Football | 9/5/2016 11:09:00 AM

The Georgia Southern football squad will open its 2016 conference season when the Eagles travel to Mobile, Alabama, to take on South Alabama on Saturday, Sept. 10 at South Alabama. Here's all you need to know about the game:

Game 2: Saturday, Sept. 10, 2016 • 6 PM local (7 PM Eastern)
Location: Mobile, Ala. (Ladd-Peebles Stadium; 33,471)

Broadcast Information
Broadcast: American Sports Network (clearances to be released later in the week)
Online: ESPN3/Watch ESPN
PBP: Ron Thulin; Analyst: Ken Dunek

Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed; Analyst: Terry Harvin; Sidelines: Russ Brown

GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)

BUY TICKETS

The Series
• Georgia Southern and South Alabama have met just twice before with the Eagles winning 28-6 in 2014 in Mobile, Alabama, and 55-17 last season in Statesboro.

• The 2014 game was the first Sun Belt Conference contest in GS football history and was the first of eight league wins for the Eagles en route to a 2014 conference title and perfect league record.

Against the Sun Belt
• GS has played 16 Sun Belt games as it enters its third season in the conference. The Eagles are 14-2 in conference games, although the 2014 win over ULM was vacated due to NCAA violations to make GS officially 13-2 in SBC games.

Alabama History
• The Eagles are 8-8 all-time in games played in the state of Alabama, including 2-0 in Mobile and in Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The Eagles beat South Alabama 28-6 in 2014 for the program's first Sun Belt Conference victory and rolled past Bowling Green 58-27 in last year's GoDaddy Bowl, which was played in the stadium. 

Road Openers
• Georgia Southern is just 13-21 all-time in road openers and has lost its last four road openers. In fairness, the past two were against Power 5 teams (at West Virginia last year and a narrow 24-23 loss at NC State in 2014). 

Making Peach State Rushing History
• Senior Matt Breida is quickly moving up the all-time state of Georgia FBS/D-1A rushing leaders and has a chance to finish second all-time behind legendary Herschel Walker.

1.     5,259     Herschel Walker (Georgia), 1980-82
2.     4,066    Robert Lavette (Georgia Tech), 1981-84
3.     3,699     Jerry Mays (Georgia Tech), 1985-89
4.     3,517     Eddie Lee Ivory (Georgia Tech), 1975-78
5.     3,365     Tashard Choice (Georgia Tech), 2005-07
6.     3,345     PJ Daniels (Georgia Tech), 2002-05
7.     3,285     Todd Gurley (Georgia), 2012-14
8.     3,232     Garrison Hearst (Georgia), 1990-92
9.     3,226     Jonathan Dwyer (Georgia Tech), 2007-09
10.     3,161     Matt Breida (Georgia Southern) 2014-

• Breida's numbers do not include his one rush in 2013, which came while the Eagles were still playing in the FCS.

First-Year Coaches
• Tyson Summers is one of 29 new FBS coaches in 2016. Of those 29, 17 are in their first year as an FBS head coach. Just two of the 14 new "Group of 5" head coaches have previous head coaching experience, including former Georgia Southern head coach Willie Fritz, who is now at Tulane.

• Summers is the third-youngest FBS head coach at 36 years old. Only Mike Norvell (34; Memphis) and PJ Fleck (35; Western Michigan) are younger.