Chapple’s play crucial for Eagles’ upset bid

Quarterback Lee Chapple will look to sustain his own success and bolster Georgia Southern’s season in his team’s matchup against North Carolina.

With Chapple at the helm, the Eagles have garnered a 3-2 record in the Football Championship Subdivision’s Southern Conference.

They will also seek to capitalize off the momentum from one of the best passing performances in the football program’s history.

In a 26-21 win at Wofford, the 6-foot-1, 200-pound quarterback displayed both his size and a capable arm.

The sophomore completed his first 17 pass attempts, tying for the second-longest streak in Southern Conference history.

He finished the game completing 25-of-28 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown without committing a turnover.

Chapple ranks fifth in the FCS for pass completions but a mere 68th in total offense.

Contention is unlikely and a victory even less so, but he will look to continue making history as he travels to Chapel Hill to face the lone Division I team on the team’s schedule.

The last time Georgia Southern beat an FBS opponent came in 2004, when the Eagles handed Florida International a loss away from home.

With Chapple at the reigns, the Eagles received one first-place vote and was picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll by the Southern Conference head coaches.

Chapple arrives armed with experience as a second-year starter, after a year of redshirting his freshman year.

During the 2008 season, the quarterback led Georgia Southern to an impressive 17-10 win at No. 14 Furman, passing for 323 yards and securing the fourth-highest yardage total in program history.

He also completed 39-of-56 passes and threw for two touchdowns.

Chapple has only continued to improve in his sophomore campaign, adding 124 completions in 184 attempts to round out a 67.4 completion percentage.

He has also found a capable receiver in Jamere Valentine, who needed only five games to earn him a spot in the GSU season Top 10 leaders.

With four touchdown receptions, Valentine moved into a tie for ninth among the annual leaders.

Despite relative inexperience at the position, the sophomore exhibited maturity at the position during a close 29-26 victory against Albany earlier this season.

The quarterback went 12-for-12 in the fourth quarter and led a game-winning drive that was concluded with a field goal.

He finished the game 30-for-43 for 259 yards and two touchdowns.

With six touchdowns and 991 yards on the season, Chapple has already surpassed his 2008 statistics in both passing yardage and touchdowns in five games this season.

However the quarterback will face a tough North Carolina pass defense, which ranks an impressive fourth in the NCAA.

In five games, the defense has allowed 79 completions in 134 attempts, which yields a 59 completion percentage.

Aside from quarterbacking responsibilities, Chapple shares another similarity with North Carolina quarterback T.J. Yates.

The sophomore grew up in Alpharetta Ga., just 19 miles away from Marietta Ga., the hometown of Yates.

And though odds appear stacked against the young quarterback, Chapple will seek to come away with another similarity with UNC’s quarterback — a win in Chapel Hill.