com/tsc/showthrea...op-10-Thoughts