The Breakdown: A Closer Look at the 2022 Football Schedule
3/2/2022 4:00:00 PM | Football
A game-by-game look at each opponent
STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern football schedule released Tuesday is the one that features fresh new faces along with some familiar faces in new places. It's the kind of schedule that Eagle fans could have only dreamed of when making a move to the FCS in 2014.
The Eagles host six homes games, and all are on a Saturday for the second year in a row. The Eagles play nine teams that competed in a bowl game or FCS postseason last year. They'll play a primetime mid-week game against the defending conference champions and they'll visit one of the more storied venues in college football.
And let's not forget about the new-look Sun Belt, which now sits at 14 teams. In terms of difficulty, you can put the Sun Belt East Division up against any division in the country, not just in the Group of 5. Four of the seven teams now on that side of the conference combined to win 13 I-AA/FCS National Championships (Georgia Southern 6, App State 3, JMU 2, Marshall 2).
The Sun Belt as a whole is now a force to reckon with. In the first 15 seasons of the Sun Belt football (2001 through 2015), only four teams managed to win 10 or more games during that time. In the past six seasons (2016 through 2021), they've had 13 teams do so, including Georgia Southern in 2018, and three teams alone last year before conference championships and bowl season even began.
Season ticket holders only have a few weeks left to renew their 2022 season tickets and/parking before the March 31 renewal deadline. Renewals must be either paid in full or set up on a payment plan by the renewal deadline or they will be released to the general public.
Ticket holders can renew online at GSEagles.com/Renewals and fans looking to purchase season tickets may pre-order new season ticket packages by visiting GSEagles.com/FootballTickets or by calling 1(800) GSU-WINS during business hours (Monday-Friday; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.). They can also stop by the Ticket Office at 203 Lanier Drive. Season ticket packages start as low as $80/each for all six home games this season. A new ticketing modernization plan is in effect and details can be found at GSEagles.com/WeNeedYou.
Let's take a brief look at each team on the 2022 docket and the history between the two programs:
Sept. 3: Morgan State
Georgia Southern and Morgan State have never met, but it's the opening game of the Clay Helton Era in Statesboro, and that's what matters.
Fun fact: MSU is looking for a new coach after Tyrone Wheatley recently took a job in the NFL.
Sept. 10: at Nebraska
Another new opponent, the Eagles will head to hallowed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Nebraska has sold out an NCAA-record 381 consecutive games at Memorial Stadium, a streak that dates back to 1962. When full, Memorial Stadium famously holds more people than the population of Nebraska's third-largest city, Bellevue.
Fun fact: Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease had an 81-yard punt at Nebraska in 2020 when he was playing at Buffalo.
Sept. 17: at UAB
The Blazers are coming off a 31-28 victory over BYU in the Independence Bowl to record their ninth win, but this will be the first time the Eagles play UAB.
Fun fact: Georgia Southern has played five previous games in Birmingham, but this will be the first game at UAB's new venue: Protective Stadium.
Sept. 24: Ball State
Oddly enough, the fourth of Georgia Southern's non-conference games in 2022 is against a team the Eagles have never played. Ball State lost to Georgia State in last year's Camellia Bowl and will make the trip down from Muncie, Indiana, for the final game in the month of September.
Fun Fact: This will be Georgia Southern's first FBS football game against a team with Cardinals as a mascot and just its second game against a team from the Hoosier State (Indiana, 2017).
Oct. 1: at Coastal Carolina
An early October weekend at the beach awaits as the Eagles travel five hours north to face Coastal Carolina in Conway to open Sun Belt play. Coastal won last year in a downpour, but the Eagles still lead the series 5-3.
Fun Fact: Two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Grayson McCall has yet to suit up and play against the Eagles in either season as the Chants' starting quarterback.
Oct. 8: at Georgia State
Close games have been the norm between these two in-state teams with the past two games have decided by seven points or less. Georgia State leads the series 5-3 after last year's win in Paulson Stadium.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern has played in two stadiums used primarily for baseball in the venue's infancy: Center Parc Stadium (home of the Atlanta Braves when it was Turner Field) and Historic Cramton Bowl (Philadelphia Athletics spring training from 1923–1924).
Oct. 15: James Madison
JMU is moving up from FCS, where the Dukes won the national championship in 2016 and advanced to the title game in 2017 and 2019. JMU lost to eventual champion North Dakota State in the semifinals of the 2021 FCS playoffs. JMU also has a good fan base that will travel so expect a raucous crowd at Paulson for this one. Georgia Southern leads the all-time series 7-1, but the two schools haven't met since 1992.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern's offensive analyst is Bryan Schor, who led JMU to a national championship as its quarterback in 2016. He threw for 7,078 yards and 62 touchdowns as a Duke, earning All-America honors.
Oct. 22: at Old Dominion
The Eagles make their return to Virginia on Oct. 29 against Old Dominion. It's the first time Georgia Southern has played in the Commonwealth since 2012 when the Eagles played at ... Old Dominion. That one was in the FCS Playoffs, but this one will be for conference bragging rights.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern leads the series 2-0 as the Eagles knocked the Monarchs out of both the 2011 and 2012 FCS playoffs. ODU was quarterbacked by Taylor Heinicke in both games, who started for the Washington Football Team this past season.
Oct. 29: BYE WEEK
Plan your fall weddings, family reunions and yard sales for this day.
Nov. 5: South Alabama
The Jaguars finally got in the W column against the Eagles last year with a win in Mobile, but the Eagles still lead the series 7-1. The Jags are the first of two Sun Belt West opponents on the slate this season.
Fun Fact: The previous three games between Georgia Southern and South Alabama were played on Thursday nights, but this year's contest will be on a early November Saturday in Paulson Stadium.
Nov. 10: at Louisiana
The Eagles head to Cajun Territory for a mid-week game at the defending conference champions. Louisiana leads the series 4-1 against the Eagles and are 1-1 in Lafayette against GS. The Ragin' Cajuns are the second SBC West opponent on the schedule this season.
Fun Fact: In each of the previous three seasons, Georgia Southern opened Sun Belt play against the Ragin' Cajuns.
Nov. 17: Marshall
Marshall is the third new member of the SBC East and comes to Statesboro on Nov. 17 to take on the Eagles. The Thundering Herd lead the series with the Eagles 4-2, but the two haven't played since 1996.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern and Marshall met four times as members in the Southern Conference with the Thundering Herd winning all four contests. In three of those four contests, Marshall was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division I-AA.
Nov. 24: App State
Georgia Southern fans have been clamoring for this game to be at home on the last Saturday of the season for years and now they get their wish. One of the fiercest rivalries around, the Mountaineers took last year's contest in Boone and now lead the series 21-15-1.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern and App State have played every year since 1993, including twice in 2001 and the 37 games played makes App Georgia Southern's most-played opponent in program history.
The Eagles host six homes games, and all are on a Saturday for the second year in a row. The Eagles play nine teams that competed in a bowl game or FCS postseason last year. They'll play a primetime mid-week game against the defending conference champions and they'll visit one of the more storied venues in college football.
And let's not forget about the new-look Sun Belt, which now sits at 14 teams. In terms of difficulty, you can put the Sun Belt East Division up against any division in the country, not just in the Group of 5. Four of the seven teams now on that side of the conference combined to win 13 I-AA/FCS National Championships (Georgia Southern 6, App State 3, JMU 2, Marshall 2).
The Sun Belt as a whole is now a force to reckon with. In the first 15 seasons of the Sun Belt football (2001 through 2015), only four teams managed to win 10 or more games during that time. In the past six seasons (2016 through 2021), they've had 13 teams do so, including Georgia Southern in 2018, and three teams alone last year before conference championships and bowl season even began.
Season ticket holders only have a few weeks left to renew their 2022 season tickets and/parking before the March 31 renewal deadline. Renewals must be either paid in full or set up on a payment plan by the renewal deadline or they will be released to the general public.
Ticket holders can renew online at GSEagles.com/Renewals and fans looking to purchase season tickets may pre-order new season ticket packages by visiting GSEagles.com/FootballTickets or by calling 1(800) GSU-WINS during business hours (Monday-Friday; 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.). They can also stop by the Ticket Office at 203 Lanier Drive. Season ticket packages start as low as $80/each for all six home games this season. A new ticketing modernization plan is in effect and details can be found at GSEagles.com/WeNeedYou.
Let's take a brief look at each team on the 2022 docket and the history between the two programs:
Sept. 3: Morgan State
Georgia Southern and Morgan State have never met, but it's the opening game of the Clay Helton Era in Statesboro, and that's what matters.
Fun fact: MSU is looking for a new coach after Tyrone Wheatley recently took a job in the NFL.
Sept. 10: at Nebraska
Another new opponent, the Eagles will head to hallowed Memorial Stadium in Lincoln. Nebraska has sold out an NCAA-record 381 consecutive games at Memorial Stadium, a streak that dates back to 1962. When full, Memorial Stadium famously holds more people than the population of Nebraska's third-largest city, Bellevue.
Fun fact: Georgia Southern quarterback Kyle Vantrease had an 81-yard punt at Nebraska in 2020 when he was playing at Buffalo.
Sept. 17: at UAB
The Blazers are coming off a 31-28 victory over BYU in the Independence Bowl to record their ninth win, but this will be the first time the Eagles play UAB.
Fun fact: Georgia Southern has played five previous games in Birmingham, but this will be the first game at UAB's new venue: Protective Stadium.
Sept. 24: Ball State
Oddly enough, the fourth of Georgia Southern's non-conference games in 2022 is against a team the Eagles have never played. Ball State lost to Georgia State in last year's Camellia Bowl and will make the trip down from Muncie, Indiana, for the final game in the month of September.
Fun Fact: This will be Georgia Southern's first FBS football game against a team with Cardinals as a mascot and just its second game against a team from the Hoosier State (Indiana, 2017).
Oct. 1: at Coastal Carolina
An early October weekend at the beach awaits as the Eagles travel five hours north to face Coastal Carolina in Conway to open Sun Belt play. Coastal won last year in a downpour, but the Eagles still lead the series 5-3.
Fun Fact: Two-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year Grayson McCall has yet to suit up and play against the Eagles in either season as the Chants' starting quarterback.
Oct. 8: at Georgia State
Close games have been the norm between these two in-state teams with the past two games have decided by seven points or less. Georgia State leads the series 5-3 after last year's win in Paulson Stadium.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern has played in two stadiums used primarily for baseball in the venue's infancy: Center Parc Stadium (home of the Atlanta Braves when it was Turner Field) and Historic Cramton Bowl (Philadelphia Athletics spring training from 1923–1924).
Oct. 15: James Madison
JMU is moving up from FCS, where the Dukes won the national championship in 2016 and advanced to the title game in 2017 and 2019. JMU lost to eventual champion North Dakota State in the semifinals of the 2021 FCS playoffs. JMU also has a good fan base that will travel so expect a raucous crowd at Paulson for this one. Georgia Southern leads the all-time series 7-1, but the two schools haven't met since 1992.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern's offensive analyst is Bryan Schor, who led JMU to a national championship as its quarterback in 2016. He threw for 7,078 yards and 62 touchdowns as a Duke, earning All-America honors.
Oct. 22: at Old Dominion
The Eagles make their return to Virginia on Oct. 29 against Old Dominion. It's the first time Georgia Southern has played in the Commonwealth since 2012 when the Eagles played at ... Old Dominion. That one was in the FCS Playoffs, but this one will be for conference bragging rights.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern leads the series 2-0 as the Eagles knocked the Monarchs out of both the 2011 and 2012 FCS playoffs. ODU was quarterbacked by Taylor Heinicke in both games, who started for the Washington Football Team this past season.
Oct. 29: BYE WEEK
Plan your fall weddings, family reunions and yard sales for this day.
Nov. 5: South Alabama
The Jaguars finally got in the W column against the Eagles last year with a win in Mobile, but the Eagles still lead the series 7-1. The Jags are the first of two Sun Belt West opponents on the slate this season.
Fun Fact: The previous three games between Georgia Southern and South Alabama were played on Thursday nights, but this year's contest will be on a early November Saturday in Paulson Stadium.
Nov. 10: at Louisiana
The Eagles head to Cajun Territory for a mid-week game at the defending conference champions. Louisiana leads the series 4-1 against the Eagles and are 1-1 in Lafayette against GS. The Ragin' Cajuns are the second SBC West opponent on the schedule this season.
Fun Fact: In each of the previous three seasons, Georgia Southern opened Sun Belt play against the Ragin' Cajuns.
Nov. 17: Marshall
Marshall is the third new member of the SBC East and comes to Statesboro on Nov. 17 to take on the Eagles. The Thundering Herd lead the series with the Eagles 4-2, but the two haven't played since 1996.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern and Marshall met four times as members in the Southern Conference with the Thundering Herd winning all four contests. In three of those four contests, Marshall was ranked No. 1 in the NCAA Division I-AA.
Nov. 24: App State
Georgia Southern fans have been clamoring for this game to be at home on the last Saturday of the season for years and now they get their wish. One of the fiercest rivalries around, the Mountaineers took last year's contest in Boone and now lead the series 21-15-1.
Fun Fact: Georgia Southern and App State have played every year since 1993, including twice in 2001 and the 37 games played makes App Georgia Southern's most-played opponent in program history.
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Wednesday, December 03
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Sunday, November 30
