Georgia Southern working on passing game

The Georgia Southern Eagles are coming off a bye week, and that gave the Eagles a chance to rest players and work on some things to help them improve down the stretch.

The Eagles are currently No. 1 in the country in rushing yards per game with a 377.4 average, and the team’s success is predicated on its ability to run the ball.

But one of the things head coach Willie Fritz has focused on improving with the program is the passing game. But the team currently sits 126th out of 127 FBS teams in passing yards per game.

“That is one of the areas that we have got to get better in,” Fritz said. “We worked on that last week, and we will work on it again. It’s not any secret how teams are going to play us -- man to man, stack the box -- and we have to be able to take advantage of that.”

Through five games, the Eagles have thrown for only 312 yards. Kevin Ellison has been more successful since returning to the starting job in the third game as he has 233 yards passing during the three games he has started.

But the Eagles have not found the end zone through the air all season as Ellison and back up Favian Upshaw have yet to throw a touchdown. This week, the Eagles face the New Mexico State, which is giving up 294.8 yards per game through the air.

“We had about five or six opportunities to make some big plays in the passing game against (Louisiana-Monroe),” Fritz said of the team’s game before its off week. “We had some drops, we had some not accurate throws, we had a busted protection, and we really thought we had it with an open guy. You know, we really left about 100 yards out on the field in the passing game.”