'Too little too late': Georgia Southern's Clay Helton talks team's struggles after bowl loss
Georgia Southern head football coach Clay Helton knows his team is capable of more.
The Eagles failed to find cohesion on any level in Saturday's 41-21 loss to Ohio in the Myrtle Beach Bowl. The loss ends 2023 on a five-game losing streak, a low not seen since 2017.
"I feel like we needed to play better early in this football game," Helton said after the game. "You look at the turnovers that happened early in this game, it really got us behind the eight ball. (We) started playing really better football in the second half, but it was a little bit too little too late."
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The Eagles offense struggled in the first half as quarterback Davis Brin threw two interceptions and was strip-sacked. The unit finished the game by turning the ball over five times.
"Offensively, I thought we put our defense in poor positions early, especially in the first half," Helton said. "I don't think you're going to win any game with five turnovers and then getting none on the other side.
"We knew we were gonna have to play a clean game, talking about one of the top-five defenses in the country, and we played a very, very poor first half."
The Eagles trailed 27-0 in the third quarter before scoring their first points on a 2-yard run from freshman David Mbadinga. Georgia Southern put together a late comeback attempt, bringing the game to 34-21 to start the fourth quarter, but ultimately, it fell short.
Wideout Khaleb Hood reached 100 catches on the season, bringing in seven receptions for 31 yards on the day.
"I appreciate how hard the kids fought in the second half, all the way until the last dang play," Helton said. "That's who they are, but at the end of the day we didn't make enough plays to win."
Helton says the Eagles lack of production over the past five games is something the team can overcome.
"We've got to play better as an offense," he said. "We've been a 450-500-yard offense, and we weren't that in November, and that's all of us. That's coaches, that's players, it's not just one thing."
Despite his team's recent struggles, Helton is optimistic about his program moving forward.
"Right now, you look at where you're at: You're a back-to-back postseason play team. We aim higher than that. That's the standard, that's the expectation. Where we want to be at is at a championship level and competing at a championship, and we didn't put that best foot forward here in the base of the last third of the season. Now it's time to regroup with a bunch of talented young players that truly believe in what we're doing."
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Georgia Southern football coach Clay Helton disappointed by bowl loss
