The Georgia Southern Eagles college football team competes as part of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I FBS, representing Georgia Southern University in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern has played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia since 1984.[1]
The inaugural season of Georgia Southern, then known as Georgia Normal School and subsequently South Georgia Teachers College and Georgia Teachers College, football was in 1924. However, the program was shut down in 1942 because of World War II and was not revived until 1981. The Eagles are 368-177-9 all time and have claimed a record six Div. I FCS national championships. The program has also produced two Walter Payton Award winners.[2]
Georgia Southern was a member of the FCS conference SoCon between 1992 and 2013. In 2014 the program, after years of speculation, became an official member of college football's FBS level. The Eagles now compete as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.[2]
Seasons
| National Champions † | Conference Champions * | FCS Playoff Berth ‡ | Bowl Game Berth ^ |
| Season | Head coach | Season results | Playoff or Bowl result< | Final ranking | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conference finish | Division finish | Wins | Losses | Ties[3] | NCAA/TSN Poll[4] | Coaches Poll[5] | |||||
| Georgia Normal/South Georgia Teachers/Georgia Teachers Blue Tide | |||||||||||
| 1924 | E. G. Cromartie | Independent | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |
| 1925 | — | — | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1926 | — | — | 5 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
| 1927 | Hugh A. Woodle | — | — | 6 | 1 | 1 | — | — | — | ||
| 1928 | — | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1929 | Crook Smith | — | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | ||
| 1930 | — | — | 3 | 4 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
| 1931 | — | — | 3 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1932 | — | — | 7 | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1933 | — | — | 5 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1934 | — | — | 4 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1935 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 2 | — | — | — | |||
| 1936 | — | — | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1937 | — | — | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1938 | — | — | 3 | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | |||
| 1939 | — | — | 5 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1940 | — | — | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1941 | — | — | 2 | 8 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| Georgia Teachers College/Georgia Southern College did not field a football team for the 1942–81 seasons | |||||||||||
| Georgia Southern Eagles | |||||||||||
| 1982 | Erk Russell | Independent | — | — | 7 | 3 | 1 | — | — | — | |
| 1983 | — | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1984 | — | — | 8 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1985 †* | — | — | 13 | 2 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Furman Paladins, 44–42 ^ | — | — | |||
| 1986 †* | — | — | 13 | 2 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Arkansas State Indians, 48–21 ^ | — | — | |||
| 1987 | — | — | 9 | 4 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Appalachian State Mountaineers, 19–0 ^ | — | — | |||
| 1988 | — | — | 12 | 3 | 0 | Lost FCS National Championship Game against Furman Paladins, 17–12 ^ | — | — | |||
| 1989 †* | — | — | 15 | 0 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks, 37–34 ^ | — | — | |||
| 1990 †* | Tim Stowers | — | — | 12 | 3 | 0 | Won FCS National Championship Game against Nevada Wolfpack, 36–13 | — | — | ||
| 1991 | — | — | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1992 | Southern Conference | — | — | 7 | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | ||
| 1993 | 1st * | — | 10 | 3 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Youngstown State Penguins, 34–14 | — | — | |||
| 1994 | 3rd | — | 6 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | |||
| 1995 | 3rd | — | 9 | 4 | 0 | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Montana Grizzlies, 45–0 | — | — | |||
| 1996 | Frank Ellwood | 6th | — | 4 | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 1997 | Paul Johnson | 1st * | — | 10 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Quarterfinals against Delaware Blue Hens, 16–7 | — | — | ||
| 1998 | 1st * | — | 14 | 1 | — | Lost FCS National Championship Game against UMass Minutemen, 55–43 | — | — | |||
| 1999 †* | 1st * | — | 13 | 2 | — | Won FCS National Championship Game against Youngstown State Penguins, 59–24 | — | — | |||
| 2000 †* | 1st * | — | 13 | 2 | — | Won FCS National Championship Game against Montana Grizzlies, 27–25 | — | — | |||
| 2001 | 1st * | — | 12 | 2 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Furman Paladins, 24–17 | — | — | |||
| 2002 | Mike Sewak | 1st * | — | 11 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Western Kentucky Hilltoppers, 31–28 | — | — | ||
| 2003 | 3rd | — | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2004 | 1st * | — | 9 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS 1st Round against New Hampshire Wildcats, 27–23 | — | — | |||
| 2005 | 2nd | — | 8 | 4 | — | Lost in FCS 1st Round against Texas State Bobcats, 50–35 | — | — | |||
| 2006 | Brian VanGorder | 5th | — | 3 | 8 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2007 | Chris Hatcher | 3rd | — | 7 | 4 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2008 | 4th | — | 6 | 5 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2009 | 4th | — | 5 | 6 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2010 | Jeff Monken | 3rd | — | 10 | 5 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against Delaware Blue Hens, 27–10 | — | — | ||
| 2011 | 1st * | — | 11 | 3 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against North Dakota State Bison, 35–7 ^ | — | — | |||
| 2012 | 1st * | — | 10 | 4 | — | Lost in FCS Semifinals against North Dakota State Bison, 23–20 ^ | — | — | |||
| 2013 | 4th | — | 7 | 4 | — | Ineligible | — | — | |||
| 2014 | Willie Fritz | Sun Belt Conference | 1st * | — | 9 | 3 | — | Ineligible | — | — | |
| 2015 | 3rd ^ | — | 9 | 4 | — | Won GoDaddy Bowl against Bowling Green Falcons, 58–27 | — | — | |||
| 2016 | Tyson Summers
(fired Oct. 22, 2017) Chad Lunsford (Interim, 2–4) |
6th | — | 5 | 7 | — | — | — | — | ||
| 2017 | 10th | — | 2 | 10 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2018 | Chad Lunsford
(fired Sep. 26, 2021) Kevin Whitley (Interim, 2–6) |
— | 3rd, East | 10 | 3 | — | Won Camellia Bowl against Eastern Michigan Eagles, 23–21 | — | — | ||
| 2019 | — | 2nd, East | 7 | 6 | — | Lost Cure Bowl against Liberty Flames, 16–23 | — | — | |||
| 2020 | — | 4th, East | 8 | 5 | — | Won New Orleans Bowl against Louisiana Tech, 38-3 | — | — | |||
| 2021 | — | 5th, East | 3 | 9 | — | — | — | — | |||
| 2022 | Clay Helton | — | 4th, East | 6 | 7 | — | Lost Camellia Bowl against Buffalo, 21–23 | — | — | — | — |
| 2023 | Clay Helton | — | T5th, East | 6 | 7 | — | Lost Myrtle Beach Bowl against Ohio, 41-21 | — | — | ||
| Total | 369 | 238 | 9 | (regular season games) | |||||||
| 0 | 0 | 0 | (conference championship games; 0 appearances) | ||||||||
| 45 | 13 | — | (playoff games; 58 appearances) | ||||||||
| 3 | 3 | — | (bowl games; 6 appearances) | ||||||||
| 422 | 260 | 9 | (all games) | ||||||||
References
- ^ "Allen E. Paulson Stadium". gseagles.com.
- ^ a b "Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Idaho and New Mexico State Officially Join Sun Belt Conference". Sun Belt Sports. June 30, 2014.
- ^ Overtime rules in college football were introduced in 1996, making ties impossible in the period since.Whiteside, Kelly (August 25, 2006). "Overtime system still excites coaches". USA Today. Archived from the original on May 24, 2011. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
- ^ Since the 1978 split in divisions, the NCAA, or more recently, The Sports Network Archived 2011-05-03 at the Wayback Machine Poll has been the major poll at the FCS level. No polls for Georgia Southern are available prior to 1984 when the Eagles began I-AA play. Polls are released prior to the playoffs.
- ^ The FCS Coaches Poll Archived 2008-08-28 at the Wayback Machine was introduced in 2007. Therefore, polls for prior seasons do not exist. Polls are released prior to the playoffs