Saturday's Gridiron Gut Check Pits Samford Against Georgia Southern
10/30/2010 5:20:00 AM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Football team (4-3, 2-2 SoCon) returns for the first of two home games on Saturday, October 30th, welcoming Samford (3-4, 1-3 SoCon) to Paulson Stadium. Samford is coming off a bye weekend after falling to Furman 27-10 two weeks ago. The Eagles posted their first shutout in eight years with a 20-0 victory over The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., last weekend.
Designated "Military Appreciation Day," several recognition ceremonies will take place to honor the men and women who serve in our nation's Armed Forces. During halftime of the game, the seven newest inductees to the Georgia Southern Athletics Hall of Fame will be introduced to Eagle fans as part of the Hall of Fame festivities this weekend.
KICKOFF
2 p.m., Saturday, October 30th at Paulson Stadium (grass / capacity 18,000)
WHERE TO LISTEN
In his fifth year as the "Voice of the Eagles," Chris Blair will call all the action for Saturday's 1 p.m. matchup on the 17-station Georgia Southern Radio Network. Eagle standout Terry Harvin provides the color commentary and Ryan Chambers brings the sideline experience to the broadcast. The game can be heard locally in Statesboro on 102.9 WPMX-FM or globally online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision. A complete list of affiliates can be found at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/radionetwork. The broadcast will be available at 88.1 FM inside Paulson Stadium.
WHERE TO WATCH
Georgia Southern fans will be able to view the Eagles-Bulldogs football game webcast as part of their Eagle Vision subscription. The game is available for both live and on-demand viewing for the $9.95 monthly subscription. Visit GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com/Eaglevision for additional information, to sign in or register.
THE SERIES
Today's game marks only the sixth meeting between Georgia Southern and Samford. The Eagles lead the series 3-2, winning the first three games from 1988-1990, but the Bulldogs have won the last two meetings since joining the Southern Conference in 2008.
THE COACHES
Jeff Monken, with 21 years of coaching experience, is in his first year as head coach of the Eagles. Monken served for five years as an assistant coach on Paul Johnson's staff at Georgia Southern from 1997-2001. During that time, the Eagles went 62 and 10, winning five straight SoCon championships and won two national titles.
The 1971 Heisman Trophy winner, Pat Sullivan is in his fourth year at Samford (18-22) and 10th overall as a head coach (42-64-1). In 2008, he led Samford to its first winning season since 2003. The Auburn quarterback was a two-time All-American and the SEC Player of the Year who went on to play five seasons in the NFL. Sullivan was the head coach at TCU, helping the Horned Frogs to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in 42 years. He also served on the coaching staffs of UAB and his alma mater, Auburn.
RUSSELL ON BUCHANAN WATCH LIST
Brent Russell's disruptive play as a nose tackle earned him a spot on the Buck Buchanan Award Watch List. The Buchanan Award, presented by The Sports Network and sponsored by Fathead.com, features a stellar 20-player Watch List to identify the top candidates for the Football Championship Subdivision's (FCS) outstanding defensive player award. The award winner will be announced at the national awards banquet on Thursday, Jan. 6 in Frisco, Texas - the night before the FCS national championship game.
RUN WITH IT
So far in 2010, five different Eagles have run for 100 yards or more in a single game. Freshman quarterback Jerick McKinnon was the latest to add his name to the list with 182 yards on 35 carries, a Georgia Southern program single-game record, against The Citadel and classmate Robert Brown had a season-opening 122 yards versus Savannah State. In the win over Elon, senior Lee Banks posted a career-best 121 yards and Darreion Robinson had 116 yards versus Wofford. Senior Tobi Akinniranye had his career best with 102 yards at Chattanooga. The last time Georgia Southern had five different players record 100-yard rushing games was in 2004 with Jermaine Austin (7 games), Jayson Foster (1), Bryce Carter (1), Lance Turner (1) and Chaz Williams (3).
MILITARY APPRECIATION DAY
Georgia Southern would like to thank the Eagle fans and sponsors who donated more than 500 tickets to the annual Military Appreciation Day ticket campaign, allowing military personnel and their families to attend today's game for free.
In recognition of the efforts and dedication of our Armed Forces, Georgia Southern will wear a special helmet sticker for today's game. In a ceremony after practice on Thursday, Eagle Battalion Sergeant Major, Master Sergeant James Braet spoke to the team and presented the emblem for today's matchup.
Six individuals involved with the Wounded Warriors Project will join Command Sergeant Major Julio A. Baez and Colonel Leo M. Impavido as honorary captains for Saturday's game. Timothy A. Anderson, Roman Coley Davis, Danny Hill, Scott Johnson, Christopher "Kit" Lowe and Joshua Minchew will join the game captains for the coin flip and be recognized for their service to the United States. The Wounded Warrior Project's mission is to honor and empower wounded warriors. It serves to raise awareness and enlist the public's aid for the needs of injured service men and women, to help injured service members aid and assist each other and to provide unique, direct programs and services to meet their needs.
Captain Mary Beth Merrick will be honored today as the 2010 Military Science Instructor of the Year by Colonel Leo M. Impavido, Commander of the Sixth Brigade, ROTC. Captain Merrick was selected as the top instructor in the Brigade, which consists of 39 universities across the Southeastern United States and Puerto Rico. Captain Merrick's selection was based on her outstanding instruction of the Military Science level 1 (freshman) Cadets at the Georgia Southern University Eagle Battalion.
HALL OF FAME GAME
Six former Eagle student-athletes and one former coach were inducted into the Georgia Southern University Athletics Department Hall of Fame Friday, October 29th. In addition to the induction ceremony, the Class of 2010 will be honored during halftime of today's game.
The 2010 Hall of Fame class includes: Tara Chaisson (women's soccer), Pat Douglas (football), Greg Hill (football), Paul Johnson (football coach), Stacey Scheible (women's swimming), Jeff Shireman (baseball) and Britta Wilms (women's tennis).
ANNIVERSARIES
The Eagles celebrate three anniversaries during the 2010 season: the 25th anniversary of the first national championship in 1985 (more than 50 members of the 1985 team returned for the Wofford game October 9th), the 20th anniversary of the 1990 championship and the 10th anniversary of the 2000 championship (both teams honored on November 6th).
SUPPORTING THE GULF COAST
Southern Conference football teams will show their support for those being negatively impacted along the Gulf Coast by wearing helmet decals with the initials "GC" during the 2010 football season. More than 170 SoCon football players come from states that share a coastline being affected by the oil spill. The nine institutions that play SoCon football agreed to display the decals to express their support and encouragement for the people living in the region.
GAME UPDATES
Live stats can be followed on GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com website by scrolling to the schedule at the bottom of the home page and clicking on the "Live Stats" link. Score and quarter updates will also be available on twitter.com/GSScores.
