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Georgia Southern Gameday vs. Troy

Football

Georgia Southern Gameday vs. Troy -- Thursday, October 30th

Eagles Look to Break Attendance Record on Student Appreciation Night

Georgia Southern
Sun Belt


[2014 Eagle Football Schedule] [2014 Eagle Football News] [2014 Eagle Football Roster] [Head Coach Willie Fritz] [Coaching Staff]

PAULSON STADIUM PARKING & GATE INFORMATION [Game Day at Paulson]

STUDENT INFORMATION: [STUDENT ENTRY WITH ID]  [STUDENT TAILGATE ZONE]

GAME INFORMATION
Troy (Sun Belt) at Georgia Southern (Sun Belt) 
Site: Paulson Stadium, Statesboro, Georgia (capacity 25,000)
Date/Time: Thursday, October 30  //  7:30 p.m. ET
Tickets: Order tickets on line at GSEagles.com/fbtix, email tickets@georgiasouthern.edu, call 1-800-GSU-WINS or purchase in person at the Cowart Building Monday-Thursday 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. and throughout Thursday night's game.
TV: ESPNU
Talent: Mark Neely (pbp) and Jay Walker (analyst)
Radio: Georgia Southern Radio Network
Radio Flagship/Local: 103.7 FM  & 102.1 WZAT
Georgia Southern Radio Network Affiliates
Audio Streaming: GSEagles.com
Radio Talent: Chris Blair (pbp); Terry Harvin '91 (analyst); Ryan Chambers (sideline)
Live Stats: GSEagles.com
Social Media:  Twitter @GSAthletics_FB  //  Facebook.com/GSAthletics
Gameday Gear:  Georgia Southern adidas Fan Zone // Shop Georgia Southern

PROMOTIONS
Student Appreciation Night
Tackle for a Cure

TEAM INFORMATION
Coaches: Troy Coach Larry Blakeney (176-111-1, 24th year) / Coach Willie Fritz (182-69-1, 22nd year)
Statistics: Troy //  Georgia Southern
Rosters: Troy // Georgia Southern
Media Guides: Troy //  Georgia Southern
Game Notes: Troy // Georgia Southern
Conference Release: Sun Belt

SERIES INFORMATION
All-Time Series:  Troy leads the series 10-3
Last Time Out: The Eagles topped the Trojans 24-21 at Veterans Memorial Stadium in an NCAA playoff game in 1995.

HASHTAG TRUE BLUE
Eagle fans are encouraged to use the following #hashtags on social media when watching and listening to their Eagles play this season:
#25726
#TRUCKTROY
#PACKPAULSON
#JOINTHEJOURNEY
#TRUEBLUE
#HAILSOUTHERN
#EAGLENATION
#GATA

#25,726 
A big crowd is expected Thursday for the nationally televised Sun Belt Conference game as Georgia Southern wants to break the attendance record of 25,725 set when the Eagles won the 1989 NCAA National Championship game at Paulson Stadium.

STUDENT APPRECIATION NIGHT
Georgia Southern students have passionately supported their Eagle Football team this year with more than 9,000 attending each of the first three home games. To show its appreciation, the Georgia Southern Athletics Department has designated Thursday's game as "Student Appreciation Night" with promotions for students throughout the game and chances to win two $1,000 prizes from the Georgia Lottery.

"THE LADY" PAULA DEEN VISITS WITH THE EAGLES
National celebrity and Savannah icon Paula Deen will be in attendance at tonight's game, visiting with "Voice of the Eagles" Chris Blair at the Braswell's tailgate,  WTOC's Dal Cannady and President Brooks Keel throughout the evening.

INSIDE GEORGIA SOUTHERN FOOTBALL WITH WILLIE FRITZ – MOVES TO WEDNESDAY NIGHT THIS WEEK
The next edition of the weekly radio show "Inside Georgia Southern Football" with Coach Willie Fritz airs this Wednesday, October 29th, from 7-8 p.m. Eastern Time from Big Show's Bar and Burgers on Lanier Drive across from Paulson Stadium.  "Voice of the Eagles" Chris Blair and Coach Fritz will preview Georgia Southern's Troy game, discuss last Saturday's game vs. Georgia State and answer questions from the Eagle Nation. Fans can call 1-855-478-4040 or tweet to @GaSouthernRadio.com. The broadcast will be aired on affiliates of the Georgia Southern Radio Network with on-demand listening available on GSEagles.com.

AUDIO BROADCAST OF GEORGIA SOUTHERN-TROY
An audio broadcast of Thursday'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. The pre-game show begins two hours before kickoff. A complete listing of affiliates is available in the left column of these notes. 

QUICK HITS
Head Coach Willie Fritz and the Eagle football staff will wear pink hats on the sideline and the team will have a pink ribbon decal on its helmets to raise awareness for the fight against breast cancer… Georgia Southern won its 300th game in the program's modern era Saturday vs. Georgia State… The Eagles broke the Sun Belt Conference single-game rushing record with 613 yards against the Panthers… With 10 rushing touchdowns in that game, Georgia Southern also took ownership of the league's season rushing touchdown record with 40 total in 2014 (after only eight games) … The old record was 34…While the offense is on a roll, so is the Georgia Southern defense, allowing only 22.2 points per game (36th nationally and second in the Sun Belt)… The third quarter spells trouble for opponents as Georgia Southern has scored 102 points in that period and allowed only 21 for an FBS-best +81 margin… The Eagles have given up only six "big plays" of 25 yards or more at home this season… Trojan running backs coach Jeff Beckles served as the wide receivers coach on the Georgia Southern staff for the 2006 season... Jim Dye, Troy's offensive line coach, was a student assistant for Coach Erk Russell's teams in the mid-1980s and is a 1985 graduate of Georgia Southern.

THE COACHES
Georgia Southern Head Coach Willie Fritz began his 22nd year as a head coach and his first as the leader of the Eagle Football program as it makes its FBS debut. The Shawnee Mission, Kansas, native has developed winning programs and cultivated success at each of his head coaching stops. He won two national championships at Blinn College, guided Central Missouri to 11 winning seasons and led Sam Houston State to back-to-back national championship appearances. He was selected as the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year at the FCS level in 2012 and was recognized nationally in 2011 as the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coach of the Year. His 97-47 mark in 13 seasons as the Mules' head coach ranked Fritz as the winningest coach in the program's 118-year history where he was the only coach to ever win seven or more games in eight consecutive seasons.

Troy Coach Larry Blakeney, who will retire following this season, his 24th, ranks among the top 10 of active coaches in career victories and is one of only two coaches to have taken a college football program from NCAA Division II to the FBS. In the spring of 2011, Troy honored him by naming the playing surface at Veterans Memorial Stadium "Larry Blakeney Field." A two-sport athlete at Auburn, he began his career as a high school coach before joining his alma mater as an assistant coach for 14 seasons. He is Troy's longest-serving and most successful coach of all time, guiding the Trojans to 15 winning seasons. He recently moved into third-place all-time in the state of Alabama for college football wins.

BEST CONFERENCE START SINCE 2011
With a 5-0 mark in the Sun Belt Conference, Georgia Southern is off to its best start in league play since 2011 when the Eagles started 5-0 and finished 7-1 with a Southern Conference title. For Coach Willie Fritz, 2011 was also a good year. His Sam Houston State team went undefeated (7-0) and unchallenged in the Southland Conference en route to the crown.  

SEVEN GAMES IN THE STATE OF GEORGIA
The Eagles' seven games in the state of Georgia include three in the month of September (2-1) and three in October including Thursday night's game. The Eagles are 4-1 in the state so far this year with the lone loss coming at the hands of Georgia Tech. Georgia Southern's season finale, against ULM, is senior night, and set for November 29th.

HOME SWEET HOME
Georgia Southern returns home for its second Thursday night game of the 2014 season and final game of the month for October. Georgia Southern has a current four-game win streak at Paulson Stadium and boasts the nation's No. 3 home winning percentage (84.4).

HOME, BUT, NO HOMESTANDS
Georgia Southern's 2014 five-game home schedule does not feature any back-to-back home games this season, a first since the 1999 regular season. The Eagles had back-to-back road trips to Georgia Tech and South Alabama in September and will play at Texas State and Navy in November before a final home game vs. UL Monroe on November 29th. 

THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
The Eagles are now 3-1 on games played on Thursdays and 2-0 at Paulson Stadium on that weeknight. Georgia Southern defeated Appalachian State earlier this year on Thursday, Sept. 25th in its first home Sun Belt Conference game and battled the elements for the victory over Middle Tennessee State in the 1989 "Hugo Bowl." Coach Willie Fritz is now 16-2 as a head coach in Thursday night games.

QUICK TURNAROUNDS
Georgia Southern is one of only three teams (New Mexico State and Idaho are the others, though Idaho's game at Florida was not completed) to have had eight games at this point in the season. The Eagles had their first open week Oct. 18th after seven straight games. Troy travels to Statesboro for its second-straight road game and plays its third game in the span of 12 days.

RUSHING TO THE TOP
Georgia Southern has posted the top per-game rushing average in the nation for the past five weeks and went back above the 400-yard average at 402.1 yards per game. Led by sophomore running back Matt Breida (129.0 ypg) and Kevin Ellison (98.0 ypg), the Eagles are at the top of another impressive category – most carries of 10 yards or more – a whopping 102, 18 more than the next highest team, Georgia Tech. Breida is putting points on the board for the Eagles with his long runs too as he leads the country with six touchdowns of 50 or more yards. The top rusher for the Eagles, he
 
ANOTHER PLAY OF THE DAY
The Eagles have been represented on SportsCenter's "Top 10 Plays of the Day," and usually the offense gets the glory, but not this past week. Sophomore cornerback Darius Jones made an exceptional defensive play on a Panther intended pass, outjumping the receiver, then stretched out for a one-handed interception to halt the Georgia State drive. Check out the play here: tinyurl.com/SCTop10-DJ.

30 YEARS OF PAULSON STADIUM
The dedication of Allen E. Paulson Stadium on September 29, 1984 was a fitting end to years of planning and hard work as the Georgia Southern Football program built one of the finest football facilities in America. Thirty years later, there have been major changes with the recent construction of a new mid-deck, adding more than 6,000 additional seats and a new 50,000-square foot Ted Smith Family Football Center in the east endzone. The $10 million Stadium expansion project is student-fee funded with private donations making possible the Eagle Football team's new headquarters.

One thing hasn't changed – winning. Georgia Southern has a remarkable 179-33 home record (84.4 winning percentage), ranked third in the nation, at Paulson Stadium and has won 91.7 percent of its postseason games (33-3). 
 
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, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA.
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Players Mentioned

Matt Breida

#36 Matt Breida

RB
5' 10"
Sophomore
Kevin Ellison

#4 Kevin Ellison

QB
6' 0"
Sophomore

Players Mentioned

Matt Breida

#36 Matt Breida

5' 10"
Sophomore
RB
Kevin Ellison

#4 Kevin Ellison

6' 0"
Sophomore
QB