Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel 2012: Final Score And Game Recap

Thomas Warren's field goal with just 35 seconds remaining sent Georgia Southern to its first loss of the season against The Citadel 23-21.

The Bulldogs jumped out to an early 14-0 lead in the first quarter. The Eagles finally got on the board with 48 seconds left in the first quarter on an eight-yard touchdown run by Jerick McKinnon to cut the lead to 14-7. Dominique Swope tied things up in the second with a two-yard touchdown run of his own.

A couple of field goals by Warren had The Citadel back in front 20-14 in the third quarter. Georgia Southern finally took the lead with just over three minutes remaining in the game on a one-yard run by Ezayi Youyoute. However, Warren's kick with 35 seconds remaining sealed the win for the Bulldogs.

Swope finished with 126 yards and a touchdown. Youyoute also topped the century mark with 101 yards and a score. The Eagles out gained The Citadel 364 to 253 but couldn't overcome two costly turnovers.

The Eagles are back at home next week when they take on Elon.

For updates on this matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more news, notes and analysis from around NCAA football, check out SB Nation's college football hub.

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel: History Points Toward Close Game

The Georgia Southern Eagles seem on paper to be too much for The Citadel Bulldogs to handle Saturday, but history between the two schools suggests this year's edition will find a way to be a close game.

Jeff Hartsell at The Post and Courier wrote on the state of the series over the past two years, an annual national championship contender in Georgia Southern and a middling SoCon team in The Citadel.

The Eagles have won each of the last five meetings, but the average margin of victory has only been 7.2 points, Hartsell reported. And as Hartsell noted, that 7.2 points-per-game winning margin included a 20-0 Georgia Southern win in 2010, a game in which The Citadel somehow fumbled nine times.

One possible way to explain it is that both schools run the unusual flexbone triple-option offense. It's a rare system seen these days, and if both teams practice against it every day of the season, that would explain how The Citadel can hang with it and not, say, Wofford. Over the same five-year span above described, The Citadel's average margin of defeat to Wofford is 25.2 points, Hartsell wrote.

Or it could be a simple matter of The Citadel getting up to play a big-time opponent. From Hartsell's article:

"It's because of their tradition," said Citadel senior safety Austin Boyle, whose team hosts the FCS third-ranked Eagles on Saturday at Johnson Hagood Stadium. "They are nationally ranked every year, they've won (six) national championships, so everyone is excited to play them.

"If you can't get excited to play Georgia Southern, you are playing the wrong sport."

Georgia Southern and The Citadel kick off Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

For updates on this matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more news, notes and analysis from around NCAA football, check out SB Nation's college football hub.

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel 2012: Schedule, Game Time, Spread And More

The Georgia Southern Eagles will open up their Southern Conference schedule when they travel to Charleston, SC to face The Citadel Bulldogs on Saturday at 6 p.m. ET. The defending conference champion Eagles defeated the Bulldogs last season, 14-12.

The Eagles got off on the right foot in 2012 with a 58-0 blowout win over Jacksonville University. Georgia Southern was led by an explosive running attack, which gained 573 yards on 67 attempts, good for 8.3 yards per carry. Ezayi Youyoute paced the Eagles with 169 yards on 11 carries and three touchdowns.

The Citadel comes into Saturday's match-up, 1-0, after taking down Charleston Southern in their opening game. The Bulldogs cruised to a 49-14 victory while rushing for 479 yards. Running back Rickey Anderson scored three touchdowns for The Citadel.

The all-time series tips heavily in the favor of Georgia Southern, as the Eagles have won 17 of 21 games against the Bulldogs.

Game time, TV Schedule: 6 p.m. ET. This game is not scheduled to be televised, but can be streamed online here for a fee.

Spread: No odds are published for FCS games.

For news, analysis, and more: Stick with SB Nation Atlanta all season for coverage of Georgia Southern.

Follow @SBNationCFB

While we’re here, let’s watch some of the many college football videos from SB Nation’s YouTube channel:

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel: The Evolution Of The Triple Option

Georgia Southern and The Citadel share a lot of similarities in how they run their triple-option sets out of the shotgun. The Statesboro Herald takes a look at the evolution of the offense as the two schools get set to meet Saturday at 6 p.m. ET.

Current Georgia Tech coach Paul Johnson installed the offense while he was leading GSU to two national championships in the late '90s and early 2000s, even if the shotgun wasn't a part of the arsenal yet. Current Citadel offensive coordinator Bob Bodine and GSU offensive coordinator Brent Davis coached together under Johnson and again with each other at VMI, where they started to use the shotgun in the triple option.

They credit watching Wofford rack up the wins with the shotgun for adding it to their playbooks:

"For us? Frankly, it was watching Wofford give everybody in our conference fits," said GSU head coach Jeff Monken, who was formerly Johnson’s assistant at GSU, Navy and Georgia Tech. "When they started out, they were running the option just like we did. They have added a lot of shotgun stuff and been very successful doing it, and we could just see the problems people were having, so we added formations."

Georgia State topped The Citadel 14-12 last season.

For updates on this matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more news, notes and analysis from around NCAA football, check out SB Nation's college football hub.

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel: Robert Brown Finally Healthy

Georgia Southern junior RB Robert Brown has already had an illustrious collegiate career, even though he hasn't been fully healthy since early in his freshman season.

But after recovering from off-season back surgery, Brown has never felt better as he prepares for his first game of 2012 against The Citadel on Saturday.

He's also moving to the slot back position, which coach Jeff Monken and offensive coordinator Brent Davis think better suits his running style:

"He can do so many things with the ball in his hands," Davis said. "He's got great hands, maybe the best on the team. He catches the pitch, and he's a good receiver. He wouldn't catch any passes at B-back."

Brown already has 2,004 career rushing yards, a number which could grow a lot in 2012 if he is finally able to stay on the field.

For updates on this matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more news, notes and analysis from around NCAA football, check out SB Nation's college football hub.

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel: Patrick Flowe Impresses In First Start

Georgia Southern middle linebacker Patrick Flowe had a night to remember in his first collegiate game, totaling four tackles and a sack in the Eagles' 58-0 win over Jacksonville last week.

In an interview with Matt Yogus of the Statesboro Herald, Flowe was surprised that he was able to get the start following a fall camp that saw him injured early in camp,

"I went into camp and hurt my hamstring. Slowly, I recovered, and I just really keyed into what our team’s gameplan was. I listened, came in and studied and watched film. I’d be happy playing any role. I came in thinking I was going to redshirt. Most freshmen do. I kept working hard, and I was blessed to be able to play."

After facing Jacksonville's pass-heavy spread offense last week, the Eagles will have to prepare for The Citadel's triple-option attack Saturday.

For updates on this matchup, stay tuned to SB Nation Atlanta. For more news, notes and analysis from around NCAA football, check out SB Nation's college football hub.

Georgia Southern Vs. The Citadel Preview: Potent Rushing Attacks Clash In Charleston

Georgia Southern takes on The Citadel on Saturday.