STATESBORO -- Georgia Southern returns incredible experience on the offensive line with five of the Eagles top six entering their senior year with more than 145 games played and 86 starts combined. <br />
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Their experience, and success, as members of an established offensive line helped Georgia Southern to the top NCAA Division I team rushing average in each of the last two seasons.<br />
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Even with the change to the spread option, the Eagle linemen not only didn't miss a beat, they have stepped in to help teach their younger teammates.<br />
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"One of the great things is that the seniors we have, five of our six top guys are seniors, Logan Daves, Manrey Saint-Amour, Garrett Frye, Trevor McBurnett and Raymond Klugey, the great thing about all those guys is that they are very unselfish and they are helping teach and groom these younger guys," said Coach Willie Fritz. "We think we signed a good freshman class and we have some other guys who are sophomores and juniors who have some abilities as well."<br />
Fritz's area of concern rests with the depth at this position.<br />
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"We have to develop a second group. With the offensive line, we'd like to have eight, nine guys, who you feel are capable of going into a game and winning it for you. That's probably the one position that takes a little bit longer to develop, maybe more than any other position on the field, maybe other than quarterback."<br />
That development begins with film study and meetings.<br />
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Coach Fritz will ask his freshmen about the biggest difference between high school football and college football, and the answer returned is almost always about the emphasis on meetings and film study. <br />
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"We do a bunch of it (film study)," Fritz said. "I feel like I have great coaches who are also tremendous teachers, it's really synonymous with each other, coaching and teaching. These guys have the opportunity to visually enhance and accelerate the learning process. Males are visual learners, so we try and watch as much tape as we can."<br />
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LITTLE EAGLES CAMP ADVANCE REGISTRATION<br />
Advance registration for "Little Eagles Camp" ends Friday night at midnight, but parents can sign up their children Saturday morning beginning at 10 a.m. at Gate 5 of Paulson Stadium. Coach Willie Fritz and the Eagle coaching staff will teach children ages 6-12 to pass, kick a field goal, tackle and block and other drills at stations set up on the field. The free one-hour camp is scheduled for 11 a.m.-12 p.m. More information is available at GSEagles.com.<br />
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NEW SEASON TICKET COMMERCIAL PRODUCED BY ALUM<br />
Georgia Southern alum Jake Hallman, owner of Stouthouse Media, is producing a number of video projects for Georgia Southern Athletics, including this 15-second spot with senior linebacker Edwin Jackson for 2014 season tickets. Hallman also recently created men's basketball season and baseball season ticket commercials for the Eagles. This spot will air on a number of TV stations as well as be available for viewing online at GSEagles.com/showcase.<br />
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ANOTHER DELIVERY TRUCK<br />
Another delivery truck arrived at the new Football Operations Center Friday with a delivery of Power Lift, Hammer Strength and Life Fitness equipment for the new strength and conditioning area. The PLAE flooring surface, installed at several NFL facilities, was placed earlier in the week to allow for the adhesive to cure before the equipment delivery. Nearly $500,000 worth of equipment, including 16 Eleiko weightlifting 177.5 kilogram sets, new free weights made IronGrip and 60 pairs of Georgia Southern branded dumbbells as well as medicine balls and other types of resistance equipment will be available to use.<br />
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FALL TEMPERATURES IN THE 'BORO<br />
For the first time in recent memory, Georgia Southern opened Football preseason camp with temperatures in only the double digits, and mid-80s at that. Friday morning's early fog lifted with a few sprinkles of rain early and overcast skies.<br />
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AWAY GAME TICKETS AVAILABLE ON MONDAY<br />
Game tickets for Georgia Southern's road games, including two in Atlanta at Georgia Tech and at Georgia State, will be available for purchase to the general public beginning Monday, August 4th. Contact the Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-GSU-WINS or stop by its temporary location on the second floor of the Bishop Field House weekdays from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.<br />
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SEASON TICKETS ON SALE<br />
Season tickets for the Eagles' first campaign in the Sun Belt Conference and FBS are on sale online now at GSEagles.com/fbtix and weekdays 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS. The five-game home campaign opens September 6th vs. Savannah State with two historic Thursday night games on ESPNU September 25th vs. Appalachian State and October 30th vs. Troy.<br />
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Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA.
