Georgia Southern Hosts Howard for Homecoming Saturday
11/6/2012 7:44:00 PM | Football
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VIDEO: Preview interview with Coach Jeff Monken
STATESBORO, Ga. - The Georgia Southern Eagles host the Howard Bison in their annual homecoming game at Allen E. Paulson Stadium Saturday. The annual homecoming parade begins Friday at 4 p.m. at Paulson Stadium and ends on Sweethart Circle. The parade will also be broadcast live on GeorgiaSouthern.tv.
Georgia Southern (7-2, 6-2) dropped their first home game in over two years last weekend, when Appalachian State snapped their FCS leading 14-game home winning streak. Despite the loss, the Eagles secured at least a share of their 10th Southern Conference title after Samford defeated Wofford in double overtime.
GSU's final regular season home game and Senior Day comes against a solid Howard (6-3, 5-2) foe, who currently is tied for second place in the MEAC, this weekend. The Bison are coming off a 20-10 win against Hampton last Saturday and previously defeated #22 Norfolk State to spark a three-game winning streak.
Head Coach Jeff Monken discussed with the media after Monday's practice the importance of Saturday's game. "It's a big game. We are not going to look at anything else beyond this game. They have a really good football team with an athletic offensive line."
The Eagles, who have rushed for 300 or more yards in seven games this season, will need another strong showing on the ground to overcome a Howard defense that allows just 146.8 rushing yards per game. The Howard defense is led by All-American linebacker Keith Pough, who has tallied 60 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks this season.
Georgia Southern, who rushes for 387.0 yards per game, is led on the ground by quarterback Jerick McKinnon. McKinnon is nearing 1,000 yards on the season and just needs 145 more rushing yards to become the third different Eagle in the last three years to reach the 1,000-yard mark.
On offense the Bison have a balanced attack that averages 211.3 yards per game on the ground and 127.1 yards through the air. Running back Terrence Lefall, a Stone Mountain, Ga., native, leads the team in rushing with 779 yards and five touchdowns and is one of four backs on the team with more than 200 yards rushing this season. Quarterback Greg McGhee is third on the team with 278 yards rushing and three touchdowns, while completing 57 passes for 620 yards and two touchdowns.
Saturday will be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. Kickoff from Paulson Stadium is set for 2 p.m. and tickets are still available by calling the Georgia Southern Athletic Ticket Office at 1-800-GSU-WINS. For fans unable to make it to the game a live video stream is available on GSEagles.com and the game can be heard on the Georgia Southern Radio Network.
Gates open 90 minutes prior to kickoff and fans are encouraged to enter the gates prior to 15 minutes before kickoff to avoid long lines entering the stadium.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics and twitter.com/GSAthletics, and its new "Eagles GATA" mobile app for Android and iOS.
