Georgia Southern football hosts South Alabama on Saturday: Kickoff, how to watch and more

The Georgia Southern Eagles (5-3, 2-2 Sun Belt) are seeking their third consecutive conference victory this season on Saturday at the expense of South Alabama (6-2, 3-1), which is in second place in the Sun Belt's West Division. Here's how to watch and listen to the game, and more.

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What time do the Georgia Southern Eagles play the South Alabama Jaguars?

Kickoff: 4 p.m. ET, Saturday, Nov. 5, 2022.

Location: Paulson Stadium (capacity 25,000), Statesboro, Georgia

How to watch South Alabama at Georgia Southern on TV

Danny Waugh (play-by-play), Cole Neely (analyst) and Emily Grace McWhorter (sidelines) will have the call on the ESPN+ digital streaming network.

Radio for South Alabama at Georgia Southern

Danny Reed (play-by-play), Terry Harvin (analyst), Russ Brown (analyst) and Frank Sulkowski (sidelines) have the call on the Georgia Southern Sports Network. The pregame, in-game and postgame shows can be heard in Savannah on WIXV 95.5 FM and on the network's flagship station WPMX 94.9 FM in Statesboro.

Betting: Over/under & point spread

As of Friday morning, South Alabama was a 3.5-point favorite, according to the Tipico Sportsbook. The moneyline was South Alabama -180 and Georgia Southern +145.

Series history

Georgia Southern leads the series with South Alabama 7-1 after winning the first seven meetings and falling to the Jaguars 41-14 in Mobile in 2021. The previous three games in the series have been on Thursdays. In the seven games between the two squads prior to last year, GS had outscored USA by a combined 251-79 (35.9-11.3).

The Eagles are 4-0 all-time against South Alabama at Paulson Stadium and are averaging 44.8 points per game.

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Game notes

Georgia Southern sixth-year quarterback Kyle Vantrease, a transfer from Buffalo, is third in the FBS in passing yards (2,704), second in passing yards per game (338.00), third in completions per game (232 in eight games, a 29.00 average) and tied for 19th in passing touchdowns (18).

South Alabama junior quarterback Carter Bradley, a transfer from Toledo, is 43rd with 14 TDs. He's 28th in passing yards (2,071), 34th in passing yards per game (258.88), 42nd in completion percentage (172 of 262, 65.6%) and 49th in passing efficiency (146.86 score).

The Eagles are tied for fourth in passing offense (338.0 yards per game), the Jaguars are 42nd in passing defense (211.0).

The Jaguars are fourth in rushing defense (85.0), the Eagles are tied for 62nd in rushing offense (156.6). USA is close behind at 68th (150.4).

GS is second in FBS in fewest sacks allowed at just two in eight games, a 0.25 average. USA is tied for 41st with 13 yielded in eight games, a 1.62 pace.

The Eagles are 112th in passing defense (270.1), 125th in rushing defense (210.8) and 127th of 131 teams in total defense (480.9). The Jags are 15th in total defense (296).

GS is 11th in total offense (494.5 average, 3,956 yards), USA is 44th (422.8, 3,352). The Jags are tied for seventh in turnover margin at 1.12, a plus-nine in eight games.

Saturday is "Salute To Service Day" as well as the introduction at halftime of the newest class of the Athletics Hall of Fame. The 2022 class will be inducted in a ceremony Friday night. The seven additions bring the total number of former coaches, student-athletes, supporters and administrators in the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame to 168.

The 2022 class of inductees includes Taz Dixon (football); Alex Mash (football); the Nelson Family, who have donated millions of dollars to multiple athletics projects; Elizabeth Nieto Searl (women's tennis); Mike Shepherd (baseball); Kate Van Dyke (volleyball); and David Young (football).

The South Alabama coaching staff includes quality control analyst (offense) Doug Ruse, a two-time offensive coordinator at Georgia Southern. Ruse was the Eagles' OC and quarterbacks coach in 2014-15; in 2020 came in as the tight ends coach and became interim offensive coordinator/QBs for the last three games. The interim tag was removed for the 2021 season.

He was not retained when new head coach Clay Helton was hired and brought in an almost entirely new position coaching staff after the 2021 season.

South Alabama running back La’Damian Webb was selected the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday. Webb rushed for a career-high 163 yards — including 69 yards on the game's first play from scrimmage — and a career-best three touchdowns on 28 carries in a 31-3 victory at Arkansas State on Oct. 29. He ended the contest with 11 straight carries and scoring the last of his three TDs, capping off an 11-play, 52-yard drive that ate up 7:16 in the final quarter.

Webb and Georgia Southern's Jalen White are tied for 21st in the FBS with nine rushing TDs. White is 35th in rushing yards (678); Webb is 42nd (651).

They said it

Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton on South Alabama:

"We have a great South Alabama team coming in here that is extremely well-coached. One of the better defenses not only in our league but in the country, a top-25 defense. An offense that knows how to put points on the board. I've always been a fan of (USA offensive coordinator) Major Applewhite's offenses. He's doing a tremendous job of educating their quarterback (Carter Bradley) in his decision making, especially in the RPO game. It's going to be a real challenge."

South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack on Georgia Southern:

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for Clay Helton. I think that he's not only a great coach and offensive mind, but he's genuinely a great person. It's really great to see what he's done in a short amount of time with their program. It's a program that has great tradition and history. It's a tough place to play for anyone that's been there before as I have. That's a challenging environment that I feel our players will be ready to respond in and ready to carry some of the momentum from what we did this past week (at Arkansas State) into next week."

Twitter follows

Follow Georgia Southern beat writer Nathan Dominitz of the Savannah Morning News/savannahnow.com @NathanDominitz for Eagles updates.

You can follow the teams' official Twitter accounts at @GSAthletics_FB and @SouthAlabamaFB

Podcast

Listen to the new and previous episodes of the "Georgia Southern Extra" podcast at https://omny.fm/shows/georgia-southern-extra/playlists/podcast

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. South Alabama: Here is how to watch