Georgia Southern has to be efficient passing and more things to know for Ball State game

STATESBORO — The Georgia Southern Eagles felt they took a step backward in losing for the first time in three games, 35-21 last Saturday at UAB. Reviewing the game film might have felt like watching a horror movie, but it wasn't that bad, reported Logan Langemeier.

"I think after every game, whether it's a win or a loss, the film is never as good or never as bad as it seems," said Langemeier, a fifth-year center.

Georgia Southern (2-1, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) completes a stretch of four nonconference games to open the season with the homecoming contest against Ball State (1-2, 0-1 MAC) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Paulson Stadium (ESPN+). The Eagles' remaining eight games are all Sun Belt matchups.

"This is an important game for us," said GS first-year head coach Clay Helton. "One, being back at home at Paulson for homecoming. But also having the opportunity to get to 1-0 on the week and make some corrections that are much needed going into conference play."

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Take what the defense gives

Georgia Southern was passing fancy in its first two games against defenses that didn't have the personnel and/or the scheme to slow the Eagles in their new identity.

Helton and new offensive coordinator Bryan Ellis have pledged to be more balanced after decades of an Eagles playbook geared toward the run, and mostly successful doing so.

Led by new quarterback Kyle Vantrease, a sixth-year player, the offense has used the pass to set up the run. Vantrease put up numbers rarely seen by Eagle Nation: 29-of-45 passing for 367 yards, four touchdowns and one interception in a 59-7 win over Morgan State.

Quite the debut, and Vantrease was even better in the 45-42 win at Nebraska: 37 of 56, 409 yards, one passing TD, two interceptions, one game-winning rushing TD.

But last Saturday at UAB, the Blazers put resources into keeping that passing attack under wraps. Often facing eight defenders in coverage, GS receivers weren't getting open on passing routes. Vantrease wasn't finding the receivers as easily. He was 24 of 50 for 204 yards, one TD and three costly interceptions in the loss.

Better execution would have been settling for checkdown receivers and getting positive yards in the defensive spacing, then move on to the next down.

"We were so explosive in the first two games," Helton said. "UAB was going to make you go the long way. It was going to be about moving the chains and making those 10-, 12-, 14-play drives. I thought we got a little impatient at times. If teams are going to play that way, then we need to look up and be able to have a very strong run game that's able to move the chains with our pass game."

Helton said instead of forcing passes, the Eagles could gain ground on the run when the defense doesn't load the box.

"It's a new system and it's such a drastic change," Helton said. "You look at one game, you have 500-plus (total) yards. The next one you have 600-plus yards. This last one, you had 400-plus yards. A lot of people would be, 'Oh my God, you're rolling.' For us, we know there's more out there.

"The one thing I've been really pleased with is the balance of the run game and how efficient it has been for us. I think there was more that was left out there that we could have had in the last game. We needed to get that, especially if teams are going to drop eight and play coverage like we saw versus UAB."

Helton credited Ellis for adjusting the game plan with more calls for the run. However, with the team behind 21-0 and never quite closing the gap, it had to move the ball vertically through the air in catch-up mode. Twice the Eagles were within a touchdown in the second half, and Helton praised the run game.

Junior running back Jalen White rushed 14 times for 116 yards, including a 71-yard touchdown and a 1-yarder for an 8.3 average per carry. GS finished with 33 carries for 214 yards, a 6.5 average.

Stopping the run

The Georgia Southern offense couldn't score without the ball, and UAB's game plan went a long way toward keeping Vantrease and company on the sidelines.

It was a simple plan: Run the ball.

The Blazers compiled 288 yards on the ground, led by standout DeWayne McBride with career highs with 233 yards and four touchdowns.

Coupled with the UAB defense stopping GS three times with interceptions, the Blazers built a lead and didn't suffer consequences from a couple of missed short field-goal attempts in holding off the Eagles' second-half rally.

"Offensively, we've got to do a lot better job in protecting the football," Helton said of the 3-0 turnover disadvantage. "We've got to do a great job of playing team-aspect football. We didn't do that in the last game and it ended up costing us."

Defensive coordinator Will Harris said stopping the run is the main emphasis, and will be every week.

"The offense has been playing well," Harris said. "At the end of the day, we've got to stop the run. That's one of the biggest things that we're worried about. I know coach Helton is going to have those guys right on offense."

Opponents see the game film and the statistics. GS ranks 127th of 131 teams in FBS in rushing defense, allowing 239 yards a game (122 carries, 717 yards, 5.8 ypc).

Ball State ranks 78th in rushing offense after three very different games and averages 156.5 yards. Sophomore Carson Steele has 62 carries in three games for 305 yards, and averages 4.9 yards a carry.

The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Steele figures to get a heavy workload Saturday, while redshirt junior John Paddock, the new starter at quarterback, has shown he's adept at distributing the ball to many targets, including a trio of receivers in Jayshon Jackson (18 receptions), Yo'Heinz Tyler (15) and Amir Abdur-Rahman (13) and a pair of tight ends in 6-7 Tanner Koziol and 6-6 Brady Hunt.

Paddock is 78 of 127 (60.94%) for an average of 265.67 yards a game.

"They're a team that's improving each week and gaining confidence," Helton said of Ball State, which shut out Murray State 31-0 on Sept. 17.

The coach called Paddock "one of the better fade-throwing quarterbacks I've seen in a while. He knows how to be accurate with the deep ball, so we've got a challenge there in our one-on-one matchups."

Putting statistics in context

Yes, the Eagles' offense is earning attention for a much greater emphasis on the passing game. The team, led by Vantrease, has put up big numbers for passing attempts, completions, yards and points.

GS is 13th in passing offense (326.7 yards per game) and tied for 23rd in scoring average (41.7 points per game). Vantrease is seventh in passing yards (980), fifth in passing yards per game (326.67), eighth in total offense (338.3 average) and second in pass completions (90) and attempts (152).

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Another category has gotten less attention but is deserving for not bringing attention to itself. Georgia Southern is tied for fifth among FBS teams for fewest penalties with 10 for three games. GS is tied for third with a 3.3 average; is 11th for total yards (91) and seventh for penalty yards per game (30.33).

And that includes a couple of debate-worthy pass interference calls Saturday against the Eagles near the close of the third quarter on a touchdown-scoring drive for the Blazers to go up 28-14 with 14:54 remaining in regulation.

Georgia Southern also is tied for the FBS lead with zero sacks allowed in three games. Ball State is tied for sixth with one sack given up.

The Georgia Southern defense, after intercepting three passes and recovering a fumble in the season-opening 59-7 win over Morgan State, has not forced a turnover.

That hasn't gone unnoticed by Helton, who also pointed out the importance of defense on third down. Ball State ranks 44th in FBS (14 of 44, 31.8% opponents' success rate) while GS is 94th (15 of 37, 40.5%).

On the other side, the GS offense ranks fourth in converting on third down (31 of 50, 62%) to 75th for Ball State (19 of 49, 38.8%).

"I think the key defensively and one of the hidden secrets of this game is looking at the third-down efficiency," Helton said. "If we can get off the field on third down and give the ball back to our offense, that's going to be critical and, hopefully, create some turnovers. It's been back-to-back weeks where we haven't had a turnover defensively. That's going to be a big key is to try to get that ball back for our offense."

The Eagles' injury list grows

A football team's fortunes can depend on so many variables, including injuries to key players and testing the depth at those positions.

The afterglow of the program's huge win over Power 5 Nebraska on Sept. 10 was tempered by the diagnosis later that wide receiver Sam Kenerson had suffered a season-ending knee injury. Helton called Kenerson an emotional figure on the team, and the squad's response in-game displayed its affection for him and its resolve to refocus on beating the Cornhuskers.

The Eagles were dealt another blow on Sept. 17 when inside linebacker Todd Bradley-Glenn left the game with what was later diagnosed as a dislocated elbow.

A team leader — elder statesman, truthfully — as a seventh-year Eagle and co-captain, Bradley-Glenn has had more than anyone's fair share of adversity. From being diagnosed with a rare form of skin cancer while at Valdosta High School to a series of season-ending football injuries while in Statesboro — including all of the 2021 season — Bradley-Glenn has been a survivor and an inspiration.

Bradley-Glenn's prognosis for a return date is uncertain, GS coaches said, so someone else will play the role of the defense's "quarterback" and "the rock of the defense," as Helton described him.

"Whoever the next guy's up will take care of business," sixth-year defensive end Dillon Springer said. "That's how it is and how it's going to be from here on out. Just having veteran leadership on this team is something we take pride in."

Bradley-Glenn has in three games compiled 10 solo tackles, nine assisted tackles and one tackle for loss.

Junior cornerback Seth Robertson (five solo, two assists in two games) is in concussion protocol and is day-to-day for his availability. Safety Wylan Free was in concussion protocol for the game at UAB and did not start but ended up leading the team with eight total tackles.

Connecting Ball State, Peach State

While it's the first football game between Ball State and Georgia Southern on Saturday, that's not where the relationship ends.

The teams will complete the home-and-home series on Sept. 23, 2023 in Muncie.

Earlier next season, the Cardinals will visit the Peach State on Sept. 9 for a first meeting with the University of Georgia in Athens. The host Bulldogs needed a replacement game for Oklahoma on the 2023 schedule, as the planned home-and-home series conflicts with the Sooners joining the Southeastern Conference.

Ball State is coming to Sanford Stadium for a reported guarantee of $1.6 million, according to media reports from Marc Weiszer of the Athens Banner-Herald and Robby General of The (Muncie, Indiana) Star Press.

The Cardinals also are getting $1.5 million for playing Tennesse on Sept. 1 (a 59-10 Volunteers victory) and  $1.65 million to visit Kentucky in 2023, according to The Star Press.

The Ball State and Georgia Southern men's basketball teams have a current series going with a Dec. 2 game in Muncie. The teams opened the 2021-22 season on Nov. 9, 2021 in Statesboro, where the Eagles won 82-71.

They also played in the 1970s, with the Eagles winning both, 82-77 on Feb. 23, 1974 in Muncie; and 88-75 on Feb. 15, 1975 in Statesboro.

Ball State also has a connection to GS quarterback Vantrease, who was a three-year starter at the University of Buffalo before transferring to GS in January.

The Cardinals defeated the Bulls 38-28 in the Mid-American Conference Championship game on Dec. 18, 2020. Vantrease was 29-of-42 passing for 365 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran 1 yard for a touchdown.

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 Eagles football vs. Ball State Saturday: What to know