Football Closes Three-Game Homestand with Presbyterian College
10/21/2011 4:07:00 PM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Football team (6-0, 5-0) wraps up a three-game homestand with Presbyterian College (2-4) at 2 p.m. on Saturday. The Eagles welcome back former Eagle assistant coach Harold Nichols (1992-95), who is in his third season as head coach of the Blue Hose.
"Harold Nichols does a great job and has really improved that program. Two years ago they were 0-11," said Head Coach Jeff Monken. "Harold knows Georgia Southern. He coached in this offense for years with Tim Stowers at Georgia Southern and Rhode Island. They are not going to be surprised at all with anything that we can throw at them."
The Eagles will honor members of the armed forces as a part of Military Appreciation Day on Saturday and the Georgia Southern's U.S. Army ROTC Eagle Battalion will be collecting non-perishable snacks for the 82nd Airborne Division at the game. The drop-off point for these donations is outside of Gates 6 and 7 of Paulson Stadium from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Members of the military can purchase tickets for $15 with a Military I.D.
Georgia Southern continues to lead the nation in rushing and scoring offense after the largest scoring output in the Furman rivalry last Saturday. The Eagles ran for 361 yards on the ground en route to six rushing touchdowns including two from quarterback Jaybo Shaw (Flowery Branch, Ga.). Shaw also helped the Eagles amass 532 yards of total offense with six completions for 171 yards through the air.
"We are going to have to play well and get our guys refocused after a big emotional win over Furman," said Monken.
Georgia Southern is averaging 44 points per game and has scored 34 touchdowns this season. The Eagles are also averaging over 370 yards on the ground, and are one of three Southern Conference squads in the top-five of the NCAA rankings for rushing.
Presbyterian has already played two SoCon members in Wofford and Furman and is coming off a 28-14 Big South Conference win over Gardner-Webb Saturday. The Blue Hose gave the Terriers a scare, 35-28, in the season opener on September 3rd. However, in their second meeting against a Southern Conference foe they fell 62-21 at Furman.
"[Presbyterian College] is playing tough passionate football. Defensively their guys fly around and play really hard," stated Monken on the SoCon's Weekly Teleconference.
Presbyterian runs a spread offense but is balanced in their attack, averaging 153 yards rushing and 145 yards passing per game. Lance Byrd leads the ground game with 407 yards and five touchdowns for an average of 68 yards per game. Ryan Singer made his fourth start at quarterback last week and completed 13 passes for 146 yards and a score in the win over the Bulldogs.
"I have been impressed with the running back that they got. He does a great job finding holes and running through some tackles. They do a lot of different things on offense and that creates some challenges for our defense in getting prepared for them," said Monken.
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