By MATT YOGUS

myogus@statesboroherald.com

Georgia Southern (1-1) wants to put last Saturday behind it.

After the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (1-0) dominated all aspects of a 44-6 blowout in Brookings, S.D., the Eagles found out where they are as a team and where they need to make improvements – everywhere.

It was more of a learning experience than a surprise.

“We’re not anywhere where we need to be,” said GSU coach Chris Hatcher. “I don’t think there’s a reality check. We didn’t know how good we were going to be and I think we’ve still got a chance to be a good football team. As far as a reality check, I mean we just got beat. That other team just physically whooped us on Saturday night. Sometimes you run across a man that’s better than you, and that’s what we did Saturday night.”

Offensively the blocking needs to get better if the Eagles are going to improve an offense that just scored just two touchdowns through two games – both 20-plus-yard passes to true freshman Jamere Valentine.

Quarterback Lee Chapple was sacked six times by SDSU’s defensive line, and Hatcher feels like improvements can’t be made elsewhere until that problem is resolved.

“It’s evident that we’re not moving the ball very well,” Hatcher said. “Everybody says, ‘Well why don’t you throw it downfield?’ It’s hard to when you’ve got four deep back there. When they’ve got four guys whooping your five up front it’s hard to do anything. We’ve got to block better, and if we’re able to do that, I think we’ll be able to move the ball better.”

The big surprise was on the defensive side of the ball. After controlling the running game of Albany in the season opener, the GSU defense allowed 378 yards of offense to SDSU.

“We weren’t expecting it from them,” said GSU cornerback Laron Scott. “It was a big wakeup call early in the season. Now we know we have to be focused out here on the playing field and get ready the way we know we should.”

Spring in the step

The Eagles rebounded at Monday’s practice with intensity and a sense of urgency.

“We bounced back,” Hatcher said. “One game’s not going to define your season. We’ve got a lot of room for improvement, especially on the offensive side of the ball.”

Hatcher noted the focus of the team after the disappointing road trip.

“They’re football players,” he said. “They gotta show back up and play again this week. We were excited about being able to come back out on the practice field. We’ve got something to prove. We didn’t play good and we’re embarrassed about our performance.”

Goals in sight

The Eagles have a chance to start Southern Conference play with a win Saturday at Paulson Stadium in a 7 p.m. kickoff against Western Carolina. Although disappointing, the loss to SDSU didn’t change the Eagles’ long-term goals.

“South Dakota really didn’t mess up any of the plans we had,” said Scott. “Our first goal is to win the Southern Conference. I hope we meet (the Jackrabbits) again. We’ll be more prepared next time.”

The ray of light

One bright spot for the Eagles has been the kicking game of sophomore Adrian Mora. The preseason All-Southern Conference selection is 4-for-5 in field goals on the year is tied for the team lead in scoring.

He has kicked a field goal in each of his first 10 starts dating back to 2008, tying a school record for consecutive games with a field goal set by Tim Foley in 1985.

Odds and ends

Freshman tackle Daniel Few made his first start as an Eagle, and former Statesboro Blue Devil and true freshman defensive lineman Willie Burden made his first-career tackle at GSU.

Matt Yogus can be reached at (912) 489-9408.