Eagle offense sputters in loss to Chanticleers

Georgia Southern racks up just 218 total yards in horrendous showing against ranked Coastal Carolina

DJ Cadden, Sports Correspondent

CONWAY, S.C. — The Eagles came into this week with high hopes of potentially upsetting a ranked Chanticleers team. However, those hopes were quickly shattered when the Georgia Southern offense put together one of their worst performances in recent memory.

Georgia Southern kept up with No. 25 Coastal Carolina through one half as they somehow managed to tie the game up prior to halftime. The offense would score just one touchdown as the only other Eagle score was a 60-yard punt return by Wesley Kennedy III.

Coastal Carolina’s offense fired on all cylinders throughout the entirety of the game, managing to accumulate 382 total yards. Despite starting their backup quarterback, the Chanticleers still managed to dominate the Eagles in every aspect of the game. Junior wide receiver Jaivon Heiligh caught five passes for over 100 yards against an Eagles secondary that looked uninspired.

Many of the Eagle fans in attendance became audibly frustrated with the lack of creativity in the offensive play calling as the Eagle offense remained stagnant for the vast majority of the game. The measly 3.69 yards per play the Eagles mustered ranks 449th out of 490 total Georgia Southern games in terms of average yards per play.

Despite many believing the stats say otherwise, the defense actually held its own for the majority of the game. However, the failures on offense put the Eagle defense back on the field much more than usual.

In order to improve on such an ugly loss, the Eagles have to find a way to inject some energy into an offense that looked average at best against a defense that had not looked extremely stout prior to Saturday’ game.

The Eagles will quickly shift their focus to South Alabama, who travels to Statesboro on Thursday Oct. 29.