BY THE NUMBERS -- Georgia Southern Football
9/2/2014 7:08:00 PM | Football
Many firsts this Saturday for the Eagles, and some other key numbers, too
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Facts and figures about the Georgia Southern Football as the Eagles play their home opener vs. Savannah State Saturday at 6 p.m. To purchase tickets for the first game in the newly expanded Paulson Stadium, visit GSEagles.com/fbtix.
1
Saturday's game vs. Savannah State includes a number of firsts for the program – first FBS home game, first game in the expanded Allen E. Paulson Stadium, first time the Eagles will dress out for a game in the Football Operations Center and first game in the state of Georgia for Coach Willie Fritz.
10
In 10 previous meetings with Savannah State, Georgia Southern has come away with 10 wins. Nine of those games have been played at Paulson Stadium with the first taking place at Memorial Stadium in Savannah on Thanksgiving day.
11
Georgia Southern placekicker Alex Hanks had a career day against N.C. State going 3-for-3 in field goals and adding two PATs for 11 points scored. The junior from Marietta, Ga., also had six kickoffs with no Wolfpack player attempting a return.
12
The Eagles have won 12 of their last 13 home openers, including the last seven straight games. Savannah State has been the Eagles' first game in Paulson Stadium six previous times (1991, 1993, 2001, 2003, 2010, 2013 and 2014). Georgia Southern is
29
Georgia Southern's first FBS passing touchdown was Kevin Ellison's 29-yard toss to Kentrellis Showers in the second quarter at Carter-Finley Stadium.
50.8
Junior Ryan Nowicki put his name on another Georgia Southern punting record with a 50.8 average (four punts for 203 yards) in the N.C. State game. That mark is an individual single-game record as well as a team single-game record.
61
Running back Matt Breida's 61-yard touchdown run, was his first-ever TD as well as Georgia Southern's first-ever FBS touchdown and extended the streak of long plays to open the Eagles' scoring. Jerick McKinnon had a 66-yard dash to start the 2013 season and Ezayi Youyoute scampered for 79 yards in the 2012 opener.
184
Kevin Ellison threw for a career-best 184 yards against N.C. State on 9-for 16 passing and connected with senior wide receiver Kentrellis Showers' for his seventh career reception. Ellison's single-game total against the Wolfpack ranks 39th all-time on the Georgia Southern chart.
1984
Despite unusual rainy weather during construction and leading up to the season, Paulson Stadium was ready for its first home game in 1984, 30 years ago. Georgia Southern defeated Liberty 48-11 before a crowd of 12,097 for its first of 176 victories in Paulson Stadium.
25,000
New capacity for Allen E. Paulson Stadium with the addition of the new mid-deck, club level seating and the Bishop Club.
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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