ORLANDO, FL – The Georgia Southern Eagles(7-5) are set to take on the Liberty Flames(7-5) in the fifth annual Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Formerly sponsored by AutoNation, the Cure Bowl is being sponsored for the first time by FBC Mortgage.
That is one of the many firsts the Cure Bowl is featuring on Saturday, along with the first-ever all-female crew calling an FBS game. The team of Jamie Seh, Dani Welniak and Melanie Newman will make history at 2:30 PM EST on CBS Sports Network. Also, this will be the first-ever American football game held in Exploria stadium, the newly built home of Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride.
Additionally, this is Liberty’s first-ever bowl game, as they just became an FBS level team in 2018. As for the Eagles, they are looking to continue their unbeaten streak in bowl games, as they are 2-0 all-time.
Turning to the game itself, these two offenses could not be built more differently. Georgia Southern is built upon their rushing attack, running the triple option better than most teams in the country.
Starting with Georgia Southern, they have three players with more than 100 rushing attempts on the year, and all three of them have more than 675 yards on the ground. Quarterback Shai Werts has 676 rushing yards and 704 passing yards on the season, in case you needed any more evidence of just how much this team runs the football. Their leading running back in attempts, J.D King, has 175 carries for 776 yards and eight touchdowns. However, their most efficient back is Wesley Kennedy III, who has 760 yards on just 110 carries, averaging 6.9 yards per carry. He is also their leader in touchdowns on the ground with 10. The offense as a whole average 333.7 yards per contest and the rushing attack accounts for over 260 of that amount. Expect to hardly see the ball in the air when the Eagles’ offense is on the field, as the Flames’ defense allows 193 yards per game on the ground.
However, expect to see it in the air early and often when Liberty’s high powered passing attack led by Head Coach Hugh Freeze takes the field. Quarterback Stephen Calbert has thrown for 3,393 yards, 26 touchdowns, and five interceptions so far this season. While Calbert has been effective in his own right, his play has clearly been elevated by the most talented player in this game, wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden. The 6’4, 220lb wideout has drawn the attention of NFL scouts this season, putting up 1,333 yards and nine touchdowns for the Flames. His wide catch radius makes him an ideal red-zone threat at the next level, and is very much worth keeping an eye on in this game. He routinely makes highlight-reel catches and plays, as he seems to haul in almost everything thrown his way, having snagged 74 balls this year alone. He should see more success on Saturday, as Georgia Southern’s defense has allowed 240 yards per game through the air this year.
While both offenses are on opposite ends of the spectrum in terms of approach, they are both high powered. Add that, along with the apparent lack of defense on both sides, and the 2019 Cure Bowl should be a great shootout to kickoff Bowl Season in style.
Written by Michael Hull
(Image Credit: Alex Narvaez / The SkyBoat)
