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Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics
Position Preview: The Running Backs
8/29/2015 10:08:00 AM | Football
Breida and Ramsby lead explosive group
The Georgia Southern football team set the bar extremely high in its first season of FBS play. By winning the Sun Belt Conference title, the Eagles duplicated what just two other teams in the history of college football had accomplished, and became the only team to do it with an undefeated league record. With 13 starters back, five on the offensive side of the ball and eight on defense, Georgia Southern will try to meet and surpass that standard in 2015 by reaching the first bowl game in school history.
With the season opener at West Virginia getting closer each day, GSEagles.com will break down each position group now that camp is over and the regular season is rapidly approaching. Today, we take a brief look at the running backs, led by coach Dell McGee.
COACH McGEE ON THE RUNNING BACKS:
"The biggest thing for us is making sure we have great effort and play with ball security at all times. We need to try and get better on a daily basis. Right now, the guys are really doing that and pushing themselves to the limit to try and get in game shape. That's tough to do down in the south with the humidity and all the other factors, but they're getting it done. Both Matt and L.A. bring great experience and leadership to the table. Matt had a great season last year and has great speed. He can run inside the tackles or outside the tackles and he's a big-play threat every time he touches the football. L.A. is a very solid running back who runs well in between the tackles and is very good in pass protection. They definitely bring two different styles; L.A. is more of a banger and Breida is that home run threat that you need. Wesley Fields is doing a really good job and is going to help us out tremendously this season. Thomas Banks, Chaz Thornton and all those guys have been good for us this fall. We're going to be a running back by committee, especially early on this season."
BRIEFLY:
• The two-headed monster of junior Matt Breida and sophomore L.A. Ramsby return to the Eagle backfield with a stable of other runners read to contribute. The duo combined to rush for 2,176 yards and 29 touchdowns last season as the Eagles led the nation in rushing yards per game.
• A Doak Walker Award semifinalist, Breida burst onto the scene last season by leading both the nation and Sun Belt in rushing yards per carry at 8.7 and ranked at the top of the Sun Belt rushing chart at 123.8 yards per game. He had more rushing touchdowns of 50 yards or more than anyone in the nation (7) and had the second-highest rushing touchdowns in the league with 17. He finished with 1,485 yards en route to earning first-team All-Sun Belt accolades.
• Ramsby was named to the Sun Belt All-Newcomer team after rushing for 691 yards and 12 touchdowns. Neither Breida nor Ramsby took snaps during any live portions of the spring, which opened up a chance for Thomas Banks, Demarcus Godfrey, Chaz Thornton and Noah Hickey to show their stuff.
• True freshman Wesley Fields has impressed coaches in the preseason camp and is expected to be the backup to Breida at one of the spots.
Monday, Aug. 24 - LINEBACKERS
Tuesday, Aug. 25 - QUARTERBACKS
Wednesday, Aug. 26 - SECONDARY
Thursday, Aug. 27 - TIGHT ENDS/H-BACKS
Friday, Aug. 28 - DEFENSIVE LINE
TODAY - RUNNING BACKS
Sunday, Aug. 30 - SPECIALISTS
Monday, Aug. 31 - OFFENSIVE LINE
Tuesday, Sept. 1 - WIDE RECEIVERS
With the season opener at West Virginia getting closer each day, GSEagles.com will break down each position group now that camp is over and the regular season is rapidly approaching. Today, we take a brief look at the running backs, led by coach Dell McGee.
COACH McGEE ON THE RUNNING BACKS:
"The biggest thing for us is making sure we have great effort and play with ball security at all times. We need to try and get better on a daily basis. Right now, the guys are really doing that and pushing themselves to the limit to try and get in game shape. That's tough to do down in the south with the humidity and all the other factors, but they're getting it done. Both Matt and L.A. bring great experience and leadership to the table. Matt had a great season last year and has great speed. He can run inside the tackles or outside the tackles and he's a big-play threat every time he touches the football. L.A. is a very solid running back who runs well in between the tackles and is very good in pass protection. They definitely bring two different styles; L.A. is more of a banger and Breida is that home run threat that you need. Wesley Fields is doing a really good job and is going to help us out tremendously this season. Thomas Banks, Chaz Thornton and all those guys have been good for us this fall. We're going to be a running back by committee, especially early on this season."
BRIEFLY:
• The two-headed monster of junior Matt Breida and sophomore L.A. Ramsby return to the Eagle backfield with a stable of other runners read to contribute. The duo combined to rush for 2,176 yards and 29 touchdowns last season as the Eagles led the nation in rushing yards per game.
• A Doak Walker Award semifinalist, Breida burst onto the scene last season by leading both the nation and Sun Belt in rushing yards per carry at 8.7 and ranked at the top of the Sun Belt rushing chart at 123.8 yards per game. He had more rushing touchdowns of 50 yards or more than anyone in the nation (7) and had the second-highest rushing touchdowns in the league with 17. He finished with 1,485 yards en route to earning first-team All-Sun Belt accolades.
• Ramsby was named to the Sun Belt All-Newcomer team after rushing for 691 yards and 12 touchdowns. Neither Breida nor Ramsby took snaps during any live portions of the spring, which opened up a chance for Thomas Banks, Demarcus Godfrey, Chaz Thornton and Noah Hickey to show their stuff.
• True freshman Wesley Fields has impressed coaches in the preseason camp and is expected to be the backup to Breida at one of the spots.
Monday, Aug. 24 - LINEBACKERS
Tuesday, Aug. 25 - QUARTERBACKS
Wednesday, Aug. 26 - SECONDARY
Thursday, Aug. 27 - TIGHT ENDS/H-BACKS
Friday, Aug. 28 - DEFENSIVE LINE
TODAY - RUNNING BACKS
Sunday, Aug. 30 - SPECIALISTS
Monday, Aug. 31 - OFFENSIVE LINE
Tuesday, Sept. 1 - WIDE RECEIVERS
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