Photo by: Frank Fortune - Georgia Southern Athletics
Seniors’ Sacrifice Pays Off
11/29/2014 6:17:00 AM | Football
Twenty-two Eagles play their last game at Paulson Stadium tonight
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What Georgia Southern Football Means to Me -- by the 2014 Eagle Seniors
Crossing Bridge Over Beautiful Eagle Creek at Final Practice
By Marc Gignac
For a majority of Eagle Nation, the announcement in the spring of 2013 that Georgia Southern was moving into the Sun Belt Conference and going to play FBS football was a celebration.
Finally, most said, a chance to play with the big boys week in and week out. Bowl games. An opportunity to put Georgia Southern football, and more importantly, Georgia Southern University on a national stage. And maybe, just maybe, a few years down the road, even a seventh national title, this one won a little more under the watchful eye of John Q. Public. Anything was possible.
Lost in the pomp and circumstance was a little NCAA regulation known as the transitional period. The intention of the rule is not to allow a competitive advantage to FCS teams who might load up on FBS transfers who would not have to sit out a year. The unintended consequence is that it takes away some extra motivation from the current student-athletes, such as postseason play.
For 22 seniors who will play their final game in Paulson Stadium Saturday night, it meant no FCS Playoffs in their junior season and, without the benefit of external influences, no FBS Bowl Game in their senior year. For them, the move up would be bittersweet.
"It kind of hurt us a little bit because in a sense, we had nothing to play for, but at the same time, I think it brought us together, and we just played," says cornerback Deion Stanley.
"Initially, when we found out we couldn't play for a championship last year, it hurt us a little bit but when we kept it in perspective and looked at the bigger picture, you have to understand that when we were recruited out of high school, all of our dreams were to play on the biggest stage," adds offensive lineman Raymond Klugey. "It was definitely a sacrifice but a worthwhile sacrifice, and it paid off."
Home games in their junior season were played in a stadium under renovation, and they will be the first to tell you that things on the field did not go the way they had envisioned. The win at Florida last November turned the tide and helped provide momentum heading into the 2014 campaign.
Another piece of adversity struck when head coach Jeff Monken opted to leave to become the head coach at Army last December. A new coach, a new system, and the reality that they would have to prove themselves to a new coaching staff all over again, struck home. Spring football came and went and when the fall came around, something magical began to happen.
The story of the 2014 Eagles and their 22 seniors is worthy of a book or movie. They are a band of football misfits. One of their safeties is a converted quarterback. One of their running backs is a converted quarterback. One of their linebackers is a walk-on who has developed so well in his five years, he just might play on Sundays.
They are led by a journeyman coach in Willie Fritz, a true football lifer who toiled and perfected his craft in the "lower" divisions of college football until finally getting his chance with an FBS program.
Before his arrival, their quarterbacks never practiced throwing much, and their receivers never practiced catching much. And if lore and legend had Matt Breida arriving on Earth by riding a meteor from another planet and the change in atmospheric balance between the two granted him superhuman speed, it would be believable. There isn't a defensive coordinator who has faced the Eagles this season who hasn't bellowed into his head set, "who the hell is Matt Breida?"
Two losses by a combined five points to a pair of ACC teams on the road showed how close they were. Then the Eagles won their first Sun Belt game on the road at South Alabama. Then they came home and beat a familiar foe in Appalachian State, and they have not stopped winning league games since.
The decision to move up was a difficult one, made with careful consideration, and it was a bit of a gamble to be fair. Anybody who tells you they knew for absolute certain things would work out this well, especially in year one, is pulling your leg.
"I feel that everything always happens for a reason, and the way things played out here, it's a great story," says linebacker Edwin Jackson. "There's been a lot of different changes over the last five years, and our team was able to adapt and respond. I've been wanting to go D-I (FBS) all my life. I wanted to play with the best, and that's why I came here. We always thought that Georgia Southern football could leave a mark in college football, and we're actually doing that and it's great to be a part of that."
Though the mark has already been made with at least a shared Sun Belt Conference title in the Eagles' first season in the league, the exclamation point would be an outright title today. Only ULM stands in Georgia Southern's way, and kickoff is set for tonight at 6 p.m.
Eagle Nation and Georgia Southern University owe a huge debt of gratitude to the 22 seniors suiting up for the final time Saturday night along with their 2014 teammates. They made sacrifices, they faced adversity and they persevered. Upon their backs, this ascension has been made and accomplished more successfully than anyone could have predicted.
"You always hope, but you never know for sure," says Klugey. "All you can do is go off your hard work. This great group of guys has worked hard, and it's paid off. At the end of the day, we fought and played our hearts out, and these are the results. It's a great experience to accomplish what we've accomplished together and have a group of guys that you love and will go to the ends of the world with. It's just a great way to top off our senior year and career."
Their motivation runs so much deeper than adulation, and it is why against all odds, they will play for the outright Sun Belt championship Saturday. These men do not demand a proper farewell, but they absolutely deserve it.
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