Southern Conference Football 2011: Week 2 News and Notes

Week 2 Thoughts:

After seeing the SoCon struggle mightily in Week1, Week 2 brought much improvement. For now, Georgia Southern and Wofford continue to be the teams to beat and the teams that seem most capable of capturing a national title, at least at this point, in the 2011 season.

The Eagles, of course, opened the season with a 31-17 league win over Samford in Birmingham, and while the defense struggled a bit, they got a resounding 62-21 win over a Frankie DeBusk-coached Tusculum team to open the home slate at Allen E. Paulson Stadium.

A capacity crowd of 21,282 saw a Georgia Southern flex-bone attack produce four rushers that gained 50 or more yards in the win, which was all part of a GSU attack that rolled up 351 yards on the ground in the win. Senior QB Jaybo Shaw completed six passes for 181 yards, while all-purpose threat J.J. Wilcox led the rushing efforts with 97 yards, while also posting 63 receiving yards.

In total, the Eagles owned a 530-339 advantage in total yards. The Eagles held a substantial advantage in rushing yards (351-67).

The Eagles have been huge on special teams early in this 2011 season, returning a kickoff 97 yards for a score in the opener against Samford, while returning four kicks for a total of 161 yards (40.2 YPR) in the Week 2 win over Tusculum. LaRon Scott, who had that 97-yard return in the opener, currently leads the nation in kickoff returns, with five returns for 260 yards, which converts to an average of 52.0 YPR.

The 62 points by GSU were the most by a GSU team since the 2005 campaign, when GSU posted a 63-17 win over Morehead State in the final game of that regular season.

While Wofford may not have looked like a team set to compete for a Southern Conference title in its opening week, a 35-28 win over PC, the Terriers certainly came to life in a valiant, 35-27, setback at Clemson on Saturday afternoon.

The Terriers were able to hold back the Tigers until about eight minutes remaining in the third quarter, as Clemson QB Tahj Boyd scampered in from five yards out to give the Tigers their first lead of the afternoon, at 28-24.

Wofford flexed its muscles running the option against a fast Clemson defense, as the Terriers rolled up 272 yards on the ground, and finished the contest with a total of 399 yards of total offense. But, the Tigers still claimed a 476-399 advantage in total offense yards.

Leading the rushing exploits for the Terriers was quarterback Mitch Allen, who finished the day with 89 yards on the ground, and scored Wofford's first TD of the afternoon, with a 27-yard scamper. Allen was also effective throwing the ball against the Clemson secondary, connecting on 2-of-7 passes for 127 yards, with a TD and an INT in the eight-point loss.

Both receptions for the Terriers were made by Brenton Bersin, with one of his catches going for a 66 yards and a score, giving the Terriers a 14-6 lead with about four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Preseason SoCon Offensive Player of the Year Eric Breitenstein battled through and rushed for 62 yards and a TD on 22 rush attempts.

The Terriers' defensive line looked dominant at times against the bigger, deeper Tigers offensive line, as nose tackle Eric Eberhardt recorded four tackles and a sack to lead the Wofford defensive front.

Linebacker Mike Niam led all Terrier tacklers, with 12 stops, including a sack and a forced fumble.

The 27 points scored were the second-most against an FBS team (34 in 1999 against Louisiana-Lafayette). In the series against Clemson, the Tigers are 11-3. The 27 points by Wofford were the most ever in the series that dates to 1896.

In the lone league clash of the weekend, Furman was able to upend league arch-rival The Citadel, 16-6, in the Port City of Charleston to hand Bruce Fowler his first win as a head coach.

It was "old school" Furman football on Saturday night, as the Paladins used a powerful ground game, once again powered by Jerodis Williams, a stingy defense and flawless special teams play to come up with its first league win for the 2011 season.

After yielding 237 yards on the ground in the opening season loss to Coastal Carolina, the Paladins shored up the ground game deficiencies in week two against the triple-option attack of the Bulldogs.

The Furman defense held the Bulldogs to 199 yards on the ground, and the Paladins actually held a 215-199 advantage in ground yards on Saturday night. The Paladin defense held the Bulldogs to two field goals, marking the first time the Paladins have held a SoCon opponent out of the end zone since the 2004 season in a 10-0 win at Elon.

Williams put together his second 100-yard rushing effort, posting 122 yards on a career-standard 28 rush attempts in the win over the Bulldogs. The last time the Paladins had rushing efforts of 100 yards by a player or players in back-to-back games was 2007, when Renaldo Gray rushed for 103 yards in a 34-27 loss to Appalachian State, while Jerome Felton posted 154 yards on the ground the following Saturday in a 52-49 win over Elon.

Chas Short improved to 4-of-4 on field goals on the season since taking over the starting job for Ray Early in the season opener. Short's 46-yard field goal allowed the Paladins to put the game out of reach with under four minutes remaining last Saturday.

Senior signal-caller Chris Forcier was efficient, connecting on all nine of his passes for 56 yards, including throwing his first TD since the 2009 season against Auburn, as he found wideout Sederrik Cunningham on a 4-yard TD just before the half, giving the Paladins a 13-6 lead heading into the halftime locker room.

After dropping a 66-13 loss in its season opener at Virginia Tech, Appalachian State responded in a big way in its home opener on Saturday afternoon, getting a 58-6 win over visiting North Carolina A&T. It was the first meeting between the Mountaineers and Aggies since the 1995 campaign.

It was a milestone afternoon for the Black and Gold, as legendary head coach Jerry Moore became just the 16th coach in NCAA Division I football history to win 200 games at one institution.

It was a strong performance by the usually proficient ASU offense, which uncharacteristically struggled in the opener against the Hokies. ASU rolled up a 491-335 advantage in total offensive yards.

Preseason Walter Payton Award candidate signal-caller DeAndre Presley responded well after struggling in the opening week against the Hokies, as he connected on 19-of-23 passes for 197 yards, with his favorite option in the passing attack being All-American wide receiver Brian Quick, who hauled in 11 passes for 113 yards and a couple of TDs.

ASU also had a 100-yard rusher in the ground attack, as Cedric Baker-Boney amassed 111 yards and a TD on 12 carries.

Overall, it was a much better week for Southern Conference teams, with Chattanooga getting perhaps the league's best result, with the Mocs' 38-17 win over No. 10 Jacksonville State.

Standings After Week 2

1. Georgia Southern 2-0 1-0

2. Furman 1-1 1-0

3. Appalachian St. 1-1 0-0

4. Chattanooga 1-1 0-0

5. Wofford 1-1 0-0

6. Elon 1-1 0-0

7. Western Carolina 1-1 0-0

8. The Citadel 1-1 0-1

9. Samford 1-1 0-1

Scores Sept. 10

GSU 62, Tusculum 21

ASU 58, NC A&T 6

FU 16, CIT 6

CLEM 35, WOF 27

CHATT 38, JAX ST. 17

WCU 52, MARS HILL 31

ELON 42, CONCORD 10

SAMFORD 48, STILLMAN 6

Schedule for Sept. 17

Chattanooga at Eastern Kentucky

Savannah State at Appalachian State

Elon at North Carolina Central

*-everyone else has a "BYE"

Power Rankings

1. Georgia Southern

1. Wofford

3. Chattanooga

4. Appalachian State

5. Furman

6. Elon

7. The Citadel

8. Samford

9. Western Carolina