Georgia Southern Hosts Central Arkansas in Playoff Opener

VIDEO: Preview Interview with Senior DE Dion DuBose
VIDEO: Preview interview with Senior TE Tyler Sumner
VIDEO: Preview interview with Coach Jeff Monken

GAME INFORMATION
Date / Time: Sat., Dec. 1st / 2 p.m. ET
Site: Statesboro, Ga. / Allen E. Paulson Stadium (18,000)
Video Feed: ESPN3
   Play-by-Play: Shawn Kenney; Analyst: John Bunting; Sideline: Tiffany Green
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network
   Play-by-Play: Chris Blair; Analyst: Terry Harvin; Sideline: Ryan Chambers
Live Stats: GSEagles.com
Game Notes: Georgia Southern / Central Arkansas
SoCon Conference Call
Twitter Updates: @GSAthletics / @GSScores
Game Day Central / Interactive Bracket
Series: Central Arkansas leads, 1-0
   Statesboro: Central Arkansas leads, 1-0
   Conway: N/A
   First Meeting: 2006 – L OT, 34-31
   Last Meeting: 2006 – L OT, 34-31
   Streak: Central Arkansas, 1 win

STORY LINES
Georgia Southern (8-3) enters the FCS Playoffs for the 19th time in the 31 years since the program was restarted in 1982. After a bye week, the Eagles host Central Arkansas in a 2 p.m. kickoff at Allen E. Paulson Stadium.

The first 50 students in the door at Wednesday's men's basketball game against Elon will receive a ticket provided by Retrievers Sports Bar & Grill to Saturday's game.

To celebrate the unveiling of the new Erk Russell statue. The EFAA will be selling “Just One More Time” T-shirts at their tent for $20. Proceeds will benefit Georgia Southern football.

GSU and Central Arkansas have met only once in the 2006 regular season finale. The Bears won that contest in overtime at Paulson Stadium, 34-31.

The Eagles are 43-12 all-time in the playoffs and an even better 32-3 at home. Georgia Southern has reached the semifinals in the past two seasons and will make their third-straight appearance in the playoffs.

LB John Stevenson needs just six more tackles to reach 100 tackles for the season. The former walk-on would be the first to reach that mark since Josh Rowe in 2010.

DT Brent Russell needs just a half sack to take sole possession of the school's career sack record.

QUICK HITS
Seven Eagles were selected All-Southern Conference and two others were named Freshman All-Conference by either the league's head coaches or media members.

Georgia Southern has not been shutout in 216 consecutive games dating back to a 45-0 loss to Montana in the 1995 FCS Playoffs.

Georgia Southern won a share of their 10th Southern Conference Championship and claimed the leagues’ automatic bid to the playoffs.

The Eagles lead the FCS division with 392.18 rushing yards per game. GSU's top runner is QB Jerick McKinnon, who has 1,162 rushing yards this season.

Georgia Southern has tallied 300 or more yards of total offense in all but one game this season.

The Eagles rank fourth in the FCS in kickoff return average with 25.32 yards per return. GSU is also one of three teams in the top-10 to not have returned a kickoff for a touchdown.

Georgia Southern leads the Southern Conference in scoring offense and ranks 14th in the nation.

B-Back Dominique Swope ranks eighth in the FCS in scoring with 9.56 points per game.

SERIES HISTORY
Georgia Southern faces Central Arkansas for the second time in series history. A 25-yard field goal by the Bears gave UCA the overtime victory in the 2006 season finale. GSU ran for 390 yards in the game behind 19 carries for 99 yards by Lamar Lewis.

SOCON CHAMPIONS
With a 6-2 mark in league games, Georgia Southern shares the 2012 SoCon Championship with App. St. and Wofford. The championship is Georgia Southern’s 10th in program history and the first back-to-back titles for GSU since the Eagles won six-straight titles from 1997-2002.

ALL-TIME RECORD
The Eagles have played in 394 games since the re-start in 1982, putting together a 285-110-1 (.721) record. Only two teams with more than 150 total games played have a better winning percentage than the Eagles: Michigan (.736) and Notre Dame (.732).

TOP OF THE CHART
Georgia Southern ranks first all-time with 43 playoff wins and six National Championships. Georgia Southern also currently stands fourth all-time in most NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision playoff appearances.

AFTER A SEMIFINAL RUN
The Eagles have reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division I Football Playoffs on 12 occasions. The following season, Georgia Southern has averaged 11.9 victories and 2.9 losses. In those seasons the Eagles have reached the playoffs 10 times and won five National Championships, reaching the semifinals or further in 9 seasons.

ALL-SOCON EAGLES
Nine Eagles appear on the 2012 SoCon Honors lists. Dorian Byrd and Brent Russell were each named consensus first-team All-SoCon while Dion Dubuse and Darius Eubanks were each picked to both coaches and media All-SoCon teams. Patrick Flowe and Alex Hanks both were named to the SoCon All-Freshman Team.

1,000 YARD RUSHER
Quarterback Jerick McKinnon crossed the 1,000-yard plateau during the Howard game, becoming the third different Eagle to rush for 1,000 yards in the last three seasons. McKinnon is also the first of those three to do so during the regular season. The junior’s season rushing total of 1,162 currently ranks 14th all-time behind Roderick Russell’s 1997 rushing total of 1,172.

Category: Football

Published on Sunday, 31 December 1899 19:00