Georgia Southern Powers Past New Mexico State
10/17/2015 9:18:00 PM | Football
Big first half helps Eagles extend Sun Belt win streak
Matt Breida carried 13 times for 137 yards and a touchdown for the Eagles (5-1, 3-0), and L.A. Ramsby rushed 11 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Favian Upshaw and Wesley Fields each scored two touchdowns in the contest. Georgia Southern rolled up 507 yards on the ground.
"Our offensive line did a good job of creating creases," said Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz. "Wesley Fields had a fantastic ball game, Breida played another good game, Ramsby and Kevin rushed the ball really well. We had 507 rushing yards, and that's difficult to do. I told the guys at halftime, 'This is the exact same situation as Louisiana-Monroe a coouple weeks ago - we need to do a good job of finishing without giving them life,' and we didn't quite do that. But as a coach, you always harp on things you can do better."
Andrew Allen completed 20-of-37 passes for 253 yards and three touchdowns to lead New Mexico State (0-6, 0-2), and Larry Rose III rushed for 83 yards and caught five passes for 31 yards.
Georgia Southern built a 28-0 lead midway through the second quarter and led 35-7 at halftime. Ellison provided a bulk of the offense with both his legs and arm in the half. With the Eagles leading 14-0, the junior signal caller ran the keeper around the right side and down the sideline for a 67-yard touchdown run, the longest of his career.
After New Mexico State trimmed the deficit to 28-7 late in the second quarter, Ellison connected with Fields for a 60-yard touchdown pass. Ellison rolled right and threw back to the left over the outstretched hands of an Aggie defender and into the mitts of Fields, who juked a few Aggies and went the distance for a 35-7 cushion. It was Georgia Southern's first touchdown pass in over a year and helped Ellison become the sixth Eagle to throw for over 2,000 career yards.
The Eagles blocked a punt for the third straight contest to set up the opening score of the game, a 19-yard touchdown run by Fields. Breida notched his 11th rushing touchdown of the season, a 20-yard run, to give the Eagles a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter.
After Ellison's long TD run, Matt Dobson broke up a pass on 4th-and-3 to give Georgia Southern the ball at the New Mexico State 47-yard line. Upshaw threw to Myles Campbell for a 12-yard pickup, and Ramsby ran 23 yards for a touchdown and a 28-0 lead midway through the second.
After Allen found Rose III for a 3-yard touchdown pass, Breida scampered 55 yards to set up a 5-yard touchdown run by Ramsby. Antonio Glover's fifth pick of the season set up a 5-yard touchdown run for Upshaw with 5:20 left in the third quarter, and the junior quarterback capped a 14-play, 56-yard drive with a 29-yard run early in the fourth that made the score 56-14.
"We have a big game Thursday night with a short week of preparation," said Fritz. "We need to put this in the rear view mirrior and move on to Appalachian State."
The Eagles have a short week before traveling to Appalachian State for a Sun Belt Conference showdown Thursday. Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
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Georgia Southern Postgame Notes
Oct. 17, 2015 • vs. New Mexico State
• GAME CAPTAINS: #27 Ironhead Gallon, #36 Matt Breida, #60 Andy Kwon, Jonathan Battle
• Georgia Southern wore white helmets, with blue jerseys and white pants tonight. This is the first time in program history Georgia Southern has worn white helmets.
• Georgia Southern won the toss for the fifth time in sixth games this season.
• Georgia Southern was credited with a team blocked punt in the first quarter. It marks the third straight game the Eagles have blocked a punt.
• Sophomore running back L.A. Ramsby went over the 1,000-yard mark from his career with a 23-yard run in the first quarter. He later added a 60-yard touchdown catch, the first of his career.
• Breida scored a touchdown in the game, giving him 28 for his career and 11 for the season. He also had 137 yards rushing, the 12th 100-yard game of his career and his fifth straight. Breida's streak is the longest since Jerick McKinnon rushed for 100+ yards in eight straight games (7 to end 2012, opener of 2013).
• In the past five games, Georgia Southern has rushed for 29 touchdowns, coming from five different players.
• With a 60-yard scoring pass in the first half, Kevin Ellison went over 2,000 career passing yards, becoming the sixth player in Georgia Southern history to rush for and pass for 2,000 or more yards. He now has 2,054 yards passing and 2,312 yards rushing for his career. Georgia Southern was the last FBS team in the country to throw a touchdown pass this season. Prior to tonight, the last time GS had a scoring pass was on Oct. 11, 2014 when the Eagles had two at home against Idaho, a span of 371 days.
• Antonio Glover recorded his fifth interception of the season and the sixth of his career in the third quarter. It was the 11th interception of the season for the Eagle defense.
• Favian Upshaw rushed for a career-high two touchdowns in the game.
• Georgia Southern ran for 507 yards in the game. The Eagles are now 14-1 under Willie Fritz when running for 300 yards or more in the game, 9-0 when rushing for 400 or more yards and 3-0 when rushing for 500 or more yards. It's also the ninth straight home game GS has rushed for 300 or more yards.
• After getting shut out in the opener, the Eagles have score 40 or more points in each of their past five games and have topped 50 in their last two games.
• Georgia Southern has now won all 11 of its Sun Belt games ever played and 13 conference games in a row dating back to its time in the Southern Conference.
• Linebackers Ironhead Gallon and William Bussey were both disqualified for targeting calls in the second half and will have to sit out the first half of Thursday's game at Appalachian State.
