Eagles glide easily to win

STATESBORO, Ga. - No one chewed their fingernails. No pacemakers worked overtime. No sweat was lost.

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Coming off one of their most exciting games in recent years, the Georgia Southern Eagles followed with a ho-hum, workman-like demolition of an opponent they figured to bury Saturday.

And the 10th-ranked Eagles did the expected, breezing to a 63-17 victory over Morehead State and providing another reason why they should be included in the 16-team Division I-AA playoff field when berths are announced Nov. 20.

Georgia Southern (8-3, 5-2 Southern Conference) made its best pitch a week ago during a wildly entertaining 27-24 victory over top-ranked Furman.

"We just had to polish things this week," Eagles fullback Jermaine Austin said.

But compared to the Furman thriller, Saturday's game went smoothly as the smallest crowd of the season, 10,250, arrived late and left early.

The Eagles' firepower hardly made it a contest by producing 526 yards, forcing four turnovers and blocking two punts.

"We wanted to make a statement, but we didn't want to embarrass anyone," Georgia Southern safety A.J. Bryant said.

But Saturday, Morehead State got more than it could handle.

Eagles sophomore quarterback Jayson Foster ran for two touchdowns and had two touchdown passes to Teddy Craft before leaving with a 35-3 lead less than 7 minutes into the second quarter.

Back-up quarterback Darius Smiley played until 3:23 of the third quarter, handing clean-up duty to third-stringer Melvin Greer.

And on Seniors Day, seniors Steve Steele, Austin and Bryant scored touchdowns. Austin had 118 of Southern's 455 rushing yards.

"I think we're deserving of a playoff spot, but you can never tell what's going to happen," Georgia Southern coach Mike Sewak said.

"I would think that being the No. 10 team in the country is enough to get you in the playoffs. Once you're in, it's a one-game season."