Georgia Southern Football Holds Final Scrimmage of 2013 Preseason Camp
8/17/2013 4:38:00 PM | Football
VIDEO: Surprise marriage proposal -- TE Coach Sean Saturnio to Sharon Gordy
VIDEO:Post-scrimmage interview with Offensive Coordinator Brent Davis
VIDEO:Post-scrimmage interview with Senior DE Javon Mention
PHOTO GALLERY: Scrimmage, Surprise Proposal and Final Dinner
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern Football team wrapped up its 2013 preseason camp with a 70-play scrimmage at Paulson Stadium after participating in "Meet the Eagles" this morning. Today's final session of preseason camp gave the coaching staff the opportunity to evaluate some Eagles by giving them additional playing time.
"It is hard to get an on-the-field evaluation, it is a lot easier with film and we have that resource to be able to go and watch and I'm going to do that right now and take a look," said Georgia Southern Head Football Coach Jeff Monken. "I'm really looking at individual guys to see if they are playing hard and playing with good technique and fundamentals. We sat a lot of guys today to give them a rest, which they needed, and we did that too to find out more about some of the young guys that haven't gotten as many reps, so hopefully that was good for us."
The scrimmage was planned with the Eagle ones and twos getting a limited number of reps. Unlike last weekend's scrimmage with several touchdowns, redshirt freshman Connor Tierney kicked a 35-yard field goal for the only scoring of the scrimmage. In addition to calling plays for offense and defense, Georgia Southern also included special teams plays with live kickoffs, punts and returns.
"We find out more just about what guys really know and when you call a defense or you call a play, do they know where to line up, do they know that the gap they are supposed to play, and we'll turn it loose and play when the ball gets snapped, when there are officials are out there and it's more of a game-time situation."
Preseason camp officially ended Saturday evening with a final team dinner. The team is off Sunday and Monday and returns to the practice field Tuesday afternoon. The Eagles won't be the only ones at work at Paulson Stadium next Friday for their scheduled scrimmage. The construction crews continued to work during Saturday's scrimmage as the seat expansion and Football Operations Center projects and press box renovations showed continued progress.
"I am excited about all the work going on, just to see the transformation here is exciting," Monken said. "Our kids were so excited to be out here and be in front of a crowd. We have the best fans in the world and it is going to be great to be out here and hear 'Whose House?" Our House' and the Georgia Southern chants and cheers for another year."
Georgia Southern has eight practices remaining before its season opener against Savannah State at 6 p.m. August 31st at Paulson Stadium. The Eagles and Tigers last met in 2010 for Monken's first game as Georgia Southern head coach, coming out a winner, 48-3. For the first game of the 2013 campaign, the Georgia Southern Athletic Department has planned a "Night of Champions" to recognize former Georgia Southern teams and pair them with Eagle student-athletes and teams that won championships during the 2012-13 season.
"The next couple of weeks will be spent solely getting ready for Savannah State and we need to concentrate and focus on that game plan and go from there," Monken said.
FIRST FOOTBALL: Inclement weather will bring the first football game to Statesboro a couple of weeks early as Georgia Southern Women's Soccer will play host to Georgia State at 4 p.m. Sunday, August 18th. The match was originally scheduled to be played in Atlanta, but now the GSU vs. GSU battle will take place in the 'Boro at the Soccer Complex at Erk Russell Athletic Park. Admission is free.
DAY ONE: Kicking off a new year at Georgia Southern, the third annual "Day One" event on Monday, August 19th, will teach traditions to the new members of Eagle Nation and bring together fans, friends, alumni, student-athletes, coaches, Eagle cheerleaders, GUS, Freedom, and the Southern Pride Marching Band. University President Brooks Keel, Student Government Association President Garrett Green, Eagle Head Football Coach Jeff Monken and Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein will speak at the event with the program beginning at 9 p.m.
Tailgating begins at 7 p.m. in the Paulson Stadium parking lot with a performance by Eagle Football and Georgia Southern alum Eric Lee Beddingfield. Due to the construction, Day One will take place in the south stands of Paulson Stadium. The first 1,500 fans will receive a free meal from Eagle Dining Services and the next 2,000 fans will receive a True Blue towel.
ALOHA: Georgia Southern Tight Ends Coach Sean Saturnio had planned on asking Sharon Gordy to marry him and Saturday morning put together a plan to surprise her, using the meaning of the word "Aloha" as the foundation for his proposal. Saturnio, a native of Hawai'I, said he traded "palm trees for pine trees," when coming to Georgia Southern and "didn't think he would find love again," dropped to a knee and asked Gordy to be his wife. Gordy, who almost decided to stay at home because of the weather, waited for Coach Saturnio after today's scrimmage where a faux interview was set up for him to put his plan into place.
SINGLE-GAME TICKETS NOW ON SALE: Single-game tickets for the 2013 campaign went on sale online Saturday morning at GSEagles.com/tickets and will be available for purchase at the Athletics Ticket Office Monday morning beginning at 8:30 a.m. Eagle fans can stop by the Cowart Building at 203 Lanier Drive or call 1-800-GSU-WINS to make their purchases for one game or more. Season tickets are also available for all six home games. For more information and pricing, or to purchase with 24/7 convenience, visit GSEagles.com/tickets.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on his official twitter account, @CoachJeffMonken.
