After thrashing The Citadel last weekend, the Eagles move on to Sun Belt play this Saturday as they travel over 2,500 miles to face off against the Idaho Vandals. 

The Vandals are coming off of their first win of the season against Wofford last weekend. The game ended as a thriller when Wofford pulled ahead entering the fourth quarter before a touchdown sealed up the win for Idaho. The first two contests for the Vandals ended in losses from Ohio University 45-28, and a blowout loss to USC 59-9. The home field advantage will be present in the form of the difficulty of adjusting to the time change and avoiding jet lag for the Eagles. The Vandals have yet to have a home game breach 12,000 in attendance so crowd noise will likely not be a factor.

Idaho’s defense has not been too much of a problem for their opponents this season. The Vandals are allowing an average of over 47 points per game, and even bigger for the Eagles they are allowing over 270 yards on the ground. As a whole, the defense allows over 540 yards per game and is recovering from being at the bottom of the conference last season. Both teams will be playing in their first conference game of the year and they are looking to set the tone for their season moving forward.

Specifically, the Eagles will have to game plan against the two leaders of the Idaho defense in linebackers Chris Edwards and Marc Millan. The two seniors have combined for 41 tackles, with 21 and 20 respectively. Another potential threat for the Eagles will be senior defensive end Bradley Quinton. The veteran has been a terror in the backfield through the first three games, racking up 2 sacks and 5 total tackles for loss along with 13 total tackles.

The Eagles will also get a chance to get more reps putting the ball in the air. Idaho has yet to pick up an interception this season and has allowed an average of nearly 270 yards through the air. Fans got to see Kevin Ellison and Favian Upshaw air out the ball more than usual against The Citadel and it should be a similar showing this weekend. Idaho will most likely not be the same as Citadel, but on paper they do not seem to fair much better against their opponents.

A win over Idaho is expected out of most Georgia Southern fans but it is important to remember that on any given Saturday anything can happen. The Eagles will kick off against the Vandals on Saturday at 9pm in Statesboro.