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It literally came down to the final play of regulation and a long review, but Georgia Southern was able to survive an upset attempt by a winless UL Monroe team by a score of 35-30 when it was all said and done.
Warhawks quarterback Colby Suits ran the ball down to the Eagles’ one-yard line and after a long review period, it was determined that Suits was down and that time had expired in regulation, allowing GS to escape with its second win of the year.
Southern did its best Atlanta Falcons impression and tried to blow an 18-point lead beginning at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter, as ULM scored 13 unanswered points over the final 20 minutes of the game. If there had been another 10 seconds on the clock, the Warhawks would be celebrating its first victory right now.
The Eagles defense seemingly quit playing after blocking a punt at the 5:30 mark of the third quarter, allowing Colby Suits and the rest of the Monroe offense to seemingly move the ball at will after that point. When it was all wrapped up, ULM had racked up 426 yards of total offense.
Georgia Southern defensive coordinator Scot Sloan should be looking for elsewhere employment after the Eagles’ performances in its first three games of the year.
Colby Suits accounted for 334 yards passing and two scores through the air, taking advantage of a soft Southern secondary. The Monroe signal-caller added 51 yards rushing, and if it had been 52, ULM would have prevailed with the win.
J.D. King was the lone bright spot for the Eagles, rushing for 196 yards on 21 totes and a score, averaging nearly 10 yards per carry in the win and an impressive 62 yard run in the first quarter. Other than that, Wesley Kennedy III added 64 yards and two touchdowns. That was about the extent of Georgia Southern’s offensive effort.
The only real takeaways from this game is that Southern was lucky to survive a game against a winless team that hadn’t scored more than 17 points coming into Saturday’s contest, and that the Eagles entire defense is in need of a major overhaul if they want to win any more conference games this year.
Georgia Southern is slated to take on rival Appalachian State at home on October 14, while ULM will look to pick up its first win against Liberty on October 10.