The Georgia Southern football team completed their second and final preseason scrimmage over the weekend, as they continue to roll towards the season opener against South Carolina State.

The first scrimmage was a defensive manifest, with only two touchdowns being scored in total, with both of them coming via turnovers, leaving fans to question what they may see from the offense in the upcoming season. One player having an impact in the first scrimmage was the freshman nose tackle, CJ Wright, who talked about the importance of gaining confidence in the newly implemented 3-4 defense.

“There’s a lot of guys that can play along this defensive line,” Wright said. “The thing is, we all compete so hard on every snap because we are competing for reps every single day. That’s what makes us better.”

The second scrimmage was the complete opposite of the first, result-wise, as the offense scored four touchdowns and came close to reaching 400 total offensive yards. Head Coach Chad Lunsford talked about his observations from scrimmage one to two, and talked about how it’ll help out in the future.

“I saw a lot of improvement from the first scrimmage to today,” Lunsford said. “We had to fight through adversity with weather and some other factors but we didn’t lose our composure. We were competitive on both sides of the ball. The offense threw a punch with a big play and the defense got mad and responded. There was a lot of energy and juice out there, which I like.”

All levels of the defense look vastly improved from last season, from the defensive line to the defensive backfield, and with the addition of the 3-4 the Eagles could take a major step defensively.

The offense looked better in the second scrimmage, but it’s too early to tell what the peak of the offense is. Wesley Fields continues to recover from offseason shoulder surgery, but will be able to play barring any setbacks. The big test will be how the offense plays during week two, when UMASS comes into Paulson to play the Eagles.

On the special teams side of the ball, Tyler Bass looks poised to be an anchor for GS at the kicking position, and with a better offense, will get more opportunities to show off the boot of a leg he has.

Ryan Kostensky, The George-Anne Sports Reporter, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu