August 18, 2010 Alex Brown

d.alex.brown@gmail.com

    Defense wins championships. At least that’s how the old saying goes.
    And if Georgia Southern wants to even think about a championship this year, the defense is going to have to be rock solid throughout the season.
    With the offense going through a major shift in philosophy and scheme, you have to figure it'll take that unit a few games to get running smoothly. Therefore, the Eagles will rely on the defense to keep them in games — especially on days when the offense struggles.
    Fortunately for Southern, the defensive side of the ball returns several guys with experience, including eleven who have started at some point. Unfortunately, many of them are playing new positions. In an attempt to increase speed at some positions, some shuffling had to be done.
    But what the Eagles are gaining in speed, they'll lose in size. Linebackers playing defensive line, safeties playing linebacker, corners playing safety — all of these guys will be quicker, but smaller than a typical player at their position.
    Erk Russell had a saying: “Runts have to try harder.” Now, I’m not going to call Dion Dubose a runt to his face, but hopefully these guys will play like a runt who has to bust his tail every play. If they do, good things will happen. It worked pretty well for Erk’s undersized guys.
    The most notable position change is last season’s starting middle linebacker Dubose’s move to defensive end. With his speed coming off the end and FCS Freshman of the year Brent Russell anchoring the interior, the defensive line looks like a solid unit on paper.
    Throw in Willie Burden, Roderick Tinsley, and promising freshmen Josh Gebhardt and Blake Riley, and the defensive line should be nasty.
    Behind those guys, sophomore Josh Rowe has moved from outside linebacker to take over for Dubose as the middle linebacker. Darius Eubanks and E.J. Webb have both moved from safety spots up to outside linebackers — once again a move to create more speed at those positions.
    Not many teams have the luxury of having two lock-down cornerbacks, but it looks like Southern has just that situation in Laron Scott and Carson Hill. Neither are extremely tall, but both bring experience, speed and playmaking ability. Freshman Lavelle Westbrooks has had a solid camp and will likely see some significant playing time.
    Safety is probably the most wide open position on the defense as a few guys are competing for playing time there. Hudson Presume has moved from corner to safety. A.J. McCray, who was in the mix at quarterback in the spring, is now listed as a safety.
    Both will give the Eagles more speed in the secondary to complement the size and experience of free safety Derek Heyden, one of the few returners who will remain at the position he played last year.
    The defensive scheme is shifting this year from a three-man to a four-man front. This will help stop the run. It should also allow for a better pass rush.
    Brent Russell will likely require a double team which should free up some other defenders to make plays. Pepper in a blitz here and there and we’re in business.
    Combine the speed coming after the quarterback with the quality cornerback play of Hill and Scott and we may be looking at a pretty good pass defense.
    On paper, this defense looks good. But they don’t play the games on paper. This group is talented enough to win Southern some games, but they'll have to play tougher and execute better than they did last year. We’ll find out what they are made of in just two weeks.
    It’s getting close now. I can almost smell the tailgate food on the grill.

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