Photo by: Carroll Gambrell
Western Carolina Football Game Highlights Homecoming Weekend Activities
11/5/2013 10:37:00 PM | Football
Eagles and Catamounts Face Off in Final FCS Game at Paulson Stadium at 2 p.m. Saturday
Saturday, November 9, 2013, 2 p.m. ET
Allen E. Paulson Stadium (Grass) // Statesboro, Ga.
Tickets: Tickets available at GSEagles.com and by calling 1-800-GSU-WINS.
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network and online at GSEagles.com
Video Streaming: GSEagles.com/
Western Carolina Media Guide / Georgia Southern Media Guide
Live Stats: GSEagles.com
Social Media: Twitter @GSAthletics Facebook.com/GSAthletics
All-Time Series: GS leads 21-2, 11-0 at Paulson Stadium
First Game: 1941, WC 14-7
Last Game: Georgia Southern 45, Western Carolina 13 (Oct. 6, 2012)
Streak: Georgia Southern, 18 wins
WELCOME HOME
Homecoming, Senior Day, GATA Club All-Sports Reunion, T-Club Reunion and opening night for the Eagle Men's Basketball team are all part of this weekend's special activities and final home game of the 2013 season. For more information on the events this week, visit GSEagles.com or GeorgiaSouthern.edu/
HONORING THE SENIOR CLASS
Georgia Southern Football will honor its 22 seniors during a pre-game ceremony:
William Banks, RB, Augusta, Ga.
Robert Brown, RB, Macon, Ga.
Johnathan Bryant, RB, Cairo, Ga.
Dorian Byrd, OL, Macon, Ga.
Carlos Cave, LB, Macon, Ga.
Luke Cherry, P, Neptune Beach, Fla.
Josh Gebhardt, DE, Douglasville, Ga.
Torrance Hunt, RB, Durham, N.C.
Allen Lee, WR, Savannah, Ga.
Zach Lonas, OL, Acworth, Ga.
Javonte Martin, DB, Tampa, Fla.
Jerick McKinnon, QB/RB, Marietta, Ga.
Bryant Meeks, OL, Blue Ridge, Ga.
Javon Mention, DE, Tampa, Fla.
Kyle Oehlbeck, LB, Gainesville, Ga.
George Osunde, DE, Alpharetta, Ga.
Blake Riley, DT, Crescent, Ga.
Josh Rowe, LB, Opelika, Ala.
Darius Safford, DB, Douglasville, Ga.
Michael Shealy, LB, Batesburg, S.C.
Michael Spaulding, LB, Fayetteville, Ga.
Lavelle Westbrooks, CB, Riverdale, Ga.
SAME TIME, NEW PLACE
WTOC's Tailgate Show will move to Hanner Fieldhouse Friday at part of the opening night festivities for the Georgia Southern Men's Basketball team. New Head Coach Mark Byington and the Eagles tip off the 2013-14 season Friday, November 8th, against Columbia International. Game time is 7:30 p.m.
GATA CLUB ALL-SPORTS REUNION
Former Eagle student-athletes, coaches, administrators, athletic trainers and managers will be recognized at halftime of today's game as part of Georgia Southern's All-Sports Reunion weekend. The GATA Club is a new affinity group with the mission of "Getting Athletes Together Again" with members from all Eagle programs.
BIG MAN ON CAMPUS
Chester Webb, the state of Georgia's first All-American in the sport of basketball and Georgia Southern's all-time leading scorer, is a pre-game honorary captain. He played for Georgia Teachers College from 1952-1956 and was a four-year selection to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution collegiate all-state team. Webb was recently named as one of the newest members of the Georgia Athletics Hall of Fame class and will be inducted early next year.
BARTELS, KOBALLA TO PARTICIPATE IN COIN FLIP
University Provost Jean Bartels and College of Education Dean Thomas Koballa will participate in the pre-game coin flip as part of the Teachers Club celebration.
ALUMNA ELIZABETH COOK TO PERFORM AT HALFTIME
Country music artist and alumna Elizabeth Cook will perform at halftime with Georgia Southern University Southern Pride Marching Band. Georgia Southern's Homecoming King and Queen will be announced at halftime.
GEORGIA SOUTHERN-WESTERN CAROLINA SERIES
Meeting annually since 1993 after Georgia Southern joined the Southern Conference, the Eagles are 21-2 all-time against the Catamounts. The two programs have three meetings prior to their current conference affiliate with the first contest taking place in 1941 in Cullowhee with a 14-7 Catamount win followed by two Eagle wins in 1987 and 1991. Georgia Southern has posted 18 straight wins in the series dating back to 1995.
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 35-16 record for a 68.6 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. He owns the highest overall winning percentage of the Southern Conference coaches as well as the best mark for league games. 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.
In his second year as head coach of Western Carolina, Mark Speir returned to the Catamount program after beginning his full-time coaching career there in 1991. A 1990 Clemson graduate, Speir has spent more than two decades as an assistant coach, including nine seasons on the Appalachian State staff. Speir, like Monken, has experience on both sides of the ball and his last three years as the Mountaineers defensive ends (2009-10) and inside linebackers (2011) coach. He also has coaching stops at Presbyterian and Elon.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
Overall Record 4-4 3-5
Scoring Avg. 33.6 18.8
First Downs 178 151
Total Offense Avg. 458.0 358.6
Rushing Yards Avg. 349.0 137.9
Passing Yards Avg. 109.0 220.7
Kickoff Return Avg. 16.3 19.0
Punt Return Avg. 10.2 4.3
Net Punting 34.7 35.8
Time of Possession 32:09 28:43
Third-Down Conversions 54/106 (51%) 20/129 (31%)
Fourth-Down Conversions 8/13 (62%) 2/8 (25%)
Points Allowed Avg. 24.5 39.1
Total Yards Allowed Avg. 381.1 474.8
Rushing Yards Allowed Avg. 171.9 269.4
Passing Yards Allowed Avg. 209.2 205.3
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST THE CATAMOUNTS
Three Eagles, Darreion Robinson, Dominique Swope and William Banks each posted 100-yard rushing games and scored a touchdown in the Eagles' 45-13 win over Western Carolina in Cullowhee last year. Georgia Southern amassed 614 yards of rushing in the victory that included 95 yards on the ground and a score from James Dean.
Quarterback Jerick McKinnon, with 89 yards of rushing, threw for two touchdowns to Tray Butler and Kentrellis Showers as Georgia Southern took a 14-0 lead in the first and extended it to 24-6 at the half.
Defensively, the Eagles held the Catamounts to only 11 first downs and 207 yards of total offense with safety Darius Eubanks posting a Georgia Southern-best seven tackles.
STUDENT TICKET PICKUP INFORMATION
Each student is allowed one ticket per athletic-fee-paying student and tickets may be picked up in advance of the game. Each student and his or her ID must be presented at the Georgia Southern Athletics Ticket Office (Cowart Building) Wednesday-Friday from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., at the Doo-Dah Step Show and Dance Competition Wednesday, and at the Pep Rally at Hanner Fieldhouse Friday night. If tickets are still available, students may pick up beginning at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Cowart Building. Students can enter Paulson Stadium with their ticket and ID at gates 1 and 7. Gate 1 is located at the corner of Lanier and Chandler while Gate 7 is located near the shuttle turnaround on Malecki Drive.
STARTING TO FILL UP THE CALENDAR
Georgia Southern's first-ever non-conference home FBS football opponent will be Western Michigan, as announced by Athletics Director Tom Kleinlein this week. The Eagles will face the Broncos in a home-and-home series, traveling to Kalamazoo, Mich. in 2016 and playing host to WMU in Allen E. Paulson Stadium in 2015.
OUR HOUSE
Georgia Southern owns a 175-33 record in Paulson Stadium for an .841 winning percentage. Since the return of the triple option in 2010, the Eagles have won 22 games against only four losses for an 84.6 winning percentage.
From September 27, 1997 through December 15, 2001, the Eagles recorded 39 straight home victories, which stands as the NCAA FCS record for longest home winning streak. The Eagles also own the second-longest streak, 38 games, from Oct. 5, 1985-Sept. 22, 1990. Beginning with the win over top-ranked and previously undefeated Appalachian State in November 2010 through November 2012, Georgia Southern had the longest home winning streak in the nation in 2012 with 14 straight victories at Paulson Stadium.
VIDEO STREAMING OF SATURDAY'S GAME
Fans not able to travel to Statesboro this weekend can watch the game live on Georgia Southern Athletics' new GS All-Access. A single-day package is $5.95 with a full-year subscription priced at $79.95. For more information, visit HERE. After the game, check in to watch post-game interviews and Coach Jeff Monken's press conference.
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