Georgia Southern piles up 431 rushing yards, 122 by Brown, in 48-3 win over Savannah State.

Georgia Southern runs over Savannah State 48-3

STATESBORO, Ga. — Georgia Southern had 540 yards total offense behind the play of quarterback Jaybo Shaw and running back Robert Brown to coast to a season-opening 48-3 win over Savannah State on Saturday night.

A crowd of 20,430 saw former Georgia Tech assistant Jeff Monken win in his debut as coach of the Eagles, who were 5-6 last season under Chris Hatcher.

Brown, a freshman, rushed for 122 yards and one touchdown on 20 carries to become the first Georgia Southern freshman to gain 100 or more yards in his debut since Adrian Peterson had 135 yards against Elon in 1998.

Shaw, who transferred from Georgia Tech for an opportunity for more playing time, had 65 yards and one touchdown rushing and completed 7 of 10 passes for 109 yards in three quarters of action.

Georgia Southern had 431 yards on the ground, averaging 7.1 yards per rushing play.