Georgia Southern Game Day: Eagles Continue SoCon Action at Samford
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
Georgia Southern Football hits the road for Saturday's game at Samford. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. ET at Seibert Stadium. This is the final game of a three-game homestand for Samford.
HASHTAG TRUE BLUE
Eagle fans are encouraged to use the following #hashtags on social media for Saturday's game:
#TRUEBLUE
#HAILSOUTHERN
#JOINTHEJOURNEY
#EAGLENATION
#GATA
WATCH AND LISTEN
An audio broadcast of Saturday's game is available as part of GS All-Access on GSEagles.com with packages varying from a day to a full year. A single-day pass is $5.95 and content can be accessed on all Windows, OSX, iOS and Android devices. Eagle Football fans can catch all the action, as well as pre-game and post-game shows on the Georgia Southern Radio Network. A complete listing of affiliates is available in the left column of these notes. Subscription-based video streaming of the game at Seibert Stadium can be accessed atsamfordsports.com/showcase.
HALL OF FAME FRIDAY FOR MONKEN
Coach Carl Poelker, who coached Jeff Monken at Millikin University, will represent Monken at the Friday, Oct. 4th, Millikin Athletics Hall of Fame ceremony for Monken's induction as one of six members of the Big Blue 2013 class.
BORN IN BIRMINGHAM
Legendary Eagle and member of the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Coach Erk Russell was born in Birmingham, Ala. Georgia Southern Defensive Coordinator Jack Curtis is an Alabama native and was also born in Birmingham, Ala.
ONLY ONE FROM ALABAMA
Senior linebacker Josh Rowe, from Opelika, is the only Eagle on the roster from Alabama.
CROSS COUNTRY AT PANTHER INVITATIONAL FRIDAY
The Georgia Southern Cross Country team will be in nearby Hoover, Ala., Friday afternoon for the Panther Invitational. The Eagles will preview the 5K course at Veterans Park which will serve as the site for the 2013 SoCon Cross Country Championships next month.
THE COACHES
A 2012 finalist and 2013 candidate for Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honors, Jeff Monken is in his fourth year as head coach of the Georgia Southern Football program with a 34-13 record for a 72.3 winning percentage. Monken is one of only two coaches in Eagle Football history, the other his mentor Paul Johnson, to record 10 or more wins in each of the first three years of his tenure. With 24 years of coaching experience, including five years as an assistant coach at Georgia Southern during one of its most successful periods, Monken is prepared to navigate the present and the future for this Eagle Football program.
The 1971 Heisman Trophy winner, Pat Sullivan is in his seventh year as Bulldogs head coach with a 35-36 record with the program. He produced back-to-back winning seasons for Samford in 2011 and 2012 for the first time since 1998 and 1999. Named the SoCon Co-Coach of the Year for 2012, Sullivan and his team defeated two ranked league teams last year, for the first time since 1994, and earned a top-25 ranking for the first time since 1993.
Prior to his hiring as the 35th head coach at Samford, Sullivan coached UAB quarterbacks and was the offensive coordinator from 1999-2005 and then served as the Blazers' assistant head coach and running backs coach in 2006. His previous head coaching experience came with Texas Christian from 1992-1997.
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE BULLDOGS
Jerick McKinnon sparked the offense in the second quarter with a 41-yard touchdown run to give Georgia Southern a 14-10 lead it would not relinquish en route to a 31-16 win at Paulson Stadium in 2012. Lavelle Westbrooks returned an interception for 72 yards for a touchdown before the end of the half to put the Eagles up 21-10.
The Bulldogs tightened up the score after Jaquiski Tartt recovered a fumble and brought it 80 yards to the endzone to pull Samford within five points. On the first play of the next series, McKinnon ripped off a 67-yard touchdown run and Dominique Swope added his second TD of the night in the fourth quarter for the final margin of victory.
McKinnon (162) and Swope (133) teamed up for 295 rushing yards and four touchdowns in the win. The Bulldogs' Andy Summerlin went 23-49 for 291 yards for a touchdown. His interception resulted in six points for the Eagles. Defensively, Samford's Tartt and Georgia Southern's John Stevenson and J.J. Wilcox each had 12 total tackles and the Eagles recorded seven pass breakups and three quarterback hurries.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN-SAMFORD SERIES
In the shortest series history among Southern Conference opponents as Samford joined the league in 2008, Georgia Southern has a 5-3 overall record against the Bulldogs with a 2-3 disadvantage in league contests. Coach Monken is 2-1 against Samford.
The Eagles and Bulldogs met three-straight times in 1988, 1989 and 1990 with Georgia Southern earning the wins in all three. Samford evened the series with three SoCon wins in 2008, 2009 and 2010. Opening the 2011 season at Samford, Georgia Southern broke the Bulldogs' streak with a 20-13 win at Seibert Stadium and added its second-consecutive win over the Bulldogs in 2012 by a 35-16 score at Paulson Stadium.
KOO EARNS SPECIAL TEAMS HONOR
Georgia Southern placekicker Younghoe Koo was named the Southern Conference Special teams Player of the Week for the games of Sept. 28th after he hit the game-winning field goal to lift the Eagles over the Mocs 23-21 Saturday night. The true freshman went 3-3 in field goals and added two PATs as the Eagles' leading scorer in the contest.
From Ridgewood, N.J., Koo connected on a 40-yard attempt early in the fourth quarter for a career-best distance. With 1:56 remaining in the game, he capped the Eagles' scoring drive with a 26-yard field goal to complete the comeback.
EAGLES EARN SOCON WEEKLY HONORS
Freshman placekicker Younghoe Koo became the third Eagle recognized by the Southern Conference for "Player of the Week" honors in 2013. Kevin Ellison was selected as the "Freshman of the Week" Sept. 16th and Dominique Swope the "Offensive Player of the Week" Sept. 2nd.
Sept. 30
Younghoe Koo, PK
3-3 FGs, 2-2 PATs
career-long FG (40)
gamewinning 26-yd FG
Sept. 16
Kevin Ellison, QB
102 rushing yards
career-best 53 yd run
career-best 6 completions
Sept. 2
Dominique Swope, RB
100 rush yards
2 touchdowns
COLLEGE ACRONYMS ON UNIFORMS
Beginning with the St. Francis (Pa.) game, Georgia Southern Athletics teams had a new addition to their uniforms. Every Eagle student-athlete will wear their respective college's acronym on their uniform during athletic competition throughout the year.
"This is a great way for not only our student-athletes to take pride in their respective colleges, but also for the University's colleges to take pride in their student-athletes. Each of our student-athletes are here not only to earn a championship ring on the competition field, but also to earn a college degree," said Athletics Director Tom Kleinlein.
Decals for each academic college were placed on the back of the Eagles' football helmets. Each sport will wear the marks in their respective ways.
STILL TOP OF THE HEAP
Georgia Southern has maintained the top ranking in average team rushing yards per game since the start of the 2013 season -- for both FBS and FCS. The Eagles are averaging 399.8 yards per game ahead of Oregon (FBS, 332.5) and Sam Houston State (FCS, 331.8).
STILL THE FAVORITE
Despite not being eligible for the Southern Conference championship and postseason play, Georgia Southern was voted as the league's favorite by both the SoCon coaches and media this summer.
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Twenty-three student-athletes played in their first football contest as Eagles in the 2013 opening game against Savannah State, including 11 true freshmen.
MOVING ON UP
After crossing the 3,000-yard career rushing mark against Wofford and passing Eagle legend Tracy Ham for seventh on the Georgia Southern career rushing list with his 172 yards against Chattanooga, Jerick McKinnon is 45 yards from tying another outstanding Eagle, Greg Hill (1996-99) in sixth place with 3,309 yards. Roderick Russell (3,326, 1994-97) is fifth on the list.
Date / Time: Saturday, October 5th // 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT
Site: Seibert Stadium, Birmingham, Ala. (6,700, LSR Blade Synthetic)
Video Streaming: samfordsports.com/showcase (Subscription)
Media Guide: Samford / Georgia Southern
Game Notes: Samford / Georgia Southern
Live Stats: samfordsports.com
Social Media: Twitter @GSAthletics Facebook.com/GSAthletics
All-Time Series: GS leads 5-3, 2-1 at Seibert Stadium
First Game: 11-12-1988, GS 49-21 at Paulson Stadium
Last Game: Georgia Southern 35, Samford 16 (September 29, 2012)
Streak: Georgia Southern, 2 wins
