Georgia Southern Extra: Nothing cheesy about Eagles earning national honors after win

To the victor go the spoils ...

... and that includes a Cheez-It "care package" as co-national team of the week.

The Georgia Southern football team's 45-42 victory last Saturday at Nebraska set off celebrations across Eagle Nation from Statesboro to Lincoln to internet infinity and beyond.

It also helped garner team and individual honors for the Eagles in the wake of the program's second victory ever over a Power 5 conference team — in this case, three-touchdown home favorite Nebraska of the Big Ten.

GS earned its first Cheez-It Bowl National Team of the Week honor in the 21st season the Football Writers Association of America has selected the weekly award.

The Eagles are sharing the award for the weekend of Sept. 10 with two fellow members of the Sun Belt Conference's East Division. Appalachian State upset then-No. 6 and host Texas A&M, while Marshall knocked off then-No. 8 and host Notre Dame.

It's the first time three schools have been honored for one week. App State also earned the honor for its 2007 upset of Michigan. Marshall, which joined the SBC this year, also won in 2003 and 2020. All Division I FBS and FCS schools are eligible to be selected.

Each honored team received a custom Cheez-It "care package" along with a hand-crafted game ball made by Dallas-based Big Game USA.

While the FWAA announcement came out of Dallas, Texas, more honors were coming from New Orleans and New Haven, Connecticut for GS quarterback Kyle Vantrease.

This week, Vantrease became the first Georgia Southern player to earn Walter Camp National Player of Week honors for his performance against Nebraska.

A sixth-year player who transferred to GS in January from the University of Buffalo, Vantrease made his second start for the Eagles. He was 37 of 56 for 409 yards and one touchdown, and also ran 8 yards for the winning score with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

He completed passes to eight different receivers as the Eagles (2-0) totaled 642 yards of offense.

His efforts were recognized by the Walter Camp Football Foundation in New Haven, as well as the Sun Belt Conference headquartered in New Orleans. Vantrease was the SBC Offensive Player of the Week after setting career highs for attempts, completions and passing yards.

He tied the school record for most attempts in a game (56), and his 37 completions and 409 yards passing were each the second-most in program history. It was just the third 400-yard passing game in Eagles history.

One more award could be coming. The Manning Award, sponsored by the Allstate Sugar Bowl, has named eight quarterbacks as its "Stars of the Week."

Fans can vote on the Allstate Sugar Bowl Facebook page for their choice as the best performance from this past weekend. When voting closes on Thursday at noon Eastern, the top vote-getter will be announced as the Manning Award Quarterback of the Week.

In addition to Vantrease, the other candidates are Carter Bradley of South Alabama, Malik Cunningham of Louisville, Jalon Daniels of Kansas, Frank Harris of UTSA, Sam Hartman of Wake Forest, Will Rogers of Mississippi State and Caleb Williams of Southern Cal.

This week's list

We asked head coach Clay Helton for a list of the players who, through two games, have had breakthrough efforts, perhaps ahead of schedule. Here was his list on Monday with commentary:

Offense

QB Kyle Vantrease: "I expect it from Kyle. We expected him as a veteran to be able to do that."

RBs Jalen White, Gerald Green, Omari "OJ" Arnold: "What I'm really excited about is for Jalen and Gerald and Omari. You look at that (running back) room, to come out wth 233 yards (rushing at Nebraska), and nine touchdowns from that room in two games. That's supporting a quarterback. I'm really proud of them."

The receivers: "I tried to tell everybody going into it (that) our receiving corps was going to be dynamic. That's the most pleasant surprise when I walked into the building for the first time, got to watch the first couple of practices. I was like, 'Oh my gosh, Derwin Burgess is really good. Khaleb Hood is really good. Amare (Jones) in the right position is going to be really good.' You add a Jeremy Singleton, you move a Jjay (Mcafee) and a Beau (Johnson) where they can be effective (as tight ends). It's neat to see those skill kids be able to do what they're doing right now."

Defense

DEs Dillon Springer and Justin Ellis: "They're vets but you expect veteran play. I really like what Dillon Springer and Justin Ellis are doing. I thought Justin esepcially provided some opportunties. He got the early sack, but he got (Nebraska quarterback) Casey (Thompson) off his spot several times. He played a lot in that game, 68 plays. You look at that veteran leadership that he brought. It was his style of game. He's been in those venues. We kind of leaned on those two guys kind of heavily. I thought they produced."

Eagles in the NFL

Here's how former Georgia Southern players fared in Week 1 of the NFL season:

Tyler Bass, kicker, Buffalo Bills: started, 1-for-1 FGA (41 yards), 4-for-4 on extra points;

Matt Breida, running back, New York Giants: 5 rushes, 24 yards;

Raymond Johnson III, defensive end, Cincinnati Bengals practice squad;

Younghoe Koo, kicker, Atlanta Falcons: started, 4-for-5 FGA (54, 50, 40, 27), 2-for-2 on extra points;

Jerick McKinnon, running back, Kansas City Chiefs: 3 receptions, 27 yards;  4 rushes, 22 yards;

Kindle Vildor, cornerback, Chicago Bears: 5 tackles.

Academic honors for 5 grads

Five Georgia Southern student-athletes were among the 73 who competed at Sun Belt Conference institutions in 2021-22 and graduated during in the last academic year receiving the Academic Excellence Award from the 1A Faculty Athletics Representatives.

The award criteria includes student-athletes at FBS football-sponsoring institutions who earned their undergraduate degrees between Sept. 1, 2021 and Aug. 31, 2022 and compiled a cumulative grade-point average of 3.80 or better upon graduation. In addition, the student-athletes must have participated in at least two years of NCAA intercollegiate athletics at an FBS institution.

The Eagles listed were: Olivia Durham and Nora Falnes, women’s soccer; Braden Hays, baseball; Mila Hartig, women's tennis; and Prince Toyambi, men's basketball.

MEN'S GOLF

Andress leads Eagles to victory

Georgia Southern fifth-year golfer Wilson Andress won his first collegiate tournament after shooting a 5-under-par 66 to earn medalist honors and lead the 24th-ranked Eagles to the team title at the Gopher Invitational on Monday at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota.

Andress of Macon finished at 11-under. GS shot 9-under in the final round, the lowest score of the day, to move two spots up the leaderboard and claim the team victory. GS (-20) finished five strokes ahead of Kansas (-15) and Kent State (-15), which tied for second.

Team results

1. Georgia Southern 276-281-275—832 (-20)

Individuals results

1. Wilson Andress 69-67-66—202 (-11);

T10. Ben Carr 67-69-72—208 (-5);

T12. Mason Williams 69-71-69—209 (-4);

T33. Brantley Baker 71-74-68—213 (E);

T77. Hogan Ingram 75-75-75—225 (+12);

Other

2. Hayden Carner* 68-70-69—207 (-9)

* Played as an individual in the Minnesota Golf Classic at Pioneer Creek Golf Club.

For more coverage of Georgia Southern athletics, go to https://www.savannahnow.com/sports/college/georgia-southern/

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 honored as national team of week