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Thursday, Oct. 22, 2009

Hatcher excited about Eagles’ progress

STATESBORO — Wins are nice, but what gets Georgia Southern head coach Chris Hatcher going is the progress of his team within the wins.

“I’m excited about this team,” Hatcher said after Saturday’s 30-20 win over Chattanooga. “I’m excited about the way our defense is playing, and our young receivers are learning their routes and what we’re expecting of them. (Defensive tackle) Brent Russell is playing as good as anyone in the league, and in preseason we weren’t sure how he was going to fit in.”

What Hatcher really enjoys seeing is how his young Eagles are learning to deal with adversity. Georgia Southern has 30 freshmen and sophomores among its top 44 players.

“It’s the little victories during the course of the game that really get me excited,” Hatcher said. “We had that call back (holding penalty) in the first quarter, and we came right back and still scored.

“In the third quarter when they tied it up, we came right back to score a touchdown. That tells me we’re progressing and getting better. That’s what good teams do.”

In a strange twist of scheduling, the game vs. the Mocs was the Eagles’ first home game in four weeks and only home game in October.

It will be another four weeks before Georgia Southern (4-3, 3-1 Southern Conference) plays at Paulson Stadium. This Saturday, the Eagles play at Appalachian State (4-2, 3-0) and then have an off week before going to Samford.

The Mountaineers and quarterback Armanti Edwards are coming off a 44-30 win at Wofford, a game in which Appalachian State trailed 34-20 in the third period. There were 1,148 yards of total offense in the game, 611 by Appalachian State.

Edwards, the reigning Walter Payton Award winner, had 415 yards passing and leads the conference in total offense, averaging 338.2 yards per game. Devon Moore, who ran for 181 yards against the Terriers, is the conference’s top rusher at 111.3 yards per game.

Georgia Southern’s next home game is Nov. 14 against Furman, and it closes out the regular season the following week by hosting The Citadel.

Against the Mocs, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, Georgia Southern scored on the opening drive of the game. But when Jamere Valentine took a swing pass for 13 yards to the 9, the Eagles were called for holding, and it looked like the drive would stall. But Adam Urbano responded with runs of 10 and 9 yards for a touchdown, and suddenly it was a new-look Eagles offense.

Trailing 13-10 at the half, the Mocs took the kickoff and drove to the Eagles’ 6 before being forced to settle for a field goal.

Unfazed, Georgia Southern responded with a 10-play, 65-yard drive to take the lead for good on a 2-yard run by Urbano. The Eagles converted on third down three times.

“I hated to see them score that last touchdown,” Hatcher said of a Mocs score with 1:16 left. “I was hoping our defense would get a second-half shutout for the second straight week. Our defense is really playing well, and so are the special teams.

“When you are as inexperienced as we are on offense, it really helps to have two phases you can count on.”