2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Sewak, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SoCon title for the sixth consecutive season. Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Bethune–Cookman in the first round and Maine in the quarterfinals before falling to Western Kentucky in the semifinals. Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football
SoCon champion
ConferenceSouthern Conference
Ranking
Sports NetworkNo. 3
Record11–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMitch Ware (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorRusty Russell (6th season)
Home stadiumPaulson Stadium
Seasons
← 2001
2003 →
2002 Southern Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^   7 1     11 3  
No. 14 Wofford   6 2     9 3  
No. 10 Appalachian State ^   6 2     8 4  
No. 9 Furman ^   6 2     8 4  
VMI   3 5     6 6  
Western Carolina   3 5     5 6  
East Tennessee State   2 6     4 8  
Chattanooga   2 6     2 10  
The Citadel   1 7     3 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant
Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule

edit
DateTimeOpponentRankSiteResultAttendanceSource
August 297:00 pmat No. 22 Delaware*No. 5L 19–2219,056
September 7Gardner–Webb*No. 12W 56–018,895
September 217:00 pmWoffordNo. 9
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
L 7–1415,564
September 28at ChattanoogaNo. 18W 38–108,566
October 5VMINo. 18
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 52–715,621
October 12at Western CarolinaNo. 16W 41–247,749
October 19Appalachian StateNo. 13
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA (rivalry)
W 36–2015,146[1]
October 262:00 pmat The CitadelNo. 10W 28–2416,427
November 2East Tennessee StateNo. 9
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 40–716,106
November 9at FurmanNo. 9W 39–2415,794[2]
November 16Jacksonville State*No. 4
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA
W 37–138,544
November 30No. 11 Bethune–Cookman*No. 2
W 34–07,395
December 7No. 7 Maine*No. 2
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)
W 31–76,708
December 145:30 pmNo. 15 Western Kentucky*No. 2
  • Paulson Stadium
  • Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)
L 28–316,573

[3]

References

edit
  1. ^ "No. 13 and growing up". The Atlanta Constitution. October 20, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Georgia Southern takes easy win over Paladins". The Item. November 10, 2002. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "2002 Football Schedule". CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2017.