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Georgia Southern University Athletics

Bridge Crossing 2019

Football Chris Little

Eagles Take the Field to Start 2019 Campaign

First preseason practice held at Beautiful Eagle Creek

STATESBORO – Junior defensive end Raymond Johnson III and outside linebacker Jay Bowdry crossed the bridge over Beautiful Eagle Creek at approximately 8:11 a.m. Friday morning signifying the countdown to the 2019 Georgia Southern Football season with the Eagles' first practice session of the fall.

The team opens the 2019 campaign at LSU on Aug. 31 at 7:30 p.m. (ET) live on ESPNU. 

Practice began with a statement from head coach Chad Lunsford with the news of starting quarterback Shai Werts and defensive end Quan Griffin's interim suspensions following arrests in separate incidents earlier this week. 

Despite the setback, Lunsford said he is not worried about the leadership of his team. 

"Shai is a great leader, but there are plenty of leaders on this team that guys look up to," Lunsford said. "I don't want influencers, I don't want followers, I want leaders building leaders every day and I think we have plenty of those."  

Lunsford also said that he's confident in the remaining quarterbacks and that they're always taught that they could be the next man up. 

"Justin Tomlin is someone we thought of as a dual-threat coming out of high school. He throws the ball well and is a great runner," Lunsford said. "He wasn't quite in an option offense previously, but when he got here, we could see that he did have the tools. I think he's maturing in that role because the quarterback of Georgia Southern is pretty important and is always in the spotlight.

 "Jaalon Frazier was a guy at Liberty County high school who did a lot for that football team. He could probably be considered the MVP of that team even with University of Georgia standout defensive back Richard LeCounte as a teammate. He is a great athlete, but we have to continue to get him better at throwing the ball. It's a work-in-progress and we just keep building."

Both quarterbacks, along with freshman Jaden Jenkins, got plenty of reps with Tomlin getting a majority of the first snaps of each drill. 

Coming off a big year defensively that saw the Eagles lead the Sun Belt and NCAA in turnover margin, Johnson III says they're wanting even more. 

"We are greedy and very hungry," said Johnson. "We want to take the ball away more than we did last year. We have to do the little things right and beat teams that we didn't last year. It's important for us in this first week to establish a hard work ethic throughout the whole fall practice period and to never slow down."

Junior running back Wesley Kennedy III says the team has been very excited to get things going. 

"It feels great to get back out there and go to work with all the guys," said Kennedy. "Camp is here so we know it's getting closer to crunch time. We know we have a target on our back after such a great 2018 season, but it really doesn't feel any different. We went from being the hunters to the hunted, but we're definitely still hunting too. It's all about going from good to great."  

Coach Lunsford said that he wants to make sure everyone is on the same page in this first week of practice. 

"For this week, we want to make sure we are good with our base offense and defense. The first few days are a lot of installation," said Lunsford. "We want to make sure we are carrying things over from last year. We had a lot of energy. You can tell there are guys that have done a really good job in the offseason as far as conditioning goes.

"We want to be comfortable in what we do, but not complacent. I was a little worried that our guys would be a bit cocky coming off a 10-win season, but what I found is that they were already challenging themselves to be even better. They don't like that they came in third in the Sun Belt last season and they want to reach even higher."

The start of camp also meant the start of the the second GATA Lifestyle Experience, which gives fans a fully immersive experience with the program over the first three days of camp. Friday culminated at the end of practice with the baptism in Beautiful Eagle Creek. 

Practice will continue over the weekend with an 8:30 a.m. session Saturday at Eagle Creek and Sunday at 8:15 in Paulson Stadium. 

Georgia Southern Preseason Football Schedule
Date (Time, Location)
Sat., Aug. 3 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Sun., Aug. 4 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Mon, Aug. 5 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Tues., Aug. 6 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Wed., Aug. 7 No Practice
Thurs., Aug. 8 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Fri., Aug. 9 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Sat., Aug. 10 (8:30 AM, Paulson - Scrimmage #1; Little Eagles Camp)
Sun., Aug. 11 No Practice
Mon., Aug. 12 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Tues., Aug. 13 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Wed., Aug. 14 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Thurs., Aug. 15 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek)
Fri., Aug. 16 (8:30-10:30 AM, Eagle Creek; Eagle Creek Baptism; Operation Move-In)
Sat., Aug. 17 (9:15 AM, Paulson - Scrimmage #2; Statesboro Fan Fest/President's Kick Off)
Sun., Aug. 18 (8:45 AM, Paulson)
Mon., Aug. 19 No Practice (First Day of Classes)
Tues., Aug. 20 (4:50-6:30 PM; Paulson)
Wed., Aug. 21 (4:50-6:30 PM; Paulson)
Thurs., Aug. 22 (4:50-6:30 PM; Paulson)
Fri., Aug. 23 (6-7:30 PM, Memorial Stadium - Savannah; Savannah Fan Fest)
Sat., Aug. 24 No Practice

The game week schedule will be released at a later time.
 
Gallery: (8/2/2019) Football Practice 8-2-19
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Players Mentioned

Jay Bowdry

#5 Jay Bowdry

OLB
6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
Jaalon Frazier

#18 Jaalon Frazier

QB
6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
Quan Griffin

#52 Quan Griffin

DE
6' 3"
Junior
Raymond Johnson III

#92 Raymond Johnson III

DE
6' 3"
Junior
Wesley Kennedy III

#12 Wesley Kennedy III

RB
5' 10"
Junior
Justin Tomlin

#17 Justin Tomlin

QB
5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
Shai Werts

#1 Shai Werts

QB
5' 11"
Redshirt Junior

Players Mentioned

Jay Bowdry

#5 Jay Bowdry

6' 0"
Redshirt Senior
OLB
Jaalon Frazier

#18 Jaalon Frazier

6' 2"
Redshirt Sophomore
QB
Quan Griffin

#52 Quan Griffin

6' 3"
Junior
DE
Raymond Johnson III

#92 Raymond Johnson III

6' 3"
Junior
DE
Wesley Kennedy III

#12 Wesley Kennedy III

5' 10"
Junior
RB
Justin Tomlin

#17 Justin Tomlin

5' 11"
Redshirt Freshman
QB
Shai Werts

#1 Shai Werts

5' 11"
Redshirt Junior
QB