South Alabama rallies to top Georgia Southern, 38-31

One (me) would assume that having two weeks to prepare for an incoming opponent would give a team time to be rested and focused going into a game.

And that person (still me) would be dead wrong.

Georgia Southern watched South Alabama running back La’Damian Webb trounce the Arkansas State defense just a week ago, and the Eagles apparently thought “it’d be awesome if he did that again”.

Webb gashed the Eagles for 247 yards and four touchdowns in a 38-31 win for South Alabama on Saturday, in a game that was as impressive of a rally for the Jaguars as it was an embarrassing choke for Georgia Southern.

After forcing a pick-six on the opening play of regulation, it looked like Southern was going to have some momentum, and after finishing the first quarter up 21-7, it seemed like that may continue, but the Eagles’ truly awful defense had other plans.

South Alabama outscored Georgia Southern 21-7 over the final two quarters of regulation, capped by a pair of Webb touchdown runs in the fourth quarter to give the Jags the seven-point victory.

USA racked up 514 yards of total offense against an Eagles defense that was determined to prove it is still one of the worst in the nation, and despite losing the turnover battle 3-1, the Jaguars were the victor when it was all said and done.

Georgia Southern’s typically potent offense was pretty uneven despite putting up 24 points as a unit, with the home team playing sloppy and unengaged. No example of this were more evident than with the game on the line late in the fourth quarter, down 38-31, when Eagles quarterback Kyle Vantrease decided to hit receiver Dalen Cobb for a 3 yard pass (?) on a 4th and 5 (??) on a crossing route that had zero chance of picking up 5 yards (???).

For South Alabama, this was a solid comeback effort despite a rough performance from quarterback Carter Bradley, who turned in 193 passing yards and a touchdown against two interceptions. But when you have a running back like Webb facing one of the worst rush defenses in all of football, it doesn’t really matter.

The Jaguars will look to keep rolling next week against Sun Belt west foe Texas State.

For Georgia Southern, this is more proof than ever that the entire defensive unit needs to be jettisoned and not a single player currently on the team should be a confirmed starter in 2023.

To have a team where the offense needs to score 40+ to have a chance at winning on a weekly basis is an absolute travesty, and wholesale changes need to be made if the Eagles ever want a chance to contend for anything more than 4th best team in the eastern division.

Southern plays Louisiana next week and will probably make the Cajuns struggling offense look like the 2007 New England Patriots.