Georgia Southern scrimmage showcases top quarterback, freshman receiver catching attention

STATESBORO — If kids still write letters from summer camp, Marcus Sanders Jr. has a good story to tell.

"My dad, my mom, my grandmom, I'm going to tell everybody back at home," an excited Sanders said on Saturday night.

Sanders is a true freshman at Georgia Southern University out of Macon County High School in Montezuma. He had just played in his first scrimmage with the Eagles football team and would later call his family.

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At 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, the speedy Sanders has been noticed by a few keen observers at team practices since Aug. 3 as a newcomer to watch this fall. On Saturday night, he and quarterback Richie Lankford combined on the biggest highlight of the full-contact, controlled scrimmage splitting the squad between the offense and defense.

The offense started with first and 10 from its 41-yard line in the game simulation at Paulson Stadium. On third down, Lankford launched a deep ball down the right sideline.

Sanders, the defensive back and the pass arrived at the same spot at the same time. Both receiver and defender got hands on the ball.

"I just looked the ball all the way in, got physical, just brought the ball in, just turned around and ran," said Sanders, who somehow wrestled the ball away and stayed inbounds for a 54-yard score as his offensive teammates cheered.

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Sanders said he's been working hard all summer to learn the plays, and he and Lankford have developed a chemistry.

"When we get on the field, it's just instant," said Sanders, noting the step up in level of play from high school. "I had to adjust to it real fast. I feel like I did pretty good adjusting to the speed of college football."

Georgia Southern's new head coach, Clay Helton, said the freshman is known for big plays going back to Macon County High. Helton said both the coaches and the player expect as much.

"What I really liked today is he made the contested catches," Helton said. "He missed one (earlier) that was a touchdown that kind of challenged him after that, and he responded right after with a huge play for a touchdown. That's what you want to see from a rookie.

"We're expecting a lot from him. We're expecting him to contribute this year. He's acting not like a rookie; he's acting like a guy that's ready to help us."

Other freshmen and transfers new to the program made their presence felt on Saturday night. True freshman QB Zak Rozsman gave 6-4 target TJ Lewis a chance to make a play in double coverage in the end zone. Rozsman lobbed a pretty pass and Lewis, a transfer from Louisville, won the battle in the air for a 27-yard TD.

For Lankford, a sophomore transfer from the College of San Mateo, that TD bomb to Sanders concluded his brief and only appearance of the scrimmage as a crowded competition played out among six of the healthy quarterbacks.

Consistency at quarterback

Not that there's any question about the starter. Unlike the 2021 season — when five different players took turns at QB because of availability issues caused by injuries and a suspension, as well as performance — Helton and offensive coordinator/QB coach Bryan Ellis have clearly designated Kyle Vantrease as the starter (for right now).

A sixth-year transfer from the University of Buffalo, Vantrease showed why he's deserving of working with the first team on Saturday night.

"He brings great poise to the game," Helton said. "He takes what the defense gives him. Had some opportunities to make some big plays and did. Was really decisive in his decision-making, made good decisions, didn't force any throws today."

Vantrease, in limited action, finished with 197 passing yards, including a 9-yard TD to Derwin Burgess Jr. The "official" statistics need the context of the scrimmage's format of intentionally-created situations that started series at different spots on the field, such as in the red zone or deep in their own territory.

Still, consider the offense's productivity on the scrimmage's opening series, with Vantrease under center at his 2-yard line. Helton talked about the team's "situational mastery," and it was like a master class in how to operate the Eagles' new offense.

Here are the first nine plays: 11-yard pass to Burgess; 9-yard pass to Jeremy Singleton; 2-yard run for Jalen White; 26-yard pass to Amare Jones; 2-yard pass to Singleton; 4-yard run for White; incomplete pass to Burgess; after an offside penalty on the defense, a 5-yard pass to Khaleb Hood; and 5-yard pass to Burgess.

Talk about a spread offense, Vantrease connected with four different receivers on the series and handed off twice to White, a junior expected to carry the load with redshirt junior Gerald Green this season.

"The way the offense is working, we've got athletes all over the field, whether it's out wide or in the backfield," Vantrease said. "We're going to do whatever we can to get it to all of them. They all have their own skill sets. They all bring something different to the table. If we can get it into their hands and let them work, that's what we're going to try to do."

He said the offense's goals are to score points and not turn the ball over, and he thought it did really well on Saturday. The combined forces of six QBs and a deep use of the roster (12 players caught at least one pass) totaled nearly 500 yards of offense.

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"The main goal out here was to prove to ourselves what we can do, what we've been doing," Vantrease said. "There's a lot of work to be done. That's why we're happy we have another couple of weeks of this."

The defense did make some stops early, one on a fumble forced after a catch, and totaled two fumbles recovered, four sacks and four pass break-ups.

Daily battle: Offense vs. defense

It's a two-way perspective on the Eagles' offense facing the same defensive personnel each day at practice. The offense is aware of vulnerabilities across the line, but the defense also knows the playbook and can anticipate what to expect.

A game-like situation, the 2-minute drill, showcased what Vantrease brings as the most experienced college QB by far on the roster. After two incompletions, Vantrease read the third-down defense and saw a corner blitz coming, but a safety had not moved over to get on top of that coverage area.

Vantrease took the snap and threw immediately to Burgess open on the right sideline for a 23-yard gain. He chalked it up to studying film, seeing coverages in practice going back to the spring, and years of playing football.

"If we can get really good at being on the same page, when things break down or things that happen, that's going to take us to another level," Vantrease said of the quarterback and receivers. "The offensive line did a great job seeing it and changing their calls and protecting me in the back because everything starts up front."

Helton saw progress on Saturday night, including more-nuanced aspects such as providing 34 newcomers with the experience of playing in front of the Fan Fest crowd, band and cheerleaders at Paulson Stadium. Also, having Sun Belt Conference referees officiate the game and call the "handsy" penalties.

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The scrimmage was relatively clean, very physical and competitive, Helton said. Through nine practices, the team has grasped specific game situations, with "another half of our playbook to get in," he said.

He's looking to take advantage of every opportunity, including the second scrimmage Aug. 20 at 10 a.m. at Memorial Stadium in Savannah, followed by a Little Eagles children's football clinic at 11:45 a.m. The Eagles open the season Sept. 3 at home against Morgan State.

"From the most part, I really liked how the kids reacted as far as the situational mastery part," Helton said. "We've got stuff to clean up. You've got to treat this like it's NFL preseason game one, which you're very thankful you've got 16 more practices."

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 scrimmage highlights freshmen, transfers