Sack-happy Old Dominion to test Georgia Southern's blocking, and more to know for Saturday

STATESBORO — A tough early slate may result in losses but benefits can come later during the conference schedule.

Clay Helton believes in this scheduling strategy for a 2022 Eagles squad facing nine of 12 teams which played in bowls a season ago. Thus far, Georgia Southern is 4-3 overall, 1-2 in the Sun Belt Conference after knocking off then-No. 25 James Madison on Oct. 15.

"It creates resiliency and it creates a better football team," Helton, in his first season in Statesboro, said Monday. "I credit one of the reasons that we were able to beat a top-25 team in James Madison was the quality of opponents that we faced earlier in the season."

The coach said that this week's opponent, host Old Dominion (3-3, 2-0 SBC) also has been tested by a difficult schedule — including Virginia Tech, Virginia and Liberty in its nonconference games.

"You grow because of the teams that you play," Helton said. "We both have had tough schedules. We've had successes and losses. We're both playing good football right now. It makes for a critical game for both of us."

Here are five things to know when GS and ODU meet at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Ballard Stadium in Norfolk, Virginia.

To sack or not to sack?

Longtime Georgia Southern followers might recall two high-scoring games (and victories) when the Eagles faced the Monarchs in the FCS playoffs in 2011 (55-48) and 2012 (49-35).

Old Dominion has been known for a potent offense over many years. The ODU defense? Not so much.

The derisive "No-DU" complaints are a thing of the past. This season through games of Oct. 15, the Monarchs lead all FBS programs with 25 sacks in six games for a 4.17 per game average.

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Sophomore linebacker Jason Henderson is tops in the FBS with 15.0 tackles per game and 90 total tackles. A member of the 2021 Conference USA All-Freshman and PFF College Football True Freshman All-American teams, Henderson this season already has 22 solo tackles and 68 assisted tackles.

"I've been very impressed with them defensively," Helton said, adding that the  Monarchs' athleticism reminded the coaches of James Madison's No. 11 ranked defense. "It is an extremely talented defense that is not only keeping them in games but winning games."

Something may have to give when the nation's leading sackers face Georgia Southern, ranked second in FBS for fewest sacks allowed with two in seven games for a 0.29 average.

Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease marveled Monday about his team protecting him against a JMU defense on 64 passes — and no sacks. He has attempted 347 passes this season and gotten brought to the ground twice behind the line of scrimmage.

"That's unbelievable. It's almost unheard of," he said. "Those guys have been putting in the work all offseason. Back to spring ball, throughout the season with (offensive line) coach (Richard) Owens. They've been grinding."

The quarterback said he focuses on getting the ball out quickly "because the faster I can get the ball to a playmaker, the faster he can go make a play."

A combination of factors are frustrating opposing teams' pass rushers. The offensive linemen and running backs kept in pass protection have studied film and detected tendencies, then executed in real time, communicating with each other and making the blocks.

"It's not anybody," Vantrease said of just two sacks. "It's everybody collectively that's attributed to that stat."

ODU rushers vs. GS run defense

Every opponent is going to test Georgia Southern's lowly-rated rush defense until the Eagles can prove otherwise, and Old Dominion likely will be no different.

GS is 126th of 131 FBS programs in allowing an average of 220.9 yards on the ground. Opponents have rushed 280 times for 1,546 yards, an average of 5.52 yards per play, and 17 touchdowns.

ODU's rushing offense, rated 108th in FBS, has had nowhere near the impact of Georgia Southern's previous opponents: 8. UAB, 13. Georgia State, 18. James Madison, 47. Coastal Carolina, 66. Nebraska, 76. Ball State.

But none of that mattered last week, when ODU went on the road and handed CCU its first loss of the season, and it wasn't close, 49-21. The Monarchs rushed for 323 yards led by standout Blake Watson's 19 carries for 259 yards, a 13.6-yard average, and three touchdowns. The 5-foot-9, 195-pound former receiver has 514 yards in five games for a 102.80 average.

"They got their running game going last week," Helton said. "You can tell it was a priority for them. After a couple of games averaging in that 100-yard range, you can tell there was a sense of 'we're going to run the football and run it effectively today,' and it created great balance for their offense."

Quarterback Hayden Wolff was a solid 12-of-16 passing for 184 yards, two TDs and no interceptions as ODU totaled 205 yards through the air. As usual, star receiver Ali Jennings led the way with six catches for 87 yards and a TD.

Jennings through Oct. 15 ranked first in FBS in receiving yards per game (129.2), second in receiving yards (775) and tied for sixth with seven touchdowns in six games.

Georgia Southern sixth-year defensive end and co-captain Dillon Springer said the defense has to step up and make plays to help win games like it did against James Madison. He said the defense fell short in close losses at Coastal Carolina and Georgia State.

"We're just trying to hold ourselves accountable," Springer said Monday. "We had a player-led defensive meeting and let our feelings out and went over what we feel we need to be better at, what we feel we need to do moving ahead on these Saturdays so we can be better as a defense and better as a team."

QB Kyle Vantrease staying busy

Georgia Southern has a deep roster of quarterbacks, but only one with the experience of Vantrease, a sixth-year player and a three-year starter at the University of Buffalo before transferring to Statesboro in January.

Vantrease has in seven games completed 210 of 347 attempts (60.52%) for program-record 2,512 yards (second in FBS), an average of 358.86 yards per game (also second), a GS-record 17 touchdowns (tied for 10th) as well as 12 interceptions.

The only other Eagle to throw a pass is true freshman running back OJ Arnold, on a trick play, and it went incomplete. Reserve quarterbacks Connor Cigelske and Colton FitzGerald have played but not attempted a pass.

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Vantrease has battled a sore right (throwing) shoulder this season, and there was discussion that he could miss the team's game at Coastal Carolina on Oct. 1, but he didn't miss a snap.

Not that the shoulder is no longer sore.

"I would say it's recovering," Vantrease said Monday. "This game is a physical, violent sport. You're going to be banged up every week. It's all about recovery and what you can do to get back to where you need to be. That's been a lot of the focus physically for me is making sure I take a lot of emphasis on recovery, strengthening, mobility, all that stuff throughout my entire body, not just my shoulder."

Asked if he needed to take off a play this season, Vantrease said there was a situation on the two-point conversion run by Jalen White against JMU.

"I actually dislocated my finger and I was laying on the ground, yanked it back into place and finished the game," he said.

The finger in question is on his left, non-throwing hand.

"It's totally fine," he said.

GS passing game vs. ODU defense

The Eagles have tried to balance the offense somewhat between the run and pass, but that went by the wayside last week against James Madison. The nation's No. 1 rush defense actually lowered its per-game average allowed to 36.2 by clamping down on the Eagles to a net 12 yards.

The Eagles instead exploited the Dukes' pass defense to a program-record 578 yards (third-most in SBC history) and record-tying four TDs on a record-setting 64 attempts.

Helton said Vantrease has been able to put behind him the previous game, a loss on Oct. 8 when Georgia State intercepted four passes, and focus on the moment he's in.

"He was in a moment where he's playing a really good team (JMU) that was giving him opportunities to produce some big plays, and he made those plays," Helton said. "And not only did he make them, a lot of them he checked to. He diagnosed the defense and said, 'You're giving me this. I'm going to take it.'

"To have the courage and the confidence to be able to do that, I hope we all understand that guy provides us hope. We would not be in these positions to win games if not for Kyle Vantrease."

ODU ranks 118th in pass defense with 278.3 yards per game. Opponents have completed 133 of 214 passes for 1,670 yards, a 12.56 yards per catch, and 10 touchdowns.

Vantrease noted that GS had three receivers each surpass 100 yards in receptions in the 45-38 win over James Madison. Amare Jones set a career record with 164 yards on seven receptions; Khaleb Hood had a career-best 131 yards on eight catches; and Jeremy Singleton totaled 108 yards on seven.

"We're an aggressive offense," Vantrease said. "We're not going to play scared. We're going to give our playmakers the opportunity to make plays. To have three guys over 100 receiving yards, I've never been a part of that before. That was really cool. To have a guy come up clutch like Derwin (Burgess Jr.) at the end of the game (with a 22-yard TD catch); we've got a lot of special guys out there."

The special teams really are special

In recent years, Georgia Southern has featured special teams standouts like all-conference punter Anthony Beck II and coverage speedster NaJee Thompson, but other aspects were inconsistent and, thus, worrisome. Breakdowns on kick and punt coverage and blocking have been costly, even game changers.

This season has been special thus far for the special teams units. Kicker Alex Raynor is 12 of 13 on field-goal attempts with a long of 45. His dependability has created another option when play-calling in enemy territory. Michael Lantz, a transfer from Minnesota, has been steady on kickoffs (62.6 average, 15 touchbacks, two out of bounds in 50 kicks). Beck's powerful leg booms punts (a 44.65 average on 23 punts) or he can deftly place them strategically (11 inside the 20).

Add in true freshman Joshua "The Jet" Thompson blocking a punt and recovering it for a touchdown against JMU, and new special teams coordinator Turner West has yet another reason to praise his charges.

"I challenged our guys because they're having one of those special years," Helton said. "They've gone from a liability to an asset. You look at last year where it was probably one of our biggest areas of growth to where now it's winning games for us."

Helton said the field-goal unit has been really good but missed one attempt against JMU, and earlier this season the team did allow an extra point to be blocked.

He added, when speaking to the team Sunday, that they probably noticed how close the Sun Belt games have been, "so you have to fight for every point." He praised Raynor and Lantz for a great start to the season.

"But it's not time to get comfortable, it's not time to get stagnant, especially as we approach November where games are going to be critical," Helton said.

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 plays Old Dominion Saturday in Sun Belt