The Georgia Southern football squad hits the road again to take open the season at No. 12 Auburn in a non-conference match-up on Saturday, Sept. 2 in a contest that will be broadcast on the SEC Network. Here's all you need to know about the game:

Game 1: Saturday, Sept. 2, 2017 • 6:39 PM (CT)/7:39 PM (ET)
Location: Auburn, Ala. (Jordan-Hare Stadium; 87,451)

Records:
Georgia Southern: 0-0, 0-0 Sun Belt
Auburn: 0-0, 0-0 SEC

Broadcast Information
Television: SEC Network/Watch ESPN
PBP: Tom Hart; Analyst: Jordan Rodgers; Sidelines: Cole Cubelic

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

GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)

The Series
• Georgia Southern and Auburn have met just one previous time on the gridiron with the Tigers winning that game 32-17 to open the 1991 season.

• Georgia Southern, then the two-time defending NCAA I-AA National Champions and ranked No. 1 in the country, raced out to a 17-0 lead and led 17-3 at the break. But Auburn's Stan White threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers scored 32 unanswered points.

• That game was played in front of 79,124 fans, still the 10th-largest crowd GS has ever played in front of.

Large Crowds Nothing New For GS
• Georgia Southern has played in front of plenty of large crowds as it will on Saturday. The 10 largest crowds the Eagles have ever played in front of were all at SEC venues.

Rk: Attendance - Game, Date, Result
1.: 101,821 - Alabama, 11-19-2011, L
T2.: 92,746 - Georgia (OT), 11-21-2015, L
T2.: 92,746 - Georgia, 11-17-2013, L
T2.: 92,746 - Georgia, 8-30-2008, L
T2.: 92,746 - Georgia, 9-4-2004, L
6.: 86,520 - Georgia, 9-2-2000, L
7.: 85,434 - Georgia, 10-10-1992, L
8.: 84,963 - Florida, 9-7-1996, L
9.: 82,459 - Florida, 11-23-2013, W
10.: 79,124 - Auburn, 8-31-1991, L

Recently Against the Power 5
• The Eagles have fared pretty well against Power 5 teams of late, even pulling off a shocker at Florida to end the 2013 season when still a member of the FCS.

• Four of the Eagles' last seven games against Power 5 schools have been decided by six points or less: a six-point win at Florida (2013), a one-point loss at NCSU (2014), a four-point loss at GT (2014), and a six-point loss in overtime at Georgia (2015).

• Last season, the Eagles dropped an 11-point game at Georgia Tech and led Ole Miss 14-3 before eventually falling by 10 in Oxford.

• Since 2013, GS has played six games against either SEC or ACC teams and has an average point differential of just -4.3 points per game with no loss by more than 11 points.

Against Ranked Teams
• The Eagles have played eight games against ranked FBS opponents since 1984 but this will be the first ranked opponent GS will take on as a member of the FBS, which it joined in 2014.

• All eight times the Eagles took on a ranked FBS opponent, the team was ranked in the top 10 of the AP poll.

Year: Opponent - Result
1993: at #4 Miami - L, 7-30
1994: at #3 Miami - L, 0-56
1996: at #4 Florida - L, 14-62
2004: at #4 Georgia - L, 29-48
2008: at #1 Georgia - L, 21-45
2010: at #10 Georgia - L, 7-29
2011: at #3 Alabama - L, 21-45
2012: at #5 Georgia - L, 14-45

Youth Is Served
• When the Eagles take the field of the opener against Auburn, they'll be one of the youngest teams in the country with just eight seniors on the roster. The eight seniors (graduates and sixth years included) are the fewest of any FBS per a search of all 130 FBS school's official website.

Georgia Southern: 8
Illinois: 9
Wake Forest: 9
ULM: 10
Wyoming: 10