ODU Football 2025 Opponent Preview - Georgia Southern

By David Asbury

Sun Belt Contenders?  

When real Old Dominion think of the Georgia Southern Eagles, a couple of bad memories come to the forefront.  Back when both teams were in the FCS, they faced each other twice in the playoffs.  Both times, the Eagles bested the Taylor Heinicke-led Monarchs in shoot-outs that ended ODU's season.  Since rejoining in the Sun Belt, the Monarchs have turned the series around which now sits at 3-2 in the Eagles favor.  Most recently, the Monarchs crushed the Eagles on national television to take first place in the Sun Belt East.  Unfortunately, for both teams, they both fumbled the race down the stretch.  But many see this as the Eagles' year.

To do that, Clay Helton needs to break out of his mold.  He has coached three seasons in Statesboro and each season has looked pretty similar.  The team starts off hot by throwing the ball a ton, gaining a lot of yards and scoring in bunches.  But the team also has issues on defense and with turnovers.  Helton also has earned a reputation for cooling down in November in conference play.  Helton sports a 20-19 overall record for the Eagles and he is still after his first SBC East title and bowl win.  In that tenure, the Eagles are always in the top half for passing yards and bottom half for defensive yards allowed.  If he wants to take this team to the next level, he needs to get better on the defensive side of the ball while retaining a potent offense.

On offense, it starts with returning quarterback JC French.  French started all 13 games for Georgia Southern in 2024, leading the Eagles to an 8–5 record. He completed 66% of his passes—a single-season school record—while throwing for 2,831 yards, 17 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.  He also added 239 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.  Now entering his third year at Southern, French has the opportunity to build on his strong debut.  He's a solid passer but was not as explosive as some of the quarterbacks the preceded him for the Eagles.  He also needs to protect the ball better by avoiding so many costly interceptions.  If he can fix that, then he will be perfectly good enough to win a Sun Belt title and put himself in the running for Conference Player of the Year.

In 2024, French threw for 259 yards, two touchdowns and one interception in 47-19 loss to the Monarchs.  Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

French may have the returning playmakers to do it too.  Sure, top running back Jalen White and top wide receiver Derwin Burgess ran out of eligibility but OJ Arnold (5 yards per carry), Josh Dallas (614 rec. yards) and Dalen Cobb (599 rec. yards) all return.  Add in some top-notch transfers at wide receiver (Camden Brown from Auburn and Dylan Gary from West Georgia) and tight end (River Helms from WKU and Ahmon Green from Georgia State) and this team has plenty of weapons to spread the ball around and give opposing defensive coordinators headaches.  Add in a veteran offensive line and the full picture shows that this offense is talented. 

Arnold (22) ran for 36 yards on seven carries against the Monarchs in 2024, averaging 5.1 yards per carry. Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

Last season, the offense actually had more mediocre numbers than they were used to, finishing 12th in yards per game when they are usually at the top.  But with so much talent returning and being added, there is no reason to believe that they cannot get back to being near the top in the conference offensively.  These pass-friendly Eagles should be soaring through the skies once again to be one of the best in the Fun Belt.

Now, having said all that, the offense has not really been the problem in Statesboro.  If anything, the defense has often acted as an anchor, holding them down.  Last year, they ranked dead-last in the conference in passing yards per game (259.4) and allowed 429 yards per game.  Southern must turn things around on this side of the ball if they are to be competitive and losing the SBC Defender of the year, linebacker Marques Watson-Trent to Nebraska does not help things.

However, the defense will have new faces to try to turn things around including Georgia Tech transfer Uche Iloh on the interior of the defensive line, as well as safety Antonio White from Rutgers. These additions should be paired up with veterans on defense like cornerback Chance Gamble, who led the team in interceptions (3), and Davion Rhodes, who led the team in sacks (3).  If both players can improve their numbers, the defense could be firing on all cylinders. 

Overall, this defense should be better than last year's despite the loss of Watson-Trent.  And if they are, watch out for this team.

The Monarchs shut down Rhodes last year where he had no sacks or TFLs in a dominant ODU performance.  Photo courtesy of CB Sports Photography.

In Helton's fourth year, expectations are rightfully high.  Vegas predicts they will win 7.5 games and currently have the fifth best odds to win the conference (+700).  College Football News is just a little more cautious at 6.5 wins.  CFBudge ranks them fifth in the conference.  I believe these are all great predictions but prefer College Football News' win total.

The schedule will be tough though.  They have a mixed bag in their non-conference schedule where they will host Jacksonville State and Maine but then travel to the West Coast to face a decent Fresno State and Helton's former P4 team USC.  Outside of the rugged SBC East, they will face a good Ark. State team and a rebuilt Southern Miss. 

Georgia Southern has the talent to meet expectations and finally get itself to the next level.  But if the defense is bad again, then they will probably do what they always have done.  Start the season hot and end the season cold.

And all that could play in Old Dominion's favor as the Monarchs do not travel to Georgia until November 22nd.  Last season's matchup was pivotal as both teams were very much alive for the Sun Belt East race.  The same could be true that late in this upcoming season.  It is too early to really tell but right now it looks like the game would be a toss-up.  The game being played in Stateboro leans in the Eagle's favor.  But the game being played in November plays into the Monarchs' favor.  So, for a way-too-early prediction, I am saying this game is a toss-up.