The Georgia Southern Eagles traveled to Conway on Saturday, where they upended the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers 41-17 in blowout-fashion.

GS won the toss and elected to defer for the second half. Coastal took advantage of this, going 75 yards while eating over seven minutes off the clock to score the first points of the game. Penalties played a big role in the first quarter, hurting the Eagles, with the first coming when the Chanticleers missed a PAT, but an offside penalty allowed Coastal to take the lead 7-0.

Later in the quarter, the penalty bug bit the Eagles again, when GS was hit with a personal foul on a play that would’ve been a first down. Redshirt-junior Tyler Bass drilled a 44-yard field goal to get the Eagles on board, where they would trail 7-3.

Once again, Coastal struck again first in the second quarter, this time via a field goal to take a 10-3 lead. The Eagles struck back with a drive that lasted over four minutes and ended with a touchdown when redshirt-sophomore Shai Werts leaped over a Chanticleer defender to complete a 12-yard touchdown rush.

GS got a big break when sophomore defensive end Raymand Johnson III fell on a Coastal fumble at Coastal’s own 12 yard line. The Eagles would go three-and-out but end with a field goal, effectively taking their first lead of the contest, 13-10.

After the field goal, both teams would each go three-and-out to end the half.

The Eagles received to start the second half, and brought their first-half momentum with them. GS used a 54-yard rush from redshirt-senior running back Monteo Garrett. Just one play later, senior running back Wesley Fields pounded the ball in for a six yard rushing touchdown and extending the Eagles’ lead to 20-10. Two drives later, Fields would find his way back into the Coastal end zone, this time for two yards, allowing GS to take a 17-point lead with four minutes left in the third quarter.

On the very next position, after yet another Coastal punt, the Eagles use a huge 59-yard run from redshirt-freshman running back Logan Wright, giving GS a 34-10 lead. The biggest stat of note for the end of the third is the yard differential between the two teams. Coastal accrued only 16 total yards in the third quarter as opposed to GS’ 233 yards, all of which came on the ground. The Eagles outscored the Chants 21-0 in the third quarter alone, allowing them to put Coastal in the rearview mirror.

The Eagles’ offense continued its hot streak and the Chanticleers continued their offensive woes in the fourth quarter. Garrett found the end zone for his first touchdown of the game, punching in the five-yard score, giving the Eagles a 41-10 lead early in the fourth quarter.

Offensively, the starters were pulled after taking a 31-point advantage over Coastal, and the Eagles wouldn’t score again in the game. Fields finished the game with 148 rushing yards on 20 attempts while finding the end zone twice. Werts rushed for another touchdown, his 12th rushing TD of the season.

Up next:

GS travels to Atlanta next weekend where they square off against rival Georgia State, trying to snap a three-game losing streak to the Panthers. Kickoff for Saturday’s matchup from From Panthers Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Eastern.