STATESBORO, Ga. – Matt Breida rushed for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and the Georgia Southern defense gave up just 136 yards of offense in a 55-17 Sun Belt Conference football victory over South Alabama Saturday afternoon in Paulson Stadium.

The Eagles (8-3, 6-1) capitalized on five big plays over 40 yards in winning their 11th consecutive home game. Breida had a 75 yard touchdown run along with a 40-yard jaunt, and L.A. Ramsby scored on a 46-yard scamper. Kevin Ellison broke off a 56-yard run that set up a touchdown, and Derek Keaton returned a punt 72 yards to set up another score.

Meanwhile, the Eagle defense was stout, recording two interceptions, four sacks, seven tackles for loss and five pass breakups. After giving up a 75-yard scoring drive on South Alabama's first series of the contest, the Eagles allowed just 61 yards for the rest of the game and held the Jaguars to 0 for 11 on 3rd-down conversions.

"We were a little sluggish on the first drive, the energy was a little low and we had to adjust to the speed of the game," senior linebacker Antwione Williams said. "They showed a lot of stuff they hadn't showed on film, and we did a great job of adjusting and bouncing back strong."

Ramsby finished with 85 yards on 13 carries, and Ellison rushed nine times for 78 yards and two touchdowns and threw for another score. Keaton finished with 111 yards on four punt returns and caught a 23-yard touchdown pass. Williams led the Eagles with seven tackles and 1.5 sacks, while Darrius White and Darius Jones each picked off a pass.

Xavier Johnson was held to 29 yards on 10 carries for South Alabama (5-6, 3-4), and Cody Clements threw for 64 yards after completing 5 of 12 passes.

"They showed us a few new wrinkles in the beginning of the game," Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz said. "We made some adjustments, and they didn't have much success after that. Holding anybody to 136 yards in this day and age is just outstanding."

Trailing 14-7, Georgia Southern scored 21 points in the final 6:28 of the first half to take control of the game. Ellison set up a short touchdown run for Breida by keeping the ball on an option play to the right and running 56 yards down to the South Alabama 1-yard line.

The Eagle defense forced a 3-and-out on the Jaguars' ensuing possession, and Ellison hit Ryan Longoria for a 17-yard pickup to start the Georgia Southern march down the field. Wesley Fields logged two carries for 21 yards before Ellison hit Keaton with a 23-yard touchdown pass in the corner of the end zone with 1:36 left on the clock.

South Alabama tried a long pass on the first play of its next series, and Johnson was stopped for no gain by Ironhead Gallon on second down, prompting Georgia Southern to use one of its three timeouts with 1:16 to play. Clements tried a pass over the middle on third down, and the ball tipped off his receiver's hands and into the arms of Darrius White, who returned it to the Jaguar 8-yard line. Ellison took it to the 2-yard line with a quarterback keeper and then leaped over the top on 3rd-and-goal to put the Eagles ahead 28-14 with 27 seconds left in the frame.

South Alabama gained field position deep in GS territory early in the third quarter when Ronnie Reed blocked a punt, and the Jags recovered at the Eagle 8-yard line. The Georgia Southern defense came up big and gave up just two yards on three plays, and South Alabama settled for a 24-yard field goal by Aleem Sunanon. 

The Eagles extended their lead on the next play from scrimmage as Breida took the handoff, cut right and then back left and raced 75 yards for a touchdown and a 35-17 Georgia Southern cushion. The Eagle defense gave up just 17 yards from scrimmage on South Alabama's next two possessions, and Georgia Southern tacked on a 21-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo and a nifty, 46-yard touchdown run by Ramsby to run the score to 45-17 at the end of the third quarter.

With the score tied 7-7 and the Eagles driving in the second quarter, Georgia Southern elected to go for it on 4th-and-1 from the Jaguar 34-yard line. Akeem Lewis broke free into the backfield and forced a fumble, which Devon Earl scooped up and dashed 62 yards for the touchdown and a 14-7 South Alabama lead midway through the period. The Jaguars managed to score just three more points the rest of the afternoon.

The Eagles finish out the regular season by playing host to Georgia State next Saturday at 2 p.m. in Paulson Stadium. Two points will be on the line in the Southern vs. State Rivalry Series, it's Senior Day for the Eagles and it's a Blue Out in Paulson Stadium.

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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Fans can purchase tickets to Georgia Southern Athletics events by visiting GSEagles.com/tickets.
 

Georgia Southern Postgame Notes
Nov. 28, 2015 • vs. South Alabama

• GAME CAPTAINS: #6 Darrius White, #9 Montay Crockett, #56 Bernard Dawson and #60 Andy Kwon

• Georgia Southern is wearing blue helmets, with blue jerseys and white pants tonight. The Eagles are now 9-1 under head coach Willie Fritz in this combo.

• South Alabama went down and scored on its first drive, marking the third-straight game the opposing offense has scored on their first possession. Troy kicked a field goal and Georgia scored a touchdown. 

• After getting shut out in the opener, Georgia Southern has rushed for 45 touchdowns, coming from seven different players in the past 10 games.

• South Alabama returned a fumble 62 yards for a touchdown. It was the third time this season Georgia Southern's opponent has returned a fumble for a touchdown (New Mexico State, Troy).

• Senior Derek Keaton hauled in a 23-yard scoring pass from Kevin Ellison to give GS its first lead of the day. For Keaton, it was his first career touchdown catch.

• Darrius White picked off a pass late in the first half to set up a 2-yard scoring plunge by Ellison to make it 28-14. For White, it was his second career interception, both coming this season for the senior.

• Georgia Southern, which came into the game leading the nation with an average of 364.3 yards rushing per game, is now averaging 440 rushing in its eight wins. The Eagles have averaged 205.7 yards in their three losses (West Virginia, Appalachian State, Georgia). The Eagles had 489 yards rushing in the game.

• Matt Breida rushed for 187 yards in the game. This season, the Eagles are 7-0 when he tops 100 yards rushing and are 1-3 when he does not. 

• Breida had 187 yards rushing, the 14th 100-yard game of his career and his seventh this season.

• Breida scored on a 75-yard touchdown run, his 12th career scoring run of over 50 yards. It was his sixth career run of 75 yards or longer and his fourth this year. He had a pair of rushing touchdowns in the game to bring his season total up to 16.

• L.A. Ramsby scored his 11th rushing touchdown of the season at the end of the third quarter.

• Darius Jones, Jr., recorded his second interception of the season and the third of his career early in the fourth quarter.

• Vegas Harley scored his first career rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter.

• South Alabama has 136 yards of total offense, just 61 coming after the opening drive of the game.

• Georgia Southern has now won 11 straight games at Paulson Stadium. It's tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in stadium history with the record standing at 39 straight from 1997-2001 (FCS record). The Eagles also won 38 games in a row from 1985-1990, 14 in a row from 2010-2012, and 11 in a row from 1990-1991.

• Georgia Southern ran for 489 yards in the game. The Eagles are now 17-1 under Willie Fritz when running for 300 yards or more in the game, 11-0 when rushing for 400 or more yards. It's also the 11th straight home game GS has rushed for 300 or more yards.