Georgia Southern Poised to Repeat?

(This is the second of a 14 part series on Sun Belt Conference teams and UL opponents for 2015.  Today:  Georgia Southern.  The Cajuns and Eagles do not play this season.)

OK, if you saw that coming last year, raise your hands.

Thank you Eagles fans, you may put your hands down.  Anyone else?  Yeah, me neither.

In their first year in the FBS, Georgia Southern won nine games, went undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference and, had they been eligible, would have been in a bowl game.  And, they did it with a head coach who had never coached a single down in FBS football.  And, they were five points away from being 11-1.

There are a few question marks about the 2015 Eagles.  But there are plenty of reasons to believe last year was no fluke.

OFFENSE--Willie Fritz came over from Sam Houston State and scrapped Jeff Monken's flexbone in favor of a spread option attack.  He said his team would throw the ball twice as much as past Georgia Southern teams.  While that didn't happen (The Eagles only threw the ball 155 times last year and only threw 20 passes in a game once), Georgia Southern players adapted to the new system quickly and parlayed that into an offense that was held to under 420 yards only once. Quarterback Kevin Ellison had 1,000 yards both passing and rushing and second quarterback Favian Upshaw (former FIU) had 670 combined yards.  Running back Matt Brieda rushed for nearly 1,500 yards and averaged 8.2 yards per carry.  The main playmakers are back for Ga. Southern, but there could be an issue up front.  They lose two all-conference selections and four out of five starters.  When it comes to this offense, though, it's a big question...but it's the only one.

DEFENSE--The Eagles return nine starters from a defense that allowed only thirty points one time in SBC play.  Their front four returns intact.  They suffered a big loss in LB Edwin Jackson.  There's experience in the secondary including free safety Matt Dobson, who had a 100 yard kickoff return last year.

SPECIAL TEAMS--Both K Alex Hanks and P Ryan Nowicki return and both were dependable a year ago.  Derek Keaton was solid in KR last year but GS didn't get much done in the PR game.

SCHEDULE: -They host Western Michigan and the Citadel in non-conference.  Their two road conference games could be interesting.  West Virginia is picked in the second division of the Big 12 and you can bet the Eagles will be geeked about their trip to Georgia on November 21.  They could be catching the Bulldogs at a good time (between road games at Auburn and Georgia Tech.)  They avoid Louisiana and Arkansas State again this season which makes their conference schedule pretty soft.  Coming off a trip to Idaho, their game at ULM could be interesting.  But all eyes will be on their meeting in Boone against Appalachian State with both teams on a short week.

OUTLOOK--At worst, Georgia Southern will be 2-2 in non conference play.  And, really, their only challenge in the league will be that game against App State in late October, although the game at ULM could be interesting as the Warhawks played the Eagles pretty tough in Statesboro last year.  Bottom line is, this team will win 8-10 games and this year, they won't have to petition anyone for a bowl game.

(Phil Steele's College Football Preview was used as a reference in this article.)