Georgia Southern will hop out of conference when it heads to New England for a game at UMass on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. Here's all you need to know about the game:
Game 6: Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017 • 3:30 PM
Location: Amherst, Mass. (McGuirk Alumni Stadium; 17,000)
Records:
Georgia Southern: 0-5
UMass: 0-6
Broadcast Information
Online: Eleven Sports
- Information on how to watch
PBP: Eric Frede;
Analyst: Andy Gresh
Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed;
Analyst: Terry Harvin;
Sidelines: Russ Brown
GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)
The Series
• This will be the third meeting between the Eagles and the Minutemen with the series tied 1-1.
• The last meeting came in the 1999 I-AA quarterfinals with the Eagles winning 38-21 behind five touchdowns and 333 yards rushing from Adrian Peterson at Paulson Stadium en route to a national title.
• The Minutemen beat GS 55-43 in the 1998 national championship game in Chattanooga. Southern turned the ball over six times in the first half, fumbling five times, as the 11th-seeded Minutemen turned those turnovers into 31 points to stun previously unbeaten and top-seeded GS. UMass running back Marcel Shipp ran for 244 yards and three touchdowns to lead the Minutemen to the victory.
• UMass is coached by Mark Whipple, who was hired on Jan. 14, 2014 to re-take over the program. Whipple previously was at the helm of the Minuteman program from
1998-2003, coaching against the Eagles both previous meetings. He is three victories shy of becoming the all-time winningest head coach in UMass football history.
• The two teams will meet again on Sept. 8, 2018 in Statesboro.
Massachusetts History
• In the modern era, Georgia Southern is 3-1 all-time against teams from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The Eagles are 1-1 against UMass and 2-0 against Northeastern.
• The will be the Eagles' second game ever played in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as they beat Northeastern 41-38 in overtime to open the 2005 season in Brookline.
Road Woes
• Georgia Southern has lost its last 10 road non-conference games since shocking Florida 26-20 in The Swamp to end the 2013 season.
• Since that time, the Eagles haven't had much success in true road games outside of the conference. Under head coach Willie Fritz, GS lost road non-conference games at NC State, at Georgia Tech and at Navy in 2014 and then dropped contests at West Virginia and at Georgia in 2015.
• Last year, in Tyson Summers' first year, the Eagles lost at Western Michigan, at Georgia Tech and at Ole Miss and lost at Auburn and at Indiana this season.
• Georgia Southern has yet to win a road non-conference game as a member of the FBS, which the Eagles joined in 2014.
• The Eagles won a neutral site game against Bowling Green in the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl and lost to New Hampshire in a neutral site game earlier this year in Birmingham.
Countdown to Kickoff
10: Georgia Southern has lost 10 straight road non-conference games since beating Florida in The Swamp in 2013.
9: Tyler Bass tallied a season-high nine points against New Mexico State on three PATs and two field goals.
8: Matt Flynn has eight punts of 50 yards or longer this season after having six all of last season.
7: The Georgia Southern defense has recorded seven interceptions this season.
6: Georgia Southern had six turnovers (five fumbles) against UMass in the 1998 national championship game.
5: In all five games this season, GS has scored more points than it did in its previous contest.
4: Only four offensive players have started all five games for Georgia Southern this season.
3: Sophomore cornerback Monquavion Brinson has had three interceptions in the past two games.
2: This will be the Eagles' second game in the modern history of the program to be played in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
1: GS and UMass have both won one game in the series and both prior games were played in the NCAA I-AA Playoffs.
