2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Chad Lunsford. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in third place in the East Division. They were invited to the Camellia Bowl where they defeated Eastern Michigan.

2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football
Camellia Bowl champion
ConferenceSun Belt Conference
DivisionEast Division
2018 record10–3 (6–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorBob DeBesse (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorScot Sloan (1st season)
Home stadiumPaulson Stadium
(Capacity: 25,000)
2018 Sun Belt Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
East Division
Appalachian State xy$  7 –1     11 –2  
Troy x  7 –1     10 –3  
Georgia Southern  6 –2     10 –3  
Coastal Carolina  2 –6     5 –7  
Georgia State  1 –7     2 –10  
West Division
Louisiana xy  5 –3     7 –7  
Arkansas State x  5 –3     8 –5  
Louisiana–Monroe  4 –4     6 –6  
South Alabama  2 –6     3 –9  
Texas State  1 –7     3 –9  
Championship: Appalachian State 30, Louisiana 19
  • $ – Conference champion
  • x – Division champion/co-champions
  • y – Championship game participant

The Eagles had the biggest turnaround in FBS in 2018, going from a 2–10 record in 2017 to 10–3. They also set a new FBS record by losing only five turnovers during the season. The previous record of eight had been achieved by six teams, most recently by LSU in 2017.[1]

Previous season

The Eagles fired head coach Tyson Summers six games into the season. He was replaced by interim head coach Chad Lunsford. They finished the season 2–10, 2–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for tenth place.

Following the season, interim head coach Chad Lunsford was promoted to head coach.[2][3]

Schedule
DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.South Carolina State*
ESPN+W 37–615,260
September 86:00 p.m.UMass*
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
ESPN+W 34–1315,071
September 1512:00 p.m.at No. 2 Clemson*
ESPNUL 7–3879,844
September 296:00 p.m.Arkansas State
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
ESPN+W 28–2117,320
October 63:30 p.m.South Alabama
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
ESPN3W 48–1317,622
October 117:30 p.m.at Texas State
ESPNUW 15–139,545
October 206:00 p.m.at New Mexico State*
W 48–317,300
October 257:30 p.m.No. 25 Appalachian State
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA (rivalry)
ESPNUW 34–1419,252
November 33:00 p.m.at Louisiana–Monroe
ESPN3L 25–4413,787
November 101:00 p.m.Troy
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
ESPN+L 21–3516,289
November 175:00 p.m.at Coastal Carolina
ESPN+W 41–179,886
November 242:00 p.m.at Georgia State
ESPN+W 35–1420,011
December 155:30 p.m.vs. Eastern Michigan*
ESPNW 23–2117,710
  • *Non-conference game
  • Homecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Eastern time
Schedule Source:[4]

Game summaries

South Carolina State
See also: 2018 South Carolina State Bulldogs football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Bulldogs 0 0 6 0 6
Eagles 13 3 7 14 37

UMass
See also: 2018 UMass Minutemen football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Minutemen 3 7 3 0 13
Eagles 0 17 10 7 34

at Clemson
See also: 2018 Clemson Tigers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 0 0 7 7
No. 2 Tigers 0 21 3 14 38

Arkansas State
See also: 2018 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Red Wolves 0 3 11 7 21
Eagles 0 7 7 14 28

South Alabama
See also: 2018 South Alabama Jaguars football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Jaguars 0 6 0 7 13
Eagles 7 10 10 21 48

at Texas State
See also: 2018 Texas State Bobcats football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 10 5 0 15
Bobcats 0 0 7 6 13

at New Mexico State
See also: 2018 New Mexico State Aggies football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 10 14 21 3 48
Aggies 14 3 7 7 31

Appalachian State
See also: 2018 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 25 Mountaineers 0 7 0 7 14
Eagles 0 17 10 7 34

at Louisiana–Monroe
See also: 2018 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 10 8 7 25
Warhawks 13 14 14 3 44

Troy
See also: 2018 Troy Trojans football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Trojans 3 14 11 7 35
Eagles 14 0 0 7 21

at Coastal Carolina
See also: 2018 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 3 10 21 7 41
Chanticleers 7 3 0 7 17

at Georgia State
See also: 2018 Georgia State Panthers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Eagles 0 13 15 7 35
Panthers 0 0 0 14 14

vs. Eastern Michigan (Camellia Bowl)
See also: 2018 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team and 2018 Camellia Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
EMU Eagles 0 7 7 7 21
GASO Eagles 7 10 0 6 23
Georgia Southern taking the field before the 2018 Camellia Bowl

Awards and Honors

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award Player Position Year
Rimington Trophy[5] Curtis Rainey C SR
Doak Walker Award[6] Wesley Fields RB SR
John Mackey Award[7] Ellis Richardson TE SR
Lou Groza Award[8] Tyler Bass K JR
Wuerffel Trophy[9] Wesley Fields RB SR

Sun Belt coaches poll

On July 19, 2018, the Sun Belt released their preseason coaches poll with the Eagles predicted to finish in fourth place in the East Division.[10]

East Division
Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Appalachian State46 (6)
2Troy44 (4)
3Georgia State26
4Georgia Southern22
5Coastal Carolina12

Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

The Eagles had six players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams.[11]

All-Sun Belt Selections

Twelve Georgia Southern football players were honored by the league coaches and members of the media as the Sun Belt Conference announced the selections for its all-conference teams.

  • Offensive Selection
Curtis Rainey - OL (First team)
Wesley Fields - RB (Second team)
Jeremiah Culbreth - OL (Second team)
Wesley Kennedy III - RB (Honorable mention)
Shai Werts - QB (Honorable mention)
  • Defensive Selection
Kindle Vildor - DB (First team)
Raymond Johnson III - DL (Second team)
Monquavion Brinson - DB (Second team)
Logan Hunt - DL (Third team)
Rashad Byrd - LB (Honorable mention)
Ty Phillips - DL (Honorable mention)
  • Special Teams Selection
Tyler Bass - PK (First team)

per Sun Belt Conference[12]

References
  1. "Georgia Southern tops Eastern Michigan 23-21 on Bass' FG". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
  2. "Georgia Southern taking interim tag off Lunsford". SBNation.com. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  3. "Chad Lunsford promoted to full-time head coach at Georgia Southern". Underdog Dynasty. Retrieved 2018-01-25.
  4. "2018 Georgia Southern Eagles Football Schedule". Georgia Southern Athletics. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  5. "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
  6. "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
  7. "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  8. "Lou Groza Collegiate Place-Kicker Award Announces 2018 Preseason Watch List". July 25, 2018. Archived from the original on August 17, 2009. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  9. "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
  10. http://sunbeltsports.org/news/2018/7/18/mountaineers-red-wolves-selected-as-division-favorites-in-2018-sun-belt-football-coaches-preseason-poll.aspx
  11. http://www.sunbeltsports.org/news/2018/7/20/sun-belt-announces-2018-preseason-all-conference-football-teams.aspx
  12. "Sun Belt Announces 2018 Football Postseason All-Conference, Individual Awards". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2018.
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