STATESBORO, Ga. -- The 2016 Savannah State University football season got off to a rough start Saturday night as the Tigers lost their season opener to Georgia Southern University 54-0 before a crowd of 21,250 at Allen E. Paulson Stadium.

The Tigers struggled to generate offense and had a hard time getting off the field against their highly regarded Football Bowl Subdivision opponent from the Sun Belt Conference.

"Hopefully, our guys will learn something from this," said head football coach Erik Raeburn, who was hired in March. "We couldn't stop the run, and on offense we couldn't block them. Any time that happens you're in for a long day."

The Tigers didn't dent the endzone but had some top performances led by senior John Barron, who punted nine times for a 41.1-yard average with four kicks inside the 20. He had a 62-yard effort in the third quarter.

Junior tight end Tyler Hagan caught three passes (all in the third quarter) for 42 yards.

"We have to be a balanced team and I think running the ball better will help the passing game," Hagan said.

Senior quarterback Leon Prunty started the game, but the freshmen tandem of Blake Dever and T.J. Bell combined to complete 10-of-18 passes for 80 yards. Bell led SSU rushers with 21 yards.

"I thought the two freshmen did some good things, particularly in a tough situation," Raeburn said.

Defensively, junior linebacker Mulik Simmons registered 15 tackles (3 unassisted, 12 assisted) and sophomore defensive end Stefen Banks had nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for losses and one sack.

Southern's senior quarterback Favian Upshaw ran for two scores and passed for two.

Matt Brieda, Wesley Fields and Kevin Ellison ran for touchdowns for GS.

Savannah State's defense was tested by Georgia Southern's high-powered offense. The Tigers had some success albeit hidden by the final score. Four of the first 10 GS plays went for two yards or less during the first possession, but the Eagles converted two third-down plays en route to the game's first score.

SSU had the Eagles in a second-and-20 situation on GS's next possession, but Upshaw weaved through the defense for a 33-yard TD run.

Late in the first quarter, the Tigers forced a third-and-6 at the GS 22, but a 26-yard completion by Ellison coupled with a 15-yard late hit on the quarterback flipped field position and gave the Eagles a first down at the SSU 37. Five plays later, Fields' 1-yard run upped Southern's lead to 21-0.

Less than 30 seconds before half, SSU had the Eagles in another third-and-6, but Upshaw found Brieda open over the middle for 12-yard TD and a 28-0 lead.

"Georgia Southern has a pretty good ball club and we knew we weren't going to stop them. We were just trying to slow them down," senior linebacker Marcus Lee said. "The team that makes the fewest mistakes usually wins. We have to cut down on our mistakes."

Southern sealed the win with three touchdowns in the third quarter -- two within 27 seconds after a Dever fumble.

The Tigers will continue their slate against the FBS when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to play Southern Mississippi next Saturday at 6 p.m. CT.