STATESBORO — Georgia Southern got started slowly Saturday night. Savannah State never seemed to get started.
The ninth-ranked Eagles scored touchdowns on seven straight full possessions from the first to third quarters and rolled to a 77-9 season-opening victory over the Tigers before 16,528 fans at Paulson Stadium.
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Southern, a semifinalist in the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs last season, established offensive control after missing two field goal tries on its first two possessions.
The 77 points and the 68-point margin of victory were the largest in GSU’s Jeff Monken’s head coaching career and ruined the coaching debut of SSU coach Earnest Wilson.
It was the second most points scored in school history. The Eagles set a scoring mark with 84 points against Johnson C. Smith in 2004.
The Eagles finished with 651 total yards, 576 on the ground. Both totals were eighth most in school history.
Nine different GSU players scored touchdowns.
Still, Monken wasn’t pleased and saw some sloppy effort that will need to be corrected next Saturday when St. Francis comes to town.
“I didn’t think it was a good performance,” Monken said. “It’s more about how we play than what the final result is.”
Quarterback Jerick McKinnon, who ran for 107 yards on 12 carries, opened the scoring by reversing field on a 66-yard touchdown run.
That’s when things started going in reverse for the Savannah State defense.
McKinnon found Devin Scott for an 8-yard touchdown pass on the next possession and Sports Network preseason All-America running back Dominique Swope ran for touchdowns of 1 and 5 yards to make 28-0 by halftime.
Swope finished with 100 yards on 17 carries.
GSU’s red-shirt freshman quarterback Kevin Ellison directed the last two touchdown drives of the half, giving the Eagles fresh legs on the humid, 91-degree night in Statesboro.
“My coaches told me to be ready,” said Ellison, who ran for 78 yards and threw for 65. “My time had come.”
McKinnon returned to start the third quarter and led the Eagles on a seven-play, 65-yard march with backup William Banks scoring the first of his two touchdowns.
Meanwhile, the highly anticipated “Air Raid” offense of SSU’s was grounded in the early going. The Tigers didn’t pick up their initial first down until their sixth possession and 8:39 remained in the second quarter.
SSU (1-10 a year ago) didn’t cross midfield until midway through the third quarter and finally scored a touchdown on a 5-yard pass from backup Zach Hutcheson to Kris Drummond, breaking the string of 49 consecutive GSU points.
“The score might not be the greatest thing, but I’ve always been taught that the score doesn’t mean a lot,” Wilson said. “What means a lot is how you respond.”
Southern’s offense continued to roll. Ellison, Torrance Hunt, Vegas Harley and Chris Jordan all scored their first career touchdowns for the Eagles.
GSU only punted once.
Harley’s 30-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter was his first career touchdown on his first career carry.
Third-string fullback James Dean and fourth-string fullback Jordan scored the Eagles’ final two touchdowns.
Former Calvary star Steve Williams had an interception on the final play of the game.
Lightning in the area delayed the game 34 minutes. Southern didn’t get its 2012 FCS-leading rushing offense going at the start. Despite good field position, kicker Connor Tierney missed a field-goal attempt of 33 yards, then had a 27-yarder blocked.
GA SOUTHERN 77, SAVANNAH ST. 9
Savannah St. 0 0 9 0— 9
Ga Southern 7 21 21 28—77
First Quarter
GaSo_McKinnon 66 run (Tierney kick), 3:58.
Second Quarter
GaSo_Scott 8 pass from McKinnon (Tierney kick), 13:49.
GaSo_Swope 1 run (Tierney kick), 9:52.
GaSo_Swope 5 run (Tierney kick), 1:21.
Third Quarter
GaSo_Banks 20 run (Tierney kick), 11:30.
GaSo_Banks 2 run (Hanks kick), 8:13.
GaSo_K.Ellison 12 run (Hanks kick), 3:48.
Sav_Drummond 5 pass from Hutchenson (Barron kick), :19.
Sav_Safety, :05.
Fourth Quarter
GaSo_T.Hunt 34 run (Hanks kick), 14:01.
GaSo_Harley 30 run (Tierney kick), 9:27.
GaSo_Dean 18 run (Tierney kick), 2:47.
GaSo_Jordan 2 run (Hanks kick), 1:18.
A_16,528.
Sav GaSo
First downs 9 35
Rushes-yards 19-21 68-576
Passing 162 75
Comp-Att-Int 16-44-3 6-11-0
Return Yards 0 28
Punts-Avg. 11-28.7 1-12.0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-0
Penalties-Yards 16-125 7-63
Time of Possession 27:04 32:56
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING_Savannah St., S.Barnes 3-13, Prunty 4-8, Criswell 1-4, Frazier 1-3, Ferrell 1-1, Hutchenson 4-(minus 1), Veals 5-(minus 7). Georgia Southern, McKinnon 12-107, Swope 17-100, K.Ellison 8-78, T.Hunt 7-73, Harley 4-71, Banks 7-44, Cave 1-37, Dean 3-33, Bryant 3-26, Butler 1-17, Jordan 3-2, Scott 1-(minus 3), Team 1-(minus 9).
PASSING_Savannah St., Hutchenson 11-26-2-128, Prunty 5-18-1-34. Georgia Southern, K.Ellison 4-7-0-65, McKinnon 2-3-0-10, Harley 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING_Savannah St., Frazier 3-39, Heyward 2-54, Drummond 2-18, Veals 2-11, Daniels 2-6, Roosevelt 1-17, Durham 1-5, Simmons 1-5, McDonald 1-4, S.Barnes 1-3. Georgia Southern, Crockett 2-30, Showers 1-14, B.Johnson 1-12, Walker 1-11, Scott 1-8.