It is well for Georgia Southern Eagles fans and alumni as the home team eased to a 48-13 homecoming win over the South Alabama Jaguars.

GS didn’t exactly steamroll its opponent, but slowly and steadily built a lead as the game wore on. The offense was solid, the defense allowed some yards but made up for it with four turnovers and it’s Great to be an Eagle on a Saturday Night.

Here are three things we learned from the win.

Chad Lunsford is Legit

What else can I say? Southern sits 4-1 just one year after an 0-6 start. It would be shocking for the Eagles to miss a bowl game at this point and a conference title is a real possibility for a team that went 2-10 last season.

The Eagles look calm, composed and confident. Penalties are few while points aren’t. Best of all? We get to watch the head coach wreck a helpless metal chair after every win.

So is the Secondary

The secondary unit led by Joshua Moon, Monquavion Brinson and Jay Bowdry was expected to be a standout squad for Georgia Southern. They’re living up to that billing. The defense killed any South Alabama momentum straight away with two early interceptions and kept the Jaguars at bay all afternoon.

Shai Werts had a good game with 99 yards through the air, 85 on the ground, two scores and zero turnovers, but the offense couldn’t slam the door on the visitors early on. The strong secondary showing kept South Alabama from ever generating hope of pulling off the upset.

The box score suggests a much closer game as the Jaguars tallied 326 total yards of offense to the Eagles’ 394. To paraphrase GS defensive coordinator Scot Sloan: Yards aren’t what matters. Points are.

Third Down Trials

Shall we nitpick? Georgia Southern went just two of eight on third down conversions, and zero for one on fourth down, not to mention a few big plays were taken off the board due to offensive holding calls. The Jaguars weren’t completely out of it until a Tomarcio Reese fumble recovery and another Werts score made it 34-6 early in the fourth quarter.

The shotgun-based option is working well, but would it be worthwhile to throw in just one under center formation for short yardage? It pains me to see the ball snapped back three yards when we need to gain less than one.

A better team will make GS pay for little mistakes like that. There are better teams coming up on the schedule, and you and I both know who they are.

With that said, Georgia Southern just won on homecoming night. It Is Well.