Football Returns to SoCon Play Against Western Carolina
9/24/2011 2:59:00 PM | Football
STATESBORO, Ga. - After a bye week to digest the number one ranking, the Georgia Southern Football team resumes conference play this Saturday with a 6 p.m. contest against Western Carolina. The September 24th contest will feature high school bands playing alongside Southern Pride and Cheerleader for a Day. The camp begins at the RAC and ends prior to kickoff at the stadium. For more information call 1-800-GSU-WINS or e-mail GSUCheer@GeorgiaSouthern.edu.
The game will be the Southern Conference opener for the Catamounts. WCU is 20-14 in SoCon openers but has not won one since 2005 when they knocked off second-ranked Furman, something they will be looking to do against the polls' top team Georgia Southern Saturday. The Eagles opened the conference season at Samford and have a chance this weekend to be the first Southern conference team to reach 2-0 in the league.
A year ago Western Carolina drove down the field and scored on its opening drive but Georgia Southern responded with a touchdown each quarter to win 28-6 in Cullowhee, N.C. Blake Bostic notched a pair of field goals in the first quarter to account for all of the Catamount scoring. WCU trailed by only one point at the end of the first quarter, but was unable to tack on any additional points due to five turnovers.
Georgia Southern returns to Paulson Stadium, where two weeks ago they defeated Tusculum 62-21, in front of the second-largest crowd at a home opener in school history. Jaybo Shaw (Flowery Branch, Ga.) passed for 181 yards and a touchdown and ran for 28 yards with a score. J.J. Wilcox (Cairo, Ga.) added 97 yards on the ground and caught two passes for 63 yards in the win.
Western Carolina travels to Statesboro for the 11th time and looks to snap a 16-game losing streak in the series. The Catamounts' new pistol offense has already paid dividends after just two games. WCU amassed a school-record with 45 points in the first half of their win over Mars Hill. The ground game was a big part of their 52-31 win over the Lions, scoring five touchdowns on the ground. Western Carolina has already matched their 2010 rushing touchdown numbers after two games this year due in part to freshman Shaun Warren's 203 yard four touchdown performance against Mars Hill.
Georgia Southern remains atop the national polls after the bye week. The Eagles received 25 of 28 first-place votes in the FCS Coaches Poll and 115 of 154 in the Sports Network/Fathead.com.
Single game and season tickets are available through the Georgia Southern Athletic Ticket Office. Tickets can be purchased by calling 1-800-478-9467 (GSU-WINS) or online at GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.
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