It’s been nine years since Maine last faced Georgia Southern in the Football Championship Subdivision quarterfinals, but some things haven’t changed.

Like its last foray this deep into the playoffs in 2002, Maine is coming off a victory over another Southern Conference power in Appalachian State. And like 2002, Georgia Southern will present a formidable challenge to Maine’s run defense when the teams meet in Statesboro, Ga. (2 p.m. Saturday, ESPN3.com, no TV).

“They’re back to the triple option, which they had left for a couple of years,” Maine coach Jack Cosgrove said. “It’s a different coaching staff than the ’02 team, but certainly, at least in concept, running the option style of offense and featuring a great ground attack that we don’t get to see up here.”

Unlike 2002, however, when Maine faced a Rhode Island team that ran the triple option, the Black Bears (9-3) have not faced an offense like No. 3 Georgia Southern (10-2), in terms of the points it scores (37.5 ppg) and the method it uses to score them (332 rushing yards per game).

“The biggest challenge is we haven’t seen it all season long. Just getting accustomed to that and being able to recognize what play is coming is going to be the tricky part,” Maine senior safety Trevor Coston said.

Of course, that lack of  familiarity is a two-way street. Since Maine hasn’t faced a triple option offense, it’s hard to predict how they will defend it.

“Defensively, we just have no idea what they’ll line up in,” Georgia Southern coach Jeff Monken said. “We can only speculate, probably have to prepare for multiple fronts like we did last week (for a 55-48 win over Old Dominion).”

Thirteenth-ranked Maine, which is the only Colonial Athletic Association team remaining in the eight-team field, has faced some great running games this year, with mixed results.

On Nov. 5, Towson, the CAA champion, went for 334 yards on the ground in a 40-30 victory.

Last week, Maine held an Appalachian State team which averaged 156 yards per game to three yards on the ground to win, 34-12.

Towson played a much more physical style of football than Appalachian State. Like its SoCon rival,Georgia Southern, which rushed for 477 yards against CAA newcomer Old Dominion, relies on athleticism rather than power.

“We felt like we matched up physically with App State in regards to our offensive and defensive lines, more so than we did a lot of teams in our league. We’re not a big team, and we feel like we’re a pretty athletic team,” Cosgrove said. “What’s in front of us is a different style of offense, one, and two, probably the highest caliber of athlete that we’ve seen all year long in terms of speed, athleticism and decision-making skills.”

Freshman fullback Dominique Swope rushed for 255 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Eagles, which has beaten both times the teams have faced each other. Senior quarterback Jaybo Shaw threw for 130 yards and a touchdown and ran for 37 yards and two more scores.

Junior linebacker Troy Russell led Maine’s defensive effort last week with nine tackles, including a sack. Michael Cole and Doug Alston each had a sack and Kendall James and Khari Al-Mateen had interceptions.

After giving up an average of 384 yards in its three previous games, Maine limited App State to 275 total yards and forced three turnovers.

The difference, according to Cosgrove, was simple.

“We were a lot healthier,” he said.

Banged up throughout the year, the Black Bears emerged from last week’s game without any further injuries.