BY THE NUMBERS -- Georgia Southern Football
8/26/2014 4:56:00 PM | Football
A number of firsts this weekend as Eagles begin journey in FBS
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Facts and figures about the Eagle program leading into this week's season opener
1
Georgia Southern plays its first-ever game as an FBS and Sun Belt program this weekend, meeting N.C. State at Carter-Finley Stadium in Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday, August 30th at 12:30 p.m. This is the first-ever meeting between the Eagles and the Wolfpack and only the sixth all-time meeting between Georgia Southern and a current Atlantic Coast Conference team in the program's modern era.
2
Number of games in which quarterback Kevin Ellison had at least 100 yards rushing and 100 yards passing in 2013. The sophomore went 7-10 for 138 yards in the air and added 135 yards rushing and a score in the Eagles' win over The Citadel. Against Elon, he had a career-best 163 yards rushing with two touchdowns and added 104 passing yards.
5
Five Georgia Southern games are currently slated for TV coverage including this Saturday's game which will be broadcast on the ACC Network (include link). Kickoff against N.C. State is set for 12:30 p.m. with streaming available on ESPN3. The Eagles will appear on the ACC Regional Network for their game at Georgia Tech and on CBS Sports Network for the Nov. 15th game at Navy.
Paulson Stadium and Eagle Nation will be the focal points of two national broadcasts on ESPNU when Georgia Southern plays host to two Thursday night games this fall Sept. 25th vs. Appalachian State and October 30th vs. Troy.
5
Five opponents on the Eagles' 2014 schedule are first-time foes, including Atlantic Coast Conference opponent N.C. State. While two other opponents, Georgia Tech and Georgia State, are new, Georgia Southern will add those to its list of seven total games played in state. The Eagles' first-ever Sun Belt Conference game will be against first-time opponent South Alabama and the Eagles will make their first trip to the state of New Mexico to face New Mexico State for the first time.
6
Number of career receiving touchdowns by Kentrellis Showers, the most of any current Eagle, which puts him in a tie for eighth all-time on Georgia Southern's list. Teammate Tray Butler has five, including a team-leading two that came in the Samford game last year. Butler is in 11th place on the career list with three other Eagles.
18
Georgia Southern Head Coach Willie Fritz has won 18 of his 21 previous season-opening games and is 11-1 in games played in the month of August. Fritz brings a 176-67-1 career coaching record into his first season at Georgia Southern.
19.27
The Eagles claimed the top spot in two statistical category rankings – most rushing yards per game and most passing yards per completion at 19.27 yards per catch. Georgia Southern edged out Georgia Tech for the top spot with the Yellow Jackets at 18.42 yards per reception.
55
Throughout the Georgia Southern's recorded football-playing history, 55 wins have been recorded against North Carolina teams against only 24 losses with one tie. The Eagles have double-digit win totals against three teams (Appalachian State, Elon and Western Carolina) and winning records against eight.
360.4
The Eagles finished the 2013 campaign by posting the highest team rushing total in the NCAA FBS for the second-straight season with an average of 360.4 yards per game. Last season's achievement marked the 10th time in history that Georgia Southern had the highest per-game rushing average.
82,459
The 82,459 attendance at "The Swamp" in Gainesville took its place in another part of the Eagle record book as the largest crowd to see a Georgia Southern victory and the eighth-largest crowd to watch an Eagle Football game.
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. Fans can follow Coach Willie Fritz on his official twitter account, @CoachWEFritz.
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