Georgia Southern brings in a pretty good offense but a really lousy defense. Clay Helton's group throws the ball all over the yard and have had surprisingly good results considering this was an option offense since the beginning of time. Quarterback Kyle Vantrease is a good facilitator of the football and this is NOT the first time we've played against him as he was Buffalo's starting QB in the 2020 Camillia Bowl. He gets rid of the ball early and often (only sacked 4 times all season on 472 drop backs - roughly once every 118 drop backs!) This is Vantrease's 6th year of college football. With so few negative plays and relatively low penalties per game they do a good job of staying on schedule and conversely they have the 12th best 3rd Down offense in the country converting almost 50%.
Defensively, they're bad at every level and in every category. Their points per game allowed would be worse than it is except their offense is able to sustain drives and keep the other team on the sidelines. Opponents are picking up almost 7 yards per play against the Eagles. This should be a game where our run game gets back on track.
Helton has a good staff and will pick apart our weaknesses but I think our defense can hold them down, contain their run game with the front 4, and we should be able to go up and down the field against their defense. However, we'll have to capitalize in the Red Zone. Georgia Southern has the 11th best Red Zone defense in the country (24 TDs in 34 Red Zone trips). The good news is teams are getting to the Red Zone A LOT against them (34 Red Zone trips in 10 games is nearly double what we've allowed - 18).
Defensively, they're bad at every level and in every category. Their points per game allowed would be worse than it is except their offense is able to sustain drives and keep the other team on the sidelines. Opponents are picking up almost 7 yards per play against the Eagles. This should be a game where our run game gets back on track.
Helton has a good staff and will pick apart our weaknesses but I think our defense can hold them down, contain their run game with the front 4, and we should be able to go up and down the field against their defense. However, we'll have to capitalize in the Red Zone. Georgia Southern has the 11th best Red Zone defense in the country (24 TDs in 34 Red Zone trips). The good news is teams are getting to the Red Zone A LOT against them (34 Red Zone trips in 10 games is nearly double what we've allowed - 18).
| Marshall (6-4) | Georgia Southern (5-5) | |
| PPG | 23.9 (93rd) | 34.3 (27th) |
| Points Allowed | 16.1 (8th) | 31.7 (111th) |
| Total Offense | 385.5 (70th) | 474.7 (17th) |
| Rush Offense | 193.4 (29th) | 141.2 (80th) |
| Pass Offense | 192.1 (111th) | 333.5 (5th) |
| Offensive Pass Effic | 124.17 (103rd) | 130.03 (82nd) |
| 3rd Down Offense | 34% (106th) | 49% (12th) |
| Total Defense | 276.4 (9th) | 479.6 (128th) |
| Rush Defense | 82.4 (3rd) | 224.9 (129th) |
| Pass Defense | 194.0 (29th) | 254.7 (103rd) |
| Defensive Pass Effic | 1032.46 (3rd) | 132.27 (76th) |
| 3rd Down Defense | 22% (1st) | 39% (73rd) |
| Turnover Margin Per Game | +0.60 (26th) | +0.00 (70th) |
| Penalty Yards Per Game | 62.4 (192nd) | 46.6 (35th) |
