5 things to know when Georgia Southern visits Louisiana on Thursday night

The game is on national cable television between two football teams that last Saturday blew sizable third-quarter leads and lost in dramatic finishes.

So Georgia Southern and Louisiana find themselves in a short week trying to get over their heartbreak by beating the other on Thursday night in Lafayette, Louisiana.

"We don't have any time to sulk and feel sorry for ourselves," Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease said after the Eagles lost a 31-17 third-quarter lead in a 38-31 defeat to South Alabama. "We've got to prep and get ready to go."

"You've got to flush it," Louisiana head coach Michael Desormeaux said Monday, two days after the Ragin' Cajuns had led 17-0 in the third quarter only to fall to Troy 23-17. "The truth of it is Georgia Southern is coming in with the exact same feeling probably. Last week they had a very similar game."

Here are five things to watch for when Georgia Southern (5-4, 2-3 Sun Belt Conference) visits Louisiana (4-5, 2-4 SBC) at 7:30 p.m. ET on Thursday on ESPN2. (Note: the game originally was slated for ESPNU but moved on Wednesday.)

Game day information: Georgia Southern football visits Louisiana on Thursday: Kickoff, how to watch and more

Commentary: Georgia Southern football coach Clay Helton wants Eagles to 'play mad' at Louisiana

Analysis: For run to bowl season, Georgia Southern football team seeks to improve run defense

Becoming bowl relevant

Both teams are driving for a sixth overall victory this season to become bowl eligible, with the Ragin' Cajuns needing two wins in their last three games, and the Eagles one shy with three contests remaining.

Thursday is the final game this season at Cajun Field, so there's that much more pressure on Louisiana take take advantage of home field. The Cajuns' other contests are Nov. 19 at No. 25 Florida State (6-3) and Nov. 26 at Texas State (3-6, 1-4 SBC). Louisiana is out of the running in the West Division.

Georgia Southern might have a long-shot scenario to tie for the East Division title, but Coastal Carolina (8-1 overall) leads at 5-1 and has the head-to-head tiebreaker having already beaten GS.

The Eagles' remaining path to six wins are the road trip to Lafayette, then two games at Paulson Stadium, where they are 3-1 this season, on Nov. 19 against Marshall and Nov. 26 hosting their biggest rival in Appalachian State. Those opponents like GS are each 5-4 overall, 2-3 in the league and making their own mad dashes for at least six victories and perhaps a share of the East's regular-season title depending on what CCU does.

Georgia Southern's passing game vs. UL's pass defense

Desormeaux was one of the Ragin' Cajuns' all-time great quarterbacks before becoming a longtime assistant coach and this season the man in charge of the program.

So he's familiar with Georgia Southern's tradition of running the ball as well as the transition this year to much more of a passing attack. He calls the Eagles' offense this season "scary."

"You have the merging of the pass with what they do and it fits them well," Desormeaux said Monday at his weekly press conference. "They've done a good job putting together an offense in one year that scares you, to be honest."

The GS offense, designed by head coach Clay Helton and offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis, is operated by Vantrease, a sixth-year player who transferred in January from the University of Buffalo, where he was a three-year starter.

Vantrease pulls the trigger on a passing attack that ranks fourth in the FBS. He's third in passing yards (2,982) and completions per game (28.67) and second in passing yards per game (331.23). He's 258 of 419, with 20 touchdowns (tied for 20th) as well as 13 interceptions.

Desormeaux said the Eagles, who like quick screen passes to the sidelines almost like running plays, spread out the defense.

"Their quarterback runs the system very well," Desormeaux said. "He's won a bunch of games in his career. He's seasoned, seen a lot of things and makes good decisions."

Louisiana, which ranks 34th in total defense (346.8 yards per game) and 53rd in pass defense (217.8 ypg), will be facing a GS receiving corps that could be shorthanded.

Already missing Amare Jones, who suffered a season-ending injury in Game 8 at Old Dominion, the Eagles saw starter Jeremy Singleton go down in the South Alabama game on Saturday to a low ankle sprain, Helton said.

Singleton missed practice time this week — a short week — but Helton didn't rule him out on Monday. Singleton, a New Orleans native, might be making the trip to his home state.

"He's a really tough kid. He walked off the field. There was no swelling after the game. There wasn't any swelling the next day. There was soreness," Helton said.

"I think it's going to be day to day. We'll probably bring him to this game. It'll probably be up to a game-time decision."

Helton expects other receivers to step up, but whoever is playing, the Eagles will have to be watchful of a UL defense that's tied for 12th in FBS in turnover margin. The Cajuns are plus-8, with six fumbles and 14 interceptions gained, contrasted with five fumbles lost and seven picks thrown.

"Defensively, they're extremely opportunistic," Helton said, noting the interceptions. "They do a lot of that by the zone defenses they play, a lot of zone pressure."

Louisiana can get to the quarterback with a four-man rush, though GS has been very protective of Vantrease with only three sacks allowed in nine games, a 0.33 average that ranks second in FBS.

"They put pressure on the quarterback and make the quarterback make poor decisions in zone coverage and they're getting interceptions," Helton said. "That's the first thing you see is we're going to have to be protective of the football, especially in the passing game."

Eagles' runners vs. Louisiana's run defense

Desormeaux didn't forget about Georgia Southern's runners, even if they were a non-factor in the second half when South Alabama limited the Eagles to minus-10 yards on seven carries.

Georgia Southern has tailored its play-calling to what the defense is giving up, so it passed the ball against then-No. 25 James Madison's run-stuffing defense, and ran the ball very effectively at Old Dominion — both league victories.

"To me the thing that is undervalued for them is the fact they still do run the ball effectively," said Desormeaux, noting that four of five starters returned to the GS offensive line this season, which he called a "huge component."

With defenses dropping more defenders into pass coverage, the box is "lighter" and "they've gashed runs," the UL coach said.

Junior Jalen White leads the Eagles with 142 carries for 743 yards, a 5.2 average, with 10 touchdowns. Redshirt junior Gerald Green has 76 attempts for 431 yards, a 5.7 average, with six scores.

"Their running backs still have that old-school Georgia Southern mentality," said Desormeaux, who has the 46th-ranked rushing defense (129 ypg). "They hit it. They play physical. They present so many problems with them spreading the ball around, they're going to get a light box. They hit it."

Louisiana's runners vs. Georgia Southern's run defense

The most glaring issue this season — and fresh in the mind after Saturday's home loss to South Alabama — has been Georgia Southern's run defense, which ranks 127th of 131 teams in FBS by yielding 223 yards a game.

With the passing defense 106th (261.6), Georgia Southern's total defense comes in at 129th of 131 at 484.6 yards a game.

Top-flight runners on its schedule have posted outstanding numbers, including the Jaguars' La'Damian Webb. He rushed 35 times for 247 yards and four touchdowns — all school records — against GS to earn his second consecutive Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week honor.

More pointedly, he rushed 15 times for 131 yards and two touchdowns in the fourth quarter as the Jaguars rallied from earlier deficits of 14-0, 21-7 and 31-17 to take their only lead on his fourth TD for the 38-31 final. USA stuck with the run game and finished with 56 carries for 321 yards.

Takeaways from Saturday: South Alabama rallies to beat Georgia Southern football 38-31. Here are our takeaways

Get Eagles news in your inbox: Sign-up for our free, weekly newsletter on all things Georgia Southern sports

A parent's 'ultimate worst nightmare': Georgia Southern's Tyler Bride puts 'scary moment' behind him, brings passion to Eagles

Louisiana has a fine running back in the speedy Chris Smith, who this season has 76 carries for 407 yards, a 5.4 average.

Consider, though, that the Ragin' Cajuns lost through the transfer portal other quality runners in Emani Bailey to now-No. 4 TCU and Montrell Johnson to Florida, where former UL head coach Billy Napier is in charge.

"Offensively, they mix personnel groupings," Helton said of Louisiana this season. "They are proficient in running the ball. I would imagine in watching last week's (USA-GS) game that's part of their game plan. I told our guys we've got to be more concerned about ourselves and making sure we're gap-assignment sound, that we use our fundamentals in tackling. Worry about ourselves and doing our assignments."

The UL offense also is missing, for the first time since 2016, the dangerous Levi Lewis. A highly decorated quarterback who tormented opponents in leading UL to a 35-7 mark as a starter, the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Lewis now plays in the Canadian Football League.

Special teams could be special

Helton made a point Monday to mention the special teams beyond the weekly solid efforts turned in by kicker Alex Raynor and punter Anthony Beck II.

His concern was punt coverage, and the name Eric Garror. The Louisiana senior has in nine games returned 19 punts for 282 yards, a 14.8 average that ranks fifth in FBS.

Garror is tied for first with two punts returned for touchdowns in just nine games.

Helton called Garror "by far the most dangerous punt returner in this league, if not one of them in the nation."

"It's hard enough to pull his flag, let alone tackle him," Helton said. "We've got to do a tremendous job in our special teams units. It's probably going to be the difference in the game this week."

The UL kickoff returners are Chris Smith, who has six for 127 yards, a 21.17 average, and Dontae Fleming, who has returned three kicks for 71 yards, a 23.67 average.

The Cajuns' punter is Australian Rhys Byrns, an All-SBC first-team pick in 2021 who is averaging 43.59 yards on 41 punts, with six of 50-plus yards and a long of 60.

Georgia Southern's Beck, a Guyton native and South Effingham High School graduate, was second-team All-SBC in 2021. Like Byrns a candidate for the Ray Guy Award as the nation's top punter, Beck has punted 31 times for a 44.71 average, with nine of 50-plus yards and a long of 59.

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern football team plays Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Thursday