Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Four Field Goals and a Sore Shoulder Were Plenty Against a Mountaineers Offense That Managed Six Rushing Yards
A weekly, unique recap show for each college football team that played a game. This unique look at what occured has a forward-looking approach and gets you what you need to know. For hardcore fans, casual onlookers and the gambler looking for an edge. Check out the Depth Dossier!
This is the Depth Dossier: the Georgia Southern Eagles, Week 9.
Georgia Southern didn't need to find the end zone much to put away Appalachian State, winning 19 to 3 behind four field goals and a defense that completely strangled the Mountaineers' ground game.
The Eagles set a school record by holding the ball for 43 minutes and 54 seconds, running 81 plays to basically a handful for App State. Quarterback Max Johnson played through a sore throwing shoulder and still went 36 of 47 for 327 yards, with no turnovers and no sacks allowed. Kicker Tripp Bryant made all four of his field goal tries, including a career-long 48-yarder. But the real knockout blow was the defense, which held App State to just 6 rushing yards and forced three turnovers, the last one an end-zone interception by defensive back Chance Gamble with three minutes left. It's Georgia Southern's fourth straight win over App State, and it puts them in first place in the Sun Belt East, even though settling for field goals in the red zone left points on the table.
Let's dig a little deeper into how lopsided this actually was. The time of possession number is almost absurd by itself, but the bigger story is that Georgia Southern won this with volume and defense, not big plays. The Eagles were only moderately better in per-play efficiency, and head coach Helton pointed out the red zone issue directly, saying, "we have to be more efficient in the red zone area." Settling for three field goals on four trips inside the 40 is the kind of thing that gets away with it against App State but won't against a tougher opponent.
Penalties were a real problem too. Offensive lineman Ty Furnish had both a personal foul and a holding call that wiped out a long run, and defensive back Chace Calicut had a personal foul after a fumble recovery that pushed a drive back 15 yards before Bryant bailed the offense out with that 48-yard field goal.
Defensively, though, this was about as complete as it gets. Six rushing yards allowed all day. Calicut intercepted App State's opening drive and forced a fumble. Linebacker Anthony Bynum recovered a fourth-quarter fumble and added a sack and two tackles for loss. And Gamble's interception at the goal line with just over three minutes left sealed the win for good.
Now, on to the depth chart, and the headline there is really Johnson. No new injuries came out of this game, and the fact that he played through the shoulder issue that knocked him out last week, then turned in his best overall performance of the season, matters a lot. As long as he can produce like that banged up, backup quarterback Turner Helton's role stays exactly what it's been, a change-of-pace package, not a quarterback competition.
Running back Weston Bryan's short-yardage role keeps growing. He converted a fourth and one quarterback sneak and also caught a fourth and one pass from wide receiver Josh Dallas, both of which kept drives alive, a more complete showing than his earlier carries-only usage.
At receiver, the pecking order is getting clearer. Wide receiver Alex Taylor had 10 catches for 93 yards, and Dallas had 7 for 86, including that fourth-down conversion, putting them clearly ahead of everyone else, while Jeremiah Ware's 50-yard catch showed he can still hit a big play in a smaller role.
The running back room remains the question mark. Tyrese Woodgett managed just 8 carries for 28 yards, and Mbadinga had 5 carries for 6 yards, against a defense that got shredded on the ground themselves. That backfield still isn't finding room behind this offensive line, and Furnish's penalty issues are worth watching if they continue.
Bryant's four-for-four day, a season high, keeps him firmly entrenched as the kicker with no competition in sight. At 4 and 4 and alone atop the Sun Belt East, the one thing worth watching for Georgia Southern going forward is whether they can start finishing drives in the red zone before the schedule gets tougher.
This was the depth dossier. For everything college football, be it depth charts, data or dossiers, head over to C F B Depth dot com. We will be back next week. This was an AI-generated podcast from content developed by real human beings passionate about college football.