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]

Georgia Southern hosts rival, Appalachian State, in Paulson Stadium before a crowd of 24.535

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

  1. ^ "Allen E. Paulson Stadium". gseagles.com.
  2. ^ a b "Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, Idaho and New Mexico State Officially Join Sun Belt Conference". Sun Belt Sports. June 30, 2014.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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.
  5. ^ 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
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