Georgia Southern sends seniors out on a high note

Unlike two years ago, there was no celebrating a Sun Belt Conference championship at Paulson Stadium.

Georgia Southern wasn’t in contention for a conference championship as it was two years ago when it beat Louisiana Monroe in the final game of the season to cap an 8-0 Sun Belt run. But Troy was.

A win by the Trojans, who only three weeks ago were ranked No. 25, in the Associated Press poll, would have enabled them to claim a share of the conference title with Appalachian State and Arkansas State.

In a game that went down to the final play Saturday afternoon Georgia Southern’s defense stopped Troy at the Eagles 9-yard line to preserve a 28-24 win. The Eagles (5-7, 4-4 Sun Belt) snapped a four-game losing streak and denied the bowl-bound Trojans (8-3, 6-2) a record sixth conference championship.

THREE WHO MATTERED

Georgia Southern quarterback Kevin Ellison: Ellison rushed for 115 yards on 10 carries and had touchdown runs of 24 and 54 yards. He also had two touchdown passes as he completed 10-of-14 passes for 127 yards.

Georgia Southern wide receiver B.J. Johnson III: Johnson had seven catches for a career-high 129 yards, and his two touchdown catches also represented a single game career high.

Georgia Southern linebacker Ukeme Eligwe: The transfer from Florida State, who sat out last year, had 18 tackles, 13 solo with one sack and one tackle for loss.

OBSERVATIONS

Who to start?: Faced with having to choose between Ellison and Favian Upshaw as to who to start at quarterback Eagles head coach Tyson Summers started them both. Upshaw got the nod at quarterback with Ellison lining up at receiver. On the first play, Upshaw completed a 9-yard pass to Ellison. It was the first reception of Ellison’s career.

Record attempt stalled: Eagles place-kicker Younghoe Koo, one of three finalists for the Lou Groza Award, which goes to the best kicker in FBS, finished the season with 19 field goals to tie Adrian Mora for the program’s single-season record set in 2010. Koo was successful on all four of his extra point attempts but was never in a position to attempt a field goal.

They said it

Summers: “To be able to come back and play the way we have been, for it come down to the last play of the game in the final game of the season after having put in so much work since August ... it’s great for the seniors. This was an emotional day. These guys — all of them whether they’re seniors, juniors, sophomores or freshmen — they’re my guys. All of them. It was hard going through the Friday meal, (Saturday) morning … very emotional. We won a tough game against a good team. It was good for the seniors to go out this way. They gave us a look, an opportunity (on being able to run the ball in the second half). We made some adjustments and were able to get out on the perimeter, and the defense really held up. I was scared to death on that last play, but on the last time out (22 seconds to play), I told them, ‘There was only going to be two plays so don’t let them get out of bounds.’ ”

Georgia Southern linebacker Ironhead Gallon: “Kevin and B.J. had tremendous games. B.J. is a real beast. No one knows how good a receiver he is. They should try going against him every day. He’s really tough and physical. Great guy and teammate. We didn’t want them celebrating at Paulson, so winning this game is really satisfying. Winning this game was important. It is how you want to be remembered and respected.”

Ellison: “I’m going to miss this place. Georgia Southern is a very special place, and it’s about more than football. The season didn’t go the way we wanted, obviously, but to keep Troy from winning the conference on our home field was pretty special. Our defense really played well. They had a lot of big stops, and they sensed the momentum we (offense) had.”

Johnson: “With me, this game ranks with the conference championship game here two years ago. After what we’ve been through this year, very disappointing obviously, and then to be able to go out and play easily our most complete game of the year and beat a good team is pretty special. We played on our home field for the last time, and we protected it.”

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Georgia Southern sends seniors out on a high note."