Bobcats head to Georgia Southern for final road game

Texas State plays in its final road game this weekend against one of the most unique teams in the Sun Belt.

Georgia Southern utilizes the run-heaviest offense in the conference, rushing the ball three times as often as it throws with 337 carries and 102 passes. 

The team boasts five different ball-carriers with at least 200 yards from the ground. The list led by senior running back J.D. King, with 625 yards and five touchdowns on 115 carries, followed by senior quarterback Shai Werts, with 474 yards and three scores on 90 carries. Werts is still a threat to air the ball out, though, completing 57 of his 90 attempts for 738 yards with five touchdowns and five interceptions

“You're gonna see some triple option stuff — that spread triple option, multiple formations and motions and things that we have not seen yet,” Bobcats head coach Jake Spavital said. “So it's a good challenge for us and they hold the ball, they're a ball-control team and there's going to be minimal opportunities.”

Simulating the Eagles’ offense in practice has been difficult for Texas State. Third-string senior quarterback Jaylen Gipson has been working with the scout team offense this week as one of the team’s quicker options behind center, replicating some of Werts’ abilities.

But sophomore safety Kevin Anderson said he could still tell from film the defense will be going up against a much speedier unit this weekend.

“We've gotta be way more locked in than we have ever been. They've got athletes everywhere in the backfield, they're more than capable of passing, running the ball, trickery. We gotta stay locked in,” Anderson said. “(In) practice, Coach really puts us into positions where we don't have to think so much. So really, it's like a balanced defense but we all have one certain key. Everybody stays on their key and we should be good.”

Georgia Southern’s ball-control style helps the team slow down any opponent’s offense. Troy, for instance, which hung 37 points on Texas State earlier this year and averages 29.6 points per game, was held to 13 points in its matchup with the Eagles last week. The Trojans ran just 11 plays in each of the first two quarters, their only points in the half coming from a pick-six by their defense and a 35-yard field goal with a minute left in the second quarter.

The Eagles, by contrast, ran 45 plays, including an 18-play, 87-yard drive that lasted 10:53 that resulted in a 23-yard field goal.

The Bobcats know they’ll have limited opportunities to put up points in this week’s contest and the coaches have been stressing the importance of minimizing mistakes.

“Every single block, every single penalty, every single catch, every single drop, every single special teams play — everything is emphasized when you're in a limited-possession game,” offensive coordinator Jacob Peeler said. “And you know, one play here, one play there can really, like we said, get magnified in a good way or a bad way.”

While Georgia Southern’s defense does receive a boost from it’s offense, the Eagles are still stingy about giving up points, allowing 19.1 per game this year. Opponents coming from behind tend to throw the ball to move down the field faster, which helps Georgia Southern’s rushing defense totals. But even when teams do try to run the ball, the Eagles hold them to a league-best 3.7 yards per carry.

Spavital is expecting the defense to be aggressive in its blitzes against Texas State and said one of the keys to winning this week’s matchup would be to get a lead early in the game to force Georgia Southern out of its comfort zone.

“Seeing the option everyday, they're gonna always be used to the banging and hitting with each other every single day because that's what they see in practice,” Peeler said. “So we expect a physical game, we expect a group of guys that are going to try to win the line of scrimmage.”

The Bobcats (1-8, 1-4 Sun Belt) and Eagles (5-2, 3-2) square off inside Allen E. Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.

“They're a good challenge ahead of us,” Spavital said. “I think our kids are excited for the last road game of the year and we'll go put it all together.”