2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football
2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football
Camellia Bowl champion
Camellia Bowl, W 23–21 vs. Eastern Michigan
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
	East Division
Record	10–3 (6–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Chad Lunsford (1st full year as HC; 2nd overall season);
Offensive coordinator	Bob DeBesse (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Scot Sloan (1st season)
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
	Seasons ← 2017 2019 →

The 2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Chad Lunsford. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in third place in the East Division. They were invited to the Camellia Bowl where they defeated Eastern Michigan.

2018 Sun Belt Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Appalachian State xy$	7	–	1	11	–	2
Troy x	7	–	1	10	–	3
Georgia Southern	6	–	2	10	–	3
Coastal Carolina	2	–	6	5	–	7
Georgia State	1	–	7	2	–	10
West Division
Louisiana xy	5	–	3	7	–	7
Arkansas State x	5	–	3	8	–	5
Louisiana–Monroe	4	–	4	6	–	6
South Alabama	2	–	6	3	–	9
Texas State	1	–	7	3	–	9
Championship: Appalachian State 30, Louisiana 19
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

The Eagles had the biggest turnaround in FBS in 2018, going from a 2–10 record in 2017 to 10–3. They also set a new FBS record by losing only five turnovers during the season. The previous record of eight had been achieved by six teams, most recently by LSU in 2017.^[1]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	6:00 p.m.	South Carolina State*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 37–6	15,260
September 8	6:00 p.m.	UMass*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 34–13	15,071
September 15	12:00 p.m.	at No. 2 Clemson*	Memorial Stadium Clemson, SC	ESPNU	L 7–38	79,844
September 29	6:00 p.m.	Arkansas State	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 28–21	17,320
October 6	3:30 p.m.	South Alabama	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	W 48–13	17,622
October 11	7:30 p.m.	at Texas State	Bobcat Stadium San Marcos, TX	ESPNU	W 15–13	9,545
October 20	6:00 p.m.	at New Mexico State*	Aggie Memorial Stadium Las Cruces, NM		W 48–31	7,300
October 25	7:30 p.m.	No. 25 Appalachian State	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 34–14	19,252
November 3	3:00 p.m.	at Louisiana–Monroe	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	ESPN3	L 25–44	13,787
November 10	1:00 p.m.	Troy	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	L 21–35	16,289
November 17	5:00 p.m.	at Coastal Carolina	Brooks Stadium Conway, SC	ESPN+	W 41–17	9,886
November 24	2:00 p.m.	at Georgia State	Georgia State Stadium Atlanta, GA (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 35–14	20,011
December 15	5:30 p.m.	vs. Eastern Michigan*	Cramton Bowl Montgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl)	ESPN	W 23–21	17,710
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[2]

Game summaries

South Carolina State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulldogs	0	0	6	0	6
Eagles	13	3	7	14	37

UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minutemen	3	7	3	0	13
Eagles	0	17	10	7	34

At Clemson

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	0	0	7	7
No. 2 Tigers	0	21	3	14	38

Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Wolves	0	3	11	7	21
Eagles	0	7	7	14	28

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	0	6	0	7	13
Eagles	7	10	10	21	48

At Texas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	5	0	15
Bobcats	0	0	7	6	13

At New Mexico State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	14	21	3	48
Aggies	14	3	7	7	31

Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Mountaineers	0	7	0	7	14
Eagles	0	17	10	7	34

At Louisiana–Monroe

Week Ten: Georgia Southern Eagles at Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks – Game summary

Period	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	10	8	7	25
Warhawks	13	14	14	3	44

at Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA

Date: November 3
Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
Game weather: 74° · Sunny · SW – 11 mph.
Game attendance: 13,787
Referee: Jeremy Parker
TV: ESPN3
[1]

Game information

Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Trojans	3	14	11	7	35
Eagles	14	0	0	7	21

At Coastal Carolina

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	10	21	7	41
Chanticleers	7	3	0	7	17

At Georgia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	13	15	7	35
Panthers	0	0	0	14	14

Vs. Eastern Michigan (Camellia Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
EMU Eagles	0	7	7	7	21
GASO Eagles	7	10	0	6	23

Awards and honors

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Award	Player	Position	Year
Rimington Trophy^[3]	Curtis Rainey	C	SR
Doak Walker Award^[4]	Wesley Fields	RB	SR
John Mackey Award^[5]	Ellis Richardson	TE	SR
Lou Groza Award^[6]	Tyler Bass	K	JR
Wuerffel Trophy^[7]	Wesley Fields	RB	SR

Sun Belt coaches poll

On July 19, 2018, the Sun Belt released their preseason coaches poll with the Eagles predicted to finish in fourth place in the East Division.^[8]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
East Division
1	Appalachian State	46 (6)
2	Troy	44 (4)
3	Georgia State	26
4	Georgia Southern	22
5	Coastal Carolina	12

Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

The Eagles had six players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams.^[9]

Post-season finalists and winners

All-Sun Belt Selections

Twelve Georgia Southern football players were honored by the league coaches and members of the media as the Sun Belt Conference announced the selections for its all-conference teams.

Offensive Selection

Curtis Rainey - OL (First team)

Wesley Fields - RB (Second team)

Jeremiah Culbreth - OL (Second team)

Wesley Kennedy III - RB (Honorable mention)

Shai Werts - QB (Honorable mention)

Defensive Selection

Kindle Vildor - DB (First team)

Raymond Johnson- DL (Second team)

Monquavion Brinson - DB (Second team)

Logan Hunt - DL (Third team)

Rashad Byrd - LB (Honorable mention)

Ty Phillips - DL (Honorable mention)

Special Teams Selection

Tyler Bass - PK (First team)

per Sun Belt Conference^[10]

References

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