Pichon Wimbley is too young to know the name John Cameron Swayze.

Swayze, for those of a certain age, is remembered as a noted television newscaster who was actually more famous for his Timex watch commercials. It was Swayze who made the words “Timex, takes a licking and keeps on ticking,” a household name.

Wimbley is Georgia Southern’s version of a Timex watch:  the 6-foot-2, 310-pound junior left guard has answered the bell for every game since he arrived on campus after an outstanding career at Newnan High School.

The former Cougar was an early enrollee at Georgia Southern and wasted no time in making his presence felt. He started as a true freshman and is a major factor as to why the Eagles are leading the Sun Belt Conference’s East Division going into Saturday’s 4 p.m. game with Troy at Paulson Stadium.

Georgia Southern and Marshall are tied for the division lead but thanks to fourth quarter comeback from a double-digit deficit the Eagles own the tiebreaker. All the Eagles need to do to play for a conference title is to win out.

Football players are continually getting nicked up, especially linemen, and it is Wimbley’s durability—not to mention his outstanding performance in the classroom – that is most impressive.

“Pichon might be the most underrated lineman in the Sun Belt,” said Eagles broadcaster Danny Reed who is as familiar with teams in the conference as anyone. “He’s an old school guy. He shows up every Saturday.”

Wimbley’s durability is nothing new. He said he missed one game in high school and that was the first game of his senior year when he was sidelined by COVID.

“I was raised with good values and I think that’s where it comes from,” Wimbley said of coming to work every day. “I just attribute it to just coming out and doing everything for the team. I’ve always put the team above myself.

“Injuries are going to happen but if I can still play and I feel I’m the best person for the job then I’m going to go out there and play,” Wimbley said. “I try to take good care of my body, watch what I eat and how I prepare myself week in and week out to stay durable for the whole season.”

Much of the credit for his remaining healthy, Wimbley said, goes to Eliza Petersen who is Director of Football Nutrition, and Coach James Heiss who is the Strength and Conditioning Coach for football.

“Eliza does a really good job making sure we get the food we need from calories, protein, carbs and all of that,” Wimbley said. “Coach Heiss does a good job with getting weight back onto us muscle-wise and making sure our bodies are right for the whole season.”

Wimbley is also one of the best students on the football team as attested by his being a consistent member of the Dean’s List which is reserved for those with 3.50 GPA or better.

His mother Nina is the principal at Glanton Elementary School in Grantville, Ga., and his father, Kevin, is an 8th grade teacher and coach at Smokey Road Middle School in Newnan. Kevin went into teaching after serving 22 years in the military.

“Education means a great deal to me,” Wimbley said. “Growing up with two teachers, grades were always important to me and it was always important to them. For me football was a thing to get my education so I am using football as far as I can to grow my education.”

While Wimbley, who is on track to graduate next May or summer, is using football the game is also using him to one another’s benefit.

Wimbley is Georgia Southern’s most experienced lineman. Going into the Troy game he has played in 35 straight games, 2,428 snaps in all. He has 654 this year with a possible five games---three regular season, a conference championship game and bowl game—remaining.

No one, Wimbley said, is looking that far ahead. The team’s focus, he said, is centered on Troy which, though only 2-7, believes it is finally putting it all together after beating Coastal Carolina in its last outing. The Trojans will not be going to a bowl this year so they are making Georgia Southern and West Division leader Louisiana, who they play next week, their bowl games.

“We’re going into the game with a lot of confidence,” Wimbley said, “but we also have to be humble. Troy is a good team. We know they’re the two-time defending Sun Belt champion and as the season has gone on, we could kind of see them find their fitting and who they are.

“We have to focus on the main thing which is winning. Yes, we’ve put ourselves in a championship position but we have to put ourselves in a championship position week in and week out.so we can’t focus on what’s four weeks down the road when we’ve got a team coming in that’s trying to beat us on Saturday.”