Georgia Southern and Georgia State will tee it up on Saturday, Nov. 4 at 3 p.m. inside Allen E. Paulson Stadium as the two teams battle for a Sun Belt win and state pride.
Here's all you need to know about the game:
Game 8: Saturday, Nov. 4, 2017 • 3:05 PM
Location: Statesboro, Ga. (Allen E. Paulson Stadium; 25,000)
Records:
Georgia Southern: 0-7, 0-3 Sun Belt
Georgia State: 4-3, 3-1 Sun Belt
Broadcast Information
Online: ESPN3/ESPN App
PBP: Matt Stewart;
Analyst: Tyoka Jackson
Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed;
Analyst: Terry Harvin;
Sidelines: Russ Brown
GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)
GAST: GAME NOTES (PDF)
The Series
• Despite their proximity, Georgia Southern and Georgia State have met just three times before with Georgia State leading the series 2-1.
• The Eagles won the first game in the series 69-31 in 2014 in Atlanta, but the Panthers have taken the past two games, winning 34-7 in 2015 in Statesboro and 30-24 last year in Atlanta.
• Last season, the Panthers were led by interim head coach Tim Lappano, who went 1-1 in his stint as the head man. This season, the Eagles will be the ones being led by an interim head coach in Chad Lunsford. Lunsford dropped his debut last week at Troy, falling 38-16.
Elliott vs. Lunsford
• The head coaches on Saturday certainly know each other well as Georgia State head coach Shawn Elliott served 13 seasons as an assistant coach at Appalachian State from 1997-2009. His final nine seasons, he served as the offensive line coach and hired a young tight ends coach in 2001 named Chad Lunsford. Lunsford spent two seasons on the staff at App State before beginning his first stint at Georgia Southern and the two remain friends to the day.
Southern vs. State Rivalry Series
• The Georgia Southern Eagles and the Georgia State Panthers go head-to-head in Saturday's football game at Paulson Stadium for a "W" in the Sun Belt Conference and two points added to the winning team's current standing in the Georgia Southern/Georgia State Rivalry Series.
• All head-to-head series are worth one total point. However, two points are up for grabs in Saturday's football game.
• Georgia State currently leads the 2.5-.5. GS received a half point for the tie in women's soccer and the Panthers have points in men's soccer and women's cross country.
Georgia on Our Minds
• Saturday's contest is just the third of four games in the state of Georgia for the Eagles this season, where they are 0-2 so far.
• Georgia Southern is 23-11-1 in the modern era against teams from the state of Georgia: 12-0 vs. Savannah State, 6-1-1 vs. Valdosta State, 2-0 vs. West Georgia, 1-0 vs. Baptist University of America (Decatur), 1-0 vs. Fort Benning, 1-2 vs. Georgia State, 0-2 vs. Georgia Tech and 0-6 vs. the University of Georgia.
• The Eagles are 202-53-1 in the modern era in games played in the Peach State.
Avoiding Three in a Row
• Georgia Southern will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak at Paulson Stadium, something that's happened just two other times in the stadium's 34-year history.
• Those came in 2008 and 2006 when the Eagles lost four games in a row.
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.
Countdown to Kickoff
10: Only Ryan Northrup and Jessie Liptrot have active start streaks of 10 or more games.
9: The Eagles' opponent has scored first in nine straight games dating back to last season.
8: Eight players on Georgia Southern's current roster have at least one career interception.
7: Georgia Southern has lost its first seven football games in a season for the first time since 1937.
6: Six of Matt Flynn's punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line this year.
5: Tyler Bass has made five field goals in a row, including three of longer than 40 yards during the streak.
4: The Eagles will play just four games in the state of Georgia this season.
3: Georgia Southern will be looking to avoid a three-game losing streak at Paulson Stadium for just the third time in the modern era of Eagle football.
2: Georgia State has won the past two games in the series after the Eagles won the first game on 2014.
1: Cornerback Monquavion Brinson is averaging one PBU per game, recording seven thus far this year.
