Tickets: General Admission available through 5 p.m. Thursday at GSEagles.com or 1-800-GSU-WINS
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network
Video Streaming: WoffordTerriers.com (Subscription)
Live Stats: WoffordTerriers.com
Game Notes: Georgia Southern //
Wofford
Media Guides: Georgia Southern //
Wofford
Social Media: Twitter @GSAthletics Facebook.com/GSAthletics
2013 Record Overall SoCon Home Road OT
Overall....................... 2-0........... 0-0............ 2-0............. 0-0........... 0-0
Eagles' Streaks Won 2 Last Win: 9-7-13 vs. St. Francis (Pa.) (59-17)
Last Loss: 12-14-12 at NDSU (23-20)
Home Won 3 Last Win: 9-7-13 vs. St. Francis (Pa.) (59-17)
Last Loss: 11-3-12 vs. App. State (28-31)
Road Lost 1 Last Win: 12-8-12 at Old Dominion (49-35)
Last Loss: 12-14-12 at NDSU (20-23)
Last 5: 4-1 Last 10: 7-3
Coaches Georgia Southern Jeff Monken (Millikin '89)
Record at GS: 33-12 (73.3), Fourth Year
Career Record: Same
Record vs. Wofford: 3-1
Wofford Mike Ayers (Georgetown (Ky.) '74)
Record at Wofford: 172-116-1 (59.6), 26th Year
Career Record: 183-136-2 (57.3), 29th Year
Record vs. GS: 5-12, Wofford: 5-11; ETSU: 0-1
GEORGIA SOUTHERN-WOFFORD SERIES
Georgia Southern owns a 12-7 series advantage over Wofford and has won four of the last five meetings between the two schools. Prior to the 2012 Eagles' victory at Paulson Stadium, the home team had not won in the last seven previous meetings (last: 2005 - 21-17, Wofford at Gibbs Stadium). Georgia Southern has won the last three consecutive meetings and five of the last seven. Over those previous seven contests, the average scoring margin is 6.14.
FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING
Georgia Southern's newest athletic team will also compete against Wofford Saturday as the Women's Rifle team travels for its first-ever event at SEARC CMP Clinic in Charleston, S.C. The Citadel plays host to the clinic where Eagles will face the Terriers and Bulldogs. MSG
Tim Parks and the seven women who comprise the squad: Becky Collier, Emmy Johnson, Rachel Lewis, Abigail Raines, Alejandra Shortridge, Kaitlyn Witt and Kathryn Youngblood, were certified to begin competition last month.
WATCH AND LISTEN
The audio broadcast of Saturday's game 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 on the first page of the ntoes. Additional affiliates may be added. Video streaming of Saturday's game is available through WoffordTerriers.com with a 24-hour pass priced at $5.95.
QUICK HITS
Georgia Southern is 10-10 in Southern Conference openers and has won three of its last four... The Eagles are 8-2 in games played in Spartanburg... Coach Jeff Monken is 11-2 against teams from South Carolina and 6-1 in the Palmetto State... Six Eagles hail from South Carolina: Fr. OL
Rivers Bedenbaugh, RFr. WR
Montay Crockett, So. DB
Tay Hicklin, Sr. LB
Michael Shealy and two, So. WR B.J. Johnson and Fr. DB Darius Jones from Woodruff, S.C., in Spartanburg County... The low figure for total offense in 2012 for both Wofford and Georgia Southern was produced in last year's meeting (WOF 248, GSU 265)... In not attempting a single pass in the 2012 game, the Eagles broke an NCAA record of one attempt, previously held by six schools and last achieved in 1998 by Wofford vs. Western Carolina.
THE COACHES
A finalist for Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honors in 2012, Jeff Monken is now in his fourth year as head coach of the Georgia Southern Football program with a 33-12 record for a 73.3 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.
Dean of the Southern Conference coaches in his 29th year in the profession, Terriers Head Coach Mike Ayers is the winningest coach in Wofford history with a record of 172-116-1 in his 26th year at the institution. Ayers is also the longest-serving coach at the NCAA Division I level in the state of South Carolina. Ayers, who started his coaching career with a three-year stint at East Tennessee State, has 183 career wins.
STATISTICAL COMPARISON
............................................................. GSU................. WOF
Overall Record.................................... 2-0................... 1-1
Scoring................................................ 68.0................. 12.0
First Downs.......................................... 55.................... 37
Total Offense Avg. .......................... 601.0.............. 327.0
Rushing Yards.................................. 441.0.............. 226.5
Passing Yards..................................... 75................. 100.5
Kickoff Returns.................................. 11.3................. 25.2
Punt Returns...................................... 11.2.................. 5.0
Net Punting........................................ 24.0................. 38.6
Time of Possession......................... 26:59.............. 34:36
Third-Down Conversions.......... 9/19 – 47%... 16/36 – 44%
Fourth-Down Conversions........ 2/2 – 100%...... 0/2 – 0%
Points Allowed................................... 13.0................. 39.5
Total Yards Allowed ........................ 253.5.............. 477.0
Rushing Yards Allowed................... 125.5.............. 217.5
Passing Yards Allowed................... 128.0.............. 259.5
SOCON OPENERS
Georgia Southern has won three of its last four Southern Conference openers and is 10-10 overall in the first league game of the year. In SoCon openers against Wofford, the Eagles own a 5-3 record with a 2-2 mark in Spartanburg.
SOMETHING NEW
Beginning with last weekend's game against St. Francis (Pa.), 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 own respective ways, but it will be a part of the Georgia Southern uniform moving forward.
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.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Converted safety J.J. Wilcox became Georgia Southern's highest-ever NFL draft pick this past April when he was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the third round and 80th pick overall. The Cairo, Ga., native played in his first regular-season game Sunday night against the New Yorks Giants and recorded an assisted tackle. He also played on special teams. Safety Darius Eubanks and defensive tackle Brent Russell signed as undrafted free agents with NFL teams following the draft. Eubanks is now on the Cleveland Browns' practice squad.
McKINNON SELECTED TO WALTER PAYTON WATCH LIST
Senior quarterback
Jerick McKinnon was selected to the 2013 Walter Payton Award watch list by The Sports Journal. The Marietta, Ga., native led the Eagles in rushing and scoring in 2012 and amassed 1,817 rushing yards, the third-highest single-season total in Georgia Southern history. That total ranks behind Adrian Peterson and Jayson Foster, Walter Payton Award winners in 1999 and 2007, respectively.
APPROACHING 3,000
McKinnon is within striking distance of the 3,000-yard career rushing mark, and currently stands at 2,978, good for eighth on the Eagles' all-time list. Just ahead of McKinnon is
Tracy Ham at 3,212 in seventh, Greg Hill at 3,309 for sixth and Roderick Russell guarding the top five at 3,326.
Dominique Swope has 2,374 career rushing yards, just five from tying Gerald Harris (2,379) for the 10
th spot on the list.
McKINNON OWNS QUARTERBACK RUSHING RECORD
Jerick McKinnon ran for 316 yards against Central Arkansas for the second-best rushing performance in school history behind Adrian Peterson's 333-yard effort against UMass in the 1999 playoffs. McKinnon achieved his total, the best by an Eagle quarterback, on 34 carries with two touchdowns.
YOUNG GUN
Redshirt freshman
Kevin Ellison's 151 passing yards against St. Francis (Pa.) tied Raymond Gross for number-81 on Georgia Southern's list for passing yards in a single game. For an Eagle in their first year of NCAA competition,
Kevin Ellison had the sixth-best single-game passing total.
IN HIS HANDS
Junior wide receiver
Kentrellis Showers has six touchdowns on 27 career receptions, averaging a touchdown for every 4.5 catches. Among those in the top 10 of the career touchdown receptions chart, only Teddy Craft (2003-05) had a lower TD per catch ratio with one per every 3.46 receptions.
#JOINTHEJOURNEY
Georgia Southern, the FCS' winningest team with more than 50 games played, posting a .722 winning percentage and 289 all-time wins, begins its transition to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2013. The University announced its acceptance of an invitation to join the Sun Belt for the 2014-2015 academic year. Even though the Georgia Southern Football team will not be eligible for postseason play in 2013, Eagle student-athletes can be considered for honors.
GROUNDBREAKING PROJECTS
Georgia Southern University broke ground on two major projects earlier this summer with the progress more than evident in Paulson Stadium.
Scheduled for completion in April 2014, the new football operations center, a $10 million privately funded project, will house coaches' offices, team meeting rooms, a video production suite, locker rooms, strength & conditioning space, rehabilitation center, equipment room, and football Hall of Fame within its 50,000 square feet.
In addition, the north stands of Paulson Stadium will see improvements in the form of over 6,000 additional seats. The current on-grade seating will be expanded by approximately 1,500 new seats and 4,500 will be added with the construction of an upper deck. With this student-fee funded expansion, seating capacity at Paulson Stadium will exceed 21,000 permanent seats. Construction of this $10 million project is scheduled for completion in May 2014.
EAGLES WIN 10TH SOUTHERN CONFERENCE TITLE
With a 6-2 mark in league games, Georgia Southern won the 2012 Southern Conference Championship, its 10th in program history, and the first back-to-back titles for GSU since the Eagles won six-straight titles from 1997-2002.
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. Fans can follow Coach Jeff Monken on his official twitter account, @CoachJeffMonken.
