The Georgia Southern Eagles’ push for a bowl bid takes them to Boone, N.C., and a matchup with one of their most heated rivals tonight.
The Eagles, 3-5 on the season and just 1-3 in Sun Belt Conference play, face the Appalachian State Mountaineers tonight in a game that will be shown on ESPN2. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Georgia Southern needs three wins out of its last four games to achieve bowl eligibility, but the Eagles have been struggling. They had a week off after their 34-24 setback at Arkansas State. That followed a 35-10 rout at James Madison, and the back-to-back conference losses all but knocked the Eagles out of the Sun Belt East race.
“I know that Eagle Nation is disappointed and angry,” Eagles coach Clay Helton said. “I am not happy either. Any time you lose two hard-fought games that take you out of contention for a conference title, that is not who we are and that is not our standard at Georgia Southern. It is not acceptable and it never will be. To Eagle Nation, I say I am sorry. It is my job to make sure that doesn’t happen and I own that. The energy I have going forward is to improve that on the immediate front with us improving this week.”
The first order of improvement for the Eagles lies on defense. The Eagles are ranked among the bottom in several categories throughout the FBS level. They are allowing 35.4 point per game, one of the worst among FBS teams, and their rush defense is next to last, giving up 240.9 yards per game. The pass defense, allowing 220 yards per game, has fared slightly better.
The Mountaineers’ Rashod Dubinion, an Arkansas transfer, leads the Sun Belt with 756 yards rushing and four touchdowns. App State also has the league’s top passing offense.
To top it off, the Eagles have the Sun Belt’s worst third-down efficiency on defense.
Even with the Mountaineers averaging 41 pass attempts a game, the Eagles’ are gearing up to stop the run first.
“My biggest concern is our run defense,” Helton said. “If you are not effective in run defense, your time of possession goes down and your opportunities go down. We have a huge challenge in shutting down the league’s leading rusher.”
Georgia Southern is winless on the road this season – 0-4 away from Paulson Stadium so far in2025 – and Kidd Brewer Stadium has never been kind to the Eagles. Georgia Southern is 5-12 all time there.
Another big concern for the Eagles is how they have played away from the friendly confines of Paulson Stadium. The Eagles have yet to win a game on the road and are now going into a hostile environment in Boone. The Eagles are just 5-12 all-time at Kidd-Brewer Stadium and 5-15-1 in Boone.
“There is a tremendous history between these two schools with national championships and fierce competition and we expect that Thursday night,” Helton said. “We are going to have to have those younger players step up in this rivalry game. With a lot of our veteran players out I think we are going to be asking some of our younger players to step up in a tough environment. I told our staff it is going to be just as important for Dalen Cobb and Cam Brown to play really well, as it is for a guy like Taeo Todd.”