2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football
2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football
Camellia Bowl champion
Camellia Bowl, W 23–21 vs. Eastern Michigan
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	10–3 (6–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Chad Lunsford (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Bob DeBesse (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Pistol
Defensive coordinator	Scot Sloan (1st season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

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 Sun Belt Conference football standings
v t e
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]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina State*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 37–6	15,260
September 8	6:00 p.m.	UMass*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 34–13	15,071
September 15	12:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNU	L 7–38	79,844
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 28–21	17,320
October 6	3:30 p.m.	South Alabama	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	W 48–13	17,622
October 11	7:30 p.m.	at Texas State	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	ESPNU	W 15–13	9,545
October 20	6:00 p.m.	at New Mexico State*	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM		W 48–31	7,300
October 25	7:30 p.m.	No. 25 Appalachian State	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 34–14	19,252
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	ESPN3	L 25–44	13,787
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Troy	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	L 21–35	16,289
November 17	5:00 p.m.	at Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium Conway, SC	ESPN+	W 41–17	9,886
November 24	2:00 p.m.	at Georgia State	Georgia State Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 35–14	20,011
December 15	5:30 p.m.	vs. Eastern Michigan*	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl)	ESPN	W 23–21	17,710
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	6	0	6
Eagles	13	3	7	14	37

UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minutemen	3	7	3	0	13
Eagles	0	17	10	7	34

At Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	7	7
No. 2 Tigers	0	21	3	14	38

Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Wolves	0	3	11	7	21
Eagles	0	7	7	14	28

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	6	0	7	13
Eagles	7	10	10	21	48

At Texas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	5	0	15
Bobcats	0	0	7	6	13

At New Mexico State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	14	21	3	48
Aggies	14	3	7	7	31

Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Mountaineers	0	7	0	7	14
Eagles	0	17	10	7	34

At Louisiana–Monroe

Week Ten: Georgia Southern Eagles at Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	8	7	25
Warhawks	13	14	14	3	44

at Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA

Date: November 3
Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 74° · Sunny · SW – 11 mph.
Game attendance: 13,787
Referee: Jeremy Parker
TV: ESPN3
[1]

Game information

First quarter

ULM - Caleb Evans 5-yard TD run, Craig Ford kick no good, 12:26 (ULM 6-0)
ULM - Marcus Green 80-yard TD pass from Evans, Ford kick good, 6:43 (ULM 13-0)

Second quarter

ULM - Green 69-yard TD pass from Evans, Ford kick good, 13:58 (ULM 20-0)
GASO - Tyler Bass 38-yard field goal, 5:40 (ULM 20-3)
ULM - Josh Johnson 1-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 2:49 (ULM 27-3)
GASO - Mark Michaud 22-yard TD pass from Shai Werts, Bass kick good, 1:02 (ULM 27-10)

Third quarter

ULM - Derrick Gore 1-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 6:31 (ULM 34-10)
GASO - Jessie Liptrot 57-yard interception returned for TD, Wesley Field two-point conversion run good, 3:15 (ULM 34-18)
ULM - Evans 2-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 0:14 (ULM 41-18)

Fourth quarter

GASO - Benz Josue 5-yard returned block punt for TD, Bass kick good, 10:37 (ULM 41-25)
ULM - Ford 32-yard field goal, 4:16 (ULM 44-25)

Leading Passers

ULM - Caleb Evans - 13/22, 337 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
GASO - Shai Werts - 8/15, 78 yards, TD

Leading Rushers

ULM - Derrick Gore - 19 carries, 114 yards, TD
GASO - Wesley Fields - 17 carries, 73 yards

Leading Receivers

ULM - Marcus Green - 2 receptions, 149 yards, 2 TD
GASO - Davarius Bargnare - 3 receptions, 23 yards

Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	3	14	11	7	35
Eagles	14	0	0	7	21

At Coastal Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	10	21	7	41
Chanticleers	7	3	0	7	17

At Georgia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	13	15	7	35
Panthers	0	0	0	14	14

Vs. Eastern Michigan (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

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy^[3]	Curtis Rainey	C	SR
Doak Walker Award^[4]	Wesley Fields	RB	SR
John Mackey Award^[5]	Ellis Richardson	TE	SR
Lou Groza Award^[6]	Tyler Bass	K	JR
Wuerffel Trophy^[7]	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.^[8]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
East Division
1	Appalachian State	46 (6)
2	Troy	44 (4)
3	Georgia State	26
4	Georgia Southern	22
5	Coastal Carolina	12

Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

The Eagles had six players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams.^[9]

Offense

2nd team

Wesley Fields – RB

Ellis Richardson– TE

Curtis Rainey – OL

Defense

1st team

Logan Hunt – DL

Monquavion Brinson – DB Tae Hayes – DB

Special teams

2nd team

Tyler Bass – K

Post-season finalists and winners

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- 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^[10]

References

^ "Georgia Southern tops Eastern Michigan 23-21 on Bass' FG". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.
^ "2018 Georgia Southern Eagles Football Schedule". Georgia Southern Athletics. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
^ "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.
^ "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.
^ "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
^ "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.
^ "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.
^ "Mountaineers, Red Wolves Selected as Division Favorites in 2018 Sun Belt Football Coaches' Preseason Poll".
^ "Sun Belt Announces 2018 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams".
^ "Sun Belt Announces 2018 Football Postseason All-Conference, Individual Awards". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2018.

[1] "Georgia Southern tops Eastern Michigan 23-21 on Bass' FG". ESPN.com. Associated Press. December 15, 2018. Retrieved December 16, 2018.

[2] "2018 Georgia Southern Eagles Football Schedule". Georgia Southern Athletics. Retrieved April 26, 2018.

[3] "Rimington Trophy Press Release". May 30, 2018. Retrieved July 14, 2018.

[4] "2018 Doak Walker Award Candidates". July 18, 2018. Retrieved July 18, 2018.

[5] "2018 John Mackey Award Preseason Watch List Released" (PDF). July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.

[6] "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.

[7] "Wuerffel Trophy Unveils 2018 Watch List". July 26, 2018. Archived from the original on July 26, 2018. Retrieved July 26, 2018.

[8] "Mountaineers, Red Wolves Selected as Division Favorites in 2018 Sun Belt Football Coaches' Preseason Poll".

[9] "Sun Belt Announces 2018 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams".

[10] "Sun Belt Announces 2018 Football Postseason All-Conference, Individual Awards". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved November 29, 2018.

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