Tyson Summers goes through first spring game as Georgia Southern's head coach
STATESBORO -- When Georgia Southern football head coach Tyson Summers was hired, he said one of the things he would be looking for his team to do was throw the football more often.
Georgia Southern led the nation in rushing last year, but its passing game struggled.
The Eagles held their annual Blue-White spring game Saturday afternoon at Paulson Stadium, and while there were more balls in the air, it was a running back who led the way. Junior running back Chaz Thornton scored two touchdowns, one on a 45-yard run in the fourth quarter, to lead the White team to a 27-7 win over the Blue squad.
"The things we wanted to accomplish we were able to get done," Summers said of the Eagles' first scrimmage action open to the public. "We knew going into (Saturday's) game we were going to be limited in some spots on the offensive line. We've had a few injuries there. One of the things I've believe in is you use it (spring game) as an opportunity to try and develop your passing game. That's what I've always thought scrimmages were for.
"The thing I would like to see a better job of is our leadership. I still think we lack that. We've got a tremendous way to go. When something poor happens, we have not been able to stand up and rally the troops."
Georgia Southern had five offensive linemen sit out the game, as well as star running back Matt Breida, who has been held out of contact work this spring as he recuperates from nagging injuries going back to last season.
Many of the offensive linemen played for both the White and Blue teams, as did quarterbacks Favian Upshaw and Kevin Ellison. Upshaw had the better day of the quarterbacks as Ellison had difficulty moving whichever team he was quarterbacking at the time.
Upshaw had an 18-yard scoring pass to wide receiver B.J. Johnson with 49 seconds to play for the Blue's lone score in the game which consisted of four 12-minute quarters. Upshaw also contributed to a White touchdown when linebacker Ironhead Gallon picked off a pass and returned it 31 yards.
Younghoe Koo and Tyler Bass, a redshirt freshman from Irmo, South Carolina, each kicked a field goal for the White team. Koo drilled one home from 38 yards while Bass connected on a 41-yard attempt as the first half came to a close.
"What we were doing (Saturday) on both sides of the ball was trying to be vanilla," Summers said. "We wanted to work a lot on our one back looks and give ourselves an opportunity to at least get those guys out there and continue to work and develop. We are going to wind up being an option team first and be able to run our quarterbacks. But that was not what (Saturday) was about. (Saturday) was an opportunity to work on our passing in a live situation.
"I thought what you saw, in my opinion, was the defense came out with a lot of energy and they played like it. They played like they had some swagger and confidence."
This story was originally published April 16, 2016 at 7:25 PM with the headline "Tyson Summers goes through first spring game as Georgia Southern's head coach ."