1997 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 1997 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Paul Johnson, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 10–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SoCon title. Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they beat Florida A&M in the first round before losing to Delaware in the quarterfinals. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

1997 Georgia Southern Eagles football
SoCon champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 8
Record10–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMike Sewak (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorRusty Russell (1st season)
Home stadiumPaulson Stadium
Seasons
← 1996
1998 →
1997 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 8 Georgia Southern $^   7 1     10 3  
No. 15 Appalachian State   6 2     7 4  
East Tennessee State   5 3     7 4  
Furman   5 3     7 4  
The Citadel   4 4     6 5  
Chattanooga   4 4     7 4  
Western Carolina   3 5     3 8  
Wofford   2 6     3 7  
VMI   0 8     0 11  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 30Valdosta State*W 45–2610,572
September 6No. 3 William and Mary*No. 23
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
L 28–2910,329
September 20at WoffordNo. 20W 22–77,236
September 27No. 22 ChattanoogaNo. 20
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 37–1010,128
October 4at VMINo. 17W 49–05,208[1]
October 11Western CarolinaNo. 11
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 30–711,368
October 18at Appalachian StateNo. 9L 12–2413,887[2]
October 25The CitadelNo. 16
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 49–714,731
November 1at No. 12 East Tennessee StateNo. 14W 38–305,629
November 8FurmanNo. 11
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 30–1318,269[3]
November 157:00 pmat South Florida*No. 8W 24–2330,470
November 29No. 10 Florida A&M*No. 8
W 52–3710,409
December 6at No. 3 Delaware*No. 8
L 7–1611,203

[4]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Georgia Southern 49, VMI 0". The Atlanta Constitution. October 5, 1997. Retrieved February 6, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Third-quarter outbursts carry Appalachian State over Eagles". The Atlanta Constitution. October 19, 1997. Retrieved November 28, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Seven turnovers prove too costly for Paladins". The Greenville News. November 9, 1997. Retrieved September 22, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "1997 Football Schedule". CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2017.