When Clay Helton took over the reins at Georgia Southern no one assumed the Eagles would have a pair of 100-yard rushers. In Helton’s short tenure at Georgia Southern the Eagles' offensive production has come primarily through the air as they have been in the top-10 in the nation in yards passing both seasons.
This year Helton said in the preseason the Eagles would rely more on the run, especially with a quarterback playing his first year as a starter. Through the first four games the Eagles were last in the league in rushing and had not had a back crack 50 yards.
That all changed Saturday as the Eagles relied on their rushing attack to help them gain nearly 500 yards of offense as they knocked off Georgia State 38-21.
In the game the Eagles had not one, but two running backs go over 100 yards as Jalen White had 114 yards and two touchdowns, while O.J. Arnold added 110 yards and a pair of scores.
“I think a lot of that success came as we finally saw a healthy Jalen White,” Helton said. “You could see his confidence coming on at the end of the last game coming off his ankle injury. We also take what the defense gives us. We saw a lot of two-high coverage as they came in to stop the passing game and we got the opportunity to run the football. I am proud of Jalen and O.J. as well as that offensive line. We said this game would be won in the trenches by the offensive and defensive lines, and I thought it was.”
White went into the season as a first-team All-Sun Belt preseason selection. He was also touted as a possible NFL prospect, so starting the season a little banged up was disappointing for the senior.
“It was frustrating the first few games as I was banged up and had some stuff going on,” White said. “I feel like I got a little bit of swagger back and some confidence with this 100-yard game. I couldn’t have done this though without the help of the offensive line and I can’t thank them enough. Those boys were getting dirty and gritty out there today and I couldn’t have asked for anything else.”
Speaking of gritty, Eagle receiver Josh Dallas had a nice performance with nine receptions for 90-yards and a touchdown. The most impressive of his nine catches came in the fourth quarter as he broke four tackles and it took four Georgia State players to finally drag him out of bounds.
“Toughness, discipline and unity,” Dallas said. “That is our culture, and any time we get the opportunity to display that culture we do our absolute best. It wasn’t just me though tonight as Jalen White and O.J. Arnold went over 100-yards rushing. That doesn’t start though without the offensive line dominating up front in the trenches. I had the chance to make a big play and I had a heck of a time doing it. If you watch that play, we had receivers blocking downfield for me, J.C. was running down the field with me, the whole team and the fans were hyped. That is something I will remember forever.”
While the offense grabbed the headline the defense was able to come up with three key interceptions to stop Panther drives and prevent them from gaining momentum
“I’ve been asking for a three-turnover game and the defense came through tonight,” Helton said. “Every time they ran over to the sidelines and gave me that ball I smiled, especially when T.J. got that last one for us.”
The Eagles have a bye week Saturday and will get back to action Oct. 12 at Paulson Stadium for an 8:00 p.m. matchup against Marshall.
