The Chad Lunsford Era officially began Monday with the formal press conference announcing his promotion to the role of interim head coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles. Lunsford will become the 12th head coach in the modern era, full-time or interim, to lead the Eagles when GS takes on Troy on the road Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium at 2:30 p.m. (CT)/3:30 p.m. (ET).
PRESS CONFERENCE ARCHIVE
"Yesterday afternoon, when I sat down with Chad, I was taken aback by the level of enthusiasm and the level of excitement that came across his face," said director of athletics Tom Kleinlein. "I've had the pleasure of working with him since I came here and we've gone through some transition together. I feel very confident in his abilities to lead our football team. Chad loves this place and I think he is going to be a tremendous leader for us over these next six games."
"What an opportunity," Lunsford opened. "Georgia Southern is a very special place to me and I've had the opportunity to be here a long time. I'm very excited that i get a chance to lead the Georgia Southern Eagles."
When asked what he has to say to the fan base, he simply said "show up, cause we're gonna show out."
Here's all you need to know about the game:
Game 7: Saturday, Oct. 28, 2017 • 2:30 PM (CT)/3:30 PM (ET)
Location: Troy, Ala. (Veterans Memorial Stadium; 30,000)
Records:
Georgia Southern: 0-6, 0-2 Sun Belt
Troy: 5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt
Broadcast Information
Online: ESPN3/ESPN App
PBP: Matt Stewart;
Analyst: Watson Brown
Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed;
Analyst: Terry Harvin;
Sidelines: Russ Brown
GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)
TROY: GAME NOTES (PDF)
The Series
• Georgia Southern and Troy have met 16 times on the gridiron with the Trojans holding a 10-6 lead in the series that dates back to 1934, although that number is a little misleading.
• Since Georgia Southern re-started its football program for the 1982 season, the Eagles are 6-2 against Troy.
• The Eagles are on a four-game winning streak against the Trojans. They beat them 24-21 in the 1995 I-AA Playoffs on the road, beat them 42-10 in 2014 at Paulson Stadium and won 45-10 in 2015 on the road.
• Last season, the Eagles finished the season on a high note by downing the Trojans 28-24 at Paulson Stadium to deny Troy a share of the Sun Belt title.
• The two teams played every year from 1934-1941 with the Trojans winning all eight contests.
Interim Status for Lunsford
• Head coach Tyson Summers was relieved of his duties as the head coach of the Eagles on Oct. 22 following the Eagles' 55-20 loss at UMass. Athletic Director Tom Kleinlein appointed Chad Lunsford as the interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
• The 2017 campaign marks the ninth season overall, and fifth in his current stint at GS for Lunsford, who has worn many hats in his time in Statesboro. After working with the wide receivers in 2013, Lunsford worked two seasons with the tight ends and served as recruiting coordinator in 2014 and 2015. As he has since 2014, Lunsford continues to coach the Eagle H-Backs/tight ends and serves in the role of special teams coordinator, a title he added in 2016. He was also named the program's assistant head coach in 2017.
Back to Alabama
• Saturday's game will be Georgia Southern's third game in the state of Alabama this season compared to just two played in Georgia through seven games.
• The Eagles opened the season at Auburn on Sept. 2 and then had to move their scheduled home opener against New Hampshire on Sept. 9 to Birmingham due to the threat of Hurricane Irma.
• Georgia Southern is 0-2 in the Yellowhammer State this season, 7-5 all-time in the modern era. Additionally, the Eagles are 18-9 against teams from the state of Alabama since re-starting the program in the early 1980s.
Troy Ties
• Defensive backs coach Jeremy Rowell spent 15 seasons at Troy, including the final six as the Trojans' defensive coordinator. From 2006-2010, the Trojans won the Sun Belt Conference title outright or shared the title each of those five seasons. Rowell also led Troy to a 19-3 regular season record as a starting quarterback in 1994 and 1995.
• Director of Football Administration Steve Dennis was the athletics director at Troy for seven years.
Countdown to Kickoff
10: Ryan Northrup and Jessie Liptrot are the only two players on the team to have active start streaks of 10 or more games.
9: The Eagles have lost just nine games in 27 attempts against teams from Alabama in the modern era.
8: Troy won all eight contests in the series between 1934-1941.
7; Myles Campbell set a new school record with seven kickoff returns at UMass last week, tallying 192 yards.
6: Georgia Southern has lost its first six games of the season for the first time since 1941.
5: Five different Georgia Southern defenders have recorded at least one interception this season.
4: Georgia Southern has won the past four contests against Troy on the gridiron.
3: Eagles' secondary coach Jeremy Rowell lost just three games as Troy's starting quarterback in 1994 and 1995.
2: Quarterback Kado Brown had two rushing touchdowns against UMass in his first FBS start.
1: One Georgia Southern player on offense has started all six games thus far this season: Ryan Northrup.
