Eagles Face One of the Hottest Teams in the SoCon Saturday
10/23/2012 6:14:00 PM | Football
Live Stats // Game Notes // Video Streaming // Georgia Southern Radio Network // Game Day Central
VIDEO: Preview interview with Head Coach Jeff Monken
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Football team faces one of the hottest teams in the Southern Conference on the road Saturday. The second-ranked Eagles kick off against Chattanooga at 6 p.m.
Chattanooga (4-3, 3-1) won their third-straight Southern Conference contest Saturday after a 20-13 win over Samford and could put themselves in the hunt for a SoCon title with a win on Saturday. Freshman quarterback Jacob Huesman threw and ran for a touchdown in the win. He also leads the team in both passing and rushing yards and was named SoCon Freshman of the Week on Oct. 15.
"Not only do they have two quarterbacks, but they have a bunch of skill players and a good offensive line. They control the football, don't turn the ball over and they play great defense. They are tops in the league in rushing and scoring defense," Head Coach Jeff Monken said on SoCon Teleconference Tuesday morning. "The thing that impresses me the most is their production on third downs. They convert third downs, and they stop people on third down and get them off the field."
Georgia Southern (6-1, 5-1), who is also chasing the SoCon Title, has won five-straight games after a 38-17 victory over Furman last weekend. Quarterback Jerick McKinnon (Marietta, Ga.) threw for 119 yards and one touchdown while rushing for 65 yards and a score. McKinnon combined with B-Back Dominique Swope (Buford, Ga.) have accounted for nearly half of GSU's total rushing yards.
The Eagles' defense has been a major boon to the team's success this year and ranks second in the FCS in total defense. GSU has also kept teams off the board this season and are allowing 14.4 points per game which ranks fourth in the FCS. A major piece of that success comes from the defensive line, the combination of Dion Dubose (2.5), Josh Gebhardt (5.0), Javon Mention (5.0) and Brent Russell (7.0) have attributed 19.5 of the team's 34 tackles for loss.
The Eagles are 21-4 all-time against Chattanooga (4-3, 3-1) but are just 3-3 in the last six meetings. GSU was forced to hold on to win 28-27 a year ago after a two-point pass attempt by Terrell Robinson with 1:44 remaining failed. Georgia Southern led by 14 points at halftime, but the Mocs tied the contest at 21-21 with an 11-yard run by Robinson with 9:10 remaining in the game. Jaybo Shaw capped off a five play 66-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run and Adrian Mora notched an extra point for the game-winning score.
Saturday's game can be heard across the state of Georgia on the Georgia Southern Radio Network and locally in Statesboro on the flagship Boomer 103.7 FM. For fans traveling to the game the broadcast can be heard on 94.9 FM.
Fans can download "Eagles GATA" to their android devices or iPhones and continue to follow their Eagles at GSEagles.com, facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics.
