This week’s game against Georgia Southern is huge for Old Dominion. It’s for first place in the Sun Belt East, a win would push us one big step closer to bowl eligibility, it’s Military Appreciation Week and it’s a chance to showcase our football program and our university on national television. Given all that, we thought it was prudent to have a double dose of the Georgia Southern Q&A for this week with GATA Talk and Danny Reed to better prepare ODU fans for this week’s opponent.
First up is The Voice of the Eagles, Danny Reed. He calls radio play-by-play for Georgia Southern football, baseball and hoops and is the host of Inside Eagle Nation. He’s also one of our first opponent return guests.
Next up is GATA Talk, an alumni run Georgia Southern podcast. You can find GATA Talk on twitter/x @GATATalkPodcast and you can listen to their podcast here. They were kind enough to answer some questions about the Eagles ahead of kickoff this week.
Please remind our fans on the background to GATATalk, your connection to Georgia Southern and how you got started.
Myself and my co-host Matt graduated from Georgia Southern in 2009 and 2010, respectively. We were college roommates and diehard fans of all things Georgia Southern. We started the podcast in 2018 as a way to discuss the football program from a fan’s perspective.
It’s year 3 for Coach Helton. What has the identity of the football program been under his leadership?
The program’s identity under Coach Helton can be described as TDU… Toughness, Discipline, United. There’s no quit in this team and they truly fight for each other, the fans, and the community.
Coming off a 6-7 season and a tough finish to the 2023 season, we feel like you’re surprising a lot of outsiders with this strong start and sitting on the top of the Sun Belt East by yourselves. But what were your preseason expectations and have you adjusted those at all after the first 7 games?
I believe Matt and I’s preseason expectations were between 6-8 wins, make and win our bowl game. Now that we have started 5-2 and 3-0 in conference those expectations have changed. We believe that the time is now to win the East and get to the Sun Belt Championship game.
Last week, Georgia Southern whooped JMU 28 to 14 (thank you for that, btw) at home and moved to 3-0 in Sun Belt play and 5-2 on the year. What was your biggest takeaway from that game?
Our biggest takeaway from our JMU victory is how well our defense played. Only giving up 256 total yards and 14 points after losing the turnover battle 4-0 is one of the most impressive defensive performances we’ve seen in a long time.
What position group are you most confident in?
The position group we have the most confidence in would be our wide receivers. We are truly 6-7 deep at that position group and any one of them can take over a game or make the big play when we need them.
What position group are you most concerned about?
Our only concern is turnovers. We’ve thrown 4 interceptions in the last 2 games as well as fumble the ball twice. We have to protect the ball and not give your offense extra possessions.
Is there one specific facet you want to see from the Eagles in this game?
We think this game will come down to quarterback play. If your defense can rattle our QB like y’all did with Texas State then it will be a long night. Likewise if we can contain your QB and make him one dimensional we probably come away with the victory.
What’s your prediction for the game?
If we were good with predictions we would be living in Vegas lol. Like the previous two years this is probably a one possession game and will be a tough, hard fought game by both sides.
Now, our last question usually focuses on how many fans you expect to make the trip. But given it’s a Thursday night game and the distance between Statesboro and Norfolk, it’s understandable to not expect a large visiting contingent of fans. So, if there was one thing that you guys think ODU fans should know to better understand Georgia Southern, what would it be?
Our fan base remembers that you ruined our chance at a perfect home record last year and we want revenge for that.
Thanks again to Danny Reed and GATA Talk for educating us a bit on the Eagles. Check out GATA Talk’s ODU game preview episode below: