Despite a third-straight bowl loss, Georgia Southern showed improvement in year three under head coach Clay Helton. The Eagles challenged for the top spot in the league for much of the season and finished 2024 at 8-5, 6-2 in Sun Belt play.

They were in the driver’s seat for a spot in the Sun Belt championship after big wins against James Madison and Marshall before suffering a tough loss to Old Dominion. The nail in the coffin was a home loss to Troy.

This season, the Eagles finally have some stability at quarterback, but much of their success will rest on their defense and how their transfer players respond to the new environment.

“I think our biggest strength going into this season is (that) we have tremendous depth," Helton said. “I feel like we lost our bowl game because of turnovers, and that has been a huge emphasis for us this off season.

“On offense, I’ve been impressed by our offensive line and the continued growth of (quarterback) J.C. French,” he said. “On defense, the depth at all positions stands out, as well as the play of our secondary.”

For the first time under Helton, Georgia Southern returns their starting quarterback for 2025. French threw for 2,831 yards and 17 touchdowns in 2024 and seven interceptions in the regular season.

After two seasons of primarily drop-back quarterbacks, Helton had hoped French could cut down on the interception rate from the previous two years and add the threat of the run. French started all 13 games and was the third leading rusher with 239 yards and two touchdowns. His interception rate was good until the New Orleans Bowl, where he threw four picks as the Eagles fell to Sam Houston, 31-26.

“I have really seen the maturity level rise so much in J.C.,” Helton said. “I think we threw so much at him last year that he was so focused on the playbook. This off season, he has really turned into a great leader of this team. He has also improved on the field, and we are looking for him to take that next step this season.”

The Eagles lose their top running back in Jalen White, who led the Eagles with 744 yards rushing and 13 touchdowns before graduating and signing a free agent contract with the Green Bay Packers. The starting spot now looks to go to O.J. Arnold, a junior who was the lightning to White’s thunder and had nearly 500 yards of total offense with six touchdowns in 2024.

The Eagles are hoping 2025 also will see the emergence of heralded signee Terrance Gibbs, who played in only five games as he continued to battle back from knee surgery.

“Terrance really carried the load for us in the spring with O.J. out,” Helton said. “He had a tremendous spring.

“O.J. will be our primary back, and we have a lot of confidence in him, but that is a talented room, and we feel we have a lot of depth there.”

The wide receiver corps loses leading receiver Derwin Burgess, who had 639 yards receiving and three touchdowns, as well as L.V. Bunkley Shelton, who was fourth on the team with 422 yards receiving. But the Eagles return second leading receiver Josh Dallas, who had 614 yards receiving and led the team with six touchdown catches. Dalen Cobb, who had 599 yards receiving and four touchdowns, also returns for his senior season. Other receivers vying for time this year include Marcus Sanders Jr., Florida transfer Brian Green Jr. and Auburn transfer Cam Brown.

On defense, Brandon Bailey is entering his third season as defensive coordinator. The Eagles showed some growth on the defensive side of the ball and return some key starters, particularly up front, but also suffer some big losses, including Sun Belt defensive player of the year Marques Watson-Trent, who transferred to Nebraska for his final year of eligibility. Other key players lost to the transfer portal include defensive back Mark Stampley, who transferred to Houston, and lineman Elhadj Fall, who is heading to Virginia Tech.

The Eagles also got a few key players through the transfer portal, including linebacker Brendan Harrington from Appalachian State, linebacker Brandon Tyson from Elon, defensive back A.J. Brown from Ole Miss and defensive back Jayden Davis from Georgia Tech. Ty Latrell Bullard is a 6-1, 340-pound defensive lineman (35 tackles, 4.5 for loss) who helps anchor the defensive line, along with Davion Rhodes (23 tackles, 6 for loss) and DaShawn Davis (25 tackles, 3.5 for loss).

“Our defensive front has been together a long time, and we have really built depth at all positions,” Helton said. “I think our secondary will be a real strength for us, with height and playmaking ability.”

On special teams, the Eagles lose starting kicker Gavin Stewart to graduation. Stewart was 15-18 on field goal attempts and had 36 touchbacks on 68 kickoffs. T.J. Hartley was slotted as the Eagles kicker for 2025 but entered the transfer portal in April, which leaves Donal Dempsey as the only kicker on the Eagles roster. Dempsey is from Ireland and moved to Australia upon graduation from secondary school to train with ProKick Australia. The Eagles have already had some success from Down Under with returning Aussie punter Alex Smith, who averaged over 42 yards per punt, with 19 downed inside the 20-yard line.

Georgia Southern lost a few of their top players to the transfer portal but also received some potential strengths through the portal. The big question now is how quickly they will become contributors to the 2025 season.

2025 Georgia Southern football schedule

Aug. 30            at Fresno State

Sept. 6             at Southern Cal

Sept. 13           Jacksonville State

Sept. 20          Maine

Sept. 27          at James Madison

Oct. 9              Southern Miss

Oct. 18            Georgia State

Oct. 25            at Arkansas State

Nov. 6             at App State

Nov. 15           Coastal Carolina 

Nov. 22          Old Dominion

Nov. 29          at Marshall