STATESBORO — Georgia Southern cornerback Valdon Cooper looks forward to seeing Elon’s highly regarded receiver Aaron Mellette across the line of scrimmage tonight at 6 at Paulson Stadium.
At least that’s what Cooper said Wednesday after practice.
Mellette, a 6-foot-3, 218-
pounder with 4.4 speed in the 40-yard dash, started the season rated the No. 2 senior wide receiver in the nation, according to NFLDraftScout.com.
He has been terrorizing Southern Conference defensive backs the last two seasons, catching 113 passes last year for 1,639 yards and 12 touchdowns to earn All-America honors.
“With a receiver like that, you try to play within the scheme and try to get everyone involved,” Cooper said. “I’ve watched a couple of tapes, but I can’t really tell yet (how good Mellette is) until you line up with him. I’m looking forward to lining up against him and giving it my shot.”
Last season, GSU “held” Mellette to nine receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown. Mellette had six catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns in 2010.
He has 222 career receptions, ranking fourth in league history, just one behind another Elon star, Michael Mayer.
In the past, the Eagles could match up with Mellette better than most FCS schools. GSU cornerback coach Orlando Mitjans used Laron Scott — now on the New York Giants’ practice squad — to shadow Mellette.
But this season, Mitjans has an inexperienced group in the secondary.
Quarterback Thomas Wilson is 12th in the FCS with a pass efficiency of 149.99. Wilson, who led the conference with 3,057 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, has thrown for 538 yards and six touchdowns this year.
“The thing you try is to not make stuff up,” said Eagles cornerbacks coach Orlando Mitjans. “You try to see if you can defend them with the system you have in place, and hopefully our players will step up to the challenge.”
The Phoenix (2-1) opened the season with a 62-0 loss to North Carolina. The last two weeks, Elon defeated MEAC’s North Carolina Central, 38-14, and Division II softie West Virginia State, 48-14.
GSU, ranked 10th by the FCS coaches and 11th by the media, is coming off a bye week. The Eagles (1-1) lost to The Citadel, 23-21, on Sept. 8.
“I hope our team will respond well. I expect them to,” coach Jeff Monken said. “There’s a lot of football left and all the goals we want to accomplish at the end of the season are still there.”
ELON AT GEORGIA SOUTHERN
Records: Elon (2-1, 0-0 SoCon); GSU (1-1, 0-1 SoCon)
When: 6 p.m. today
Where: Paulson Stadium, Statesboro
TV/radio: No TV/WZAT 102.1 FM in Savannah; WBMZ 103.7 FM in Statesboro
Go to savannahnow.com/sports to watch a video of GSU coach Jeff Monken talking about the importance of the Eagles’ matchup with Elon.