Georgia Southern Eagles

Infobox college athletics
name = Georgia Southern Eagles

---

|120px| university = Georgia Southern University
conference = Southern Conference | division = Division I (FCS)
director = Sam Baker
city = Statesboro
state = Georgia (U.S. state)
stateabb = GA
teams = 15
stadium = Paulson Stadium
arena = Hanner Fieldhouse
mascot = GUS
nickname = Eagles
fightsong = Georgia Southern Fight Song
color1 = Blue
color2 = White
hex1 = 000080
hex2 = FFFFFF
pageurl = http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/
pagename = GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com

The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic teams of Georgia Southern University. The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) (formerly I-AA), and are a member of the NCAA Division I Southern Conference. The Eagles are the only team to win six FCS national championships.

Traditions

Nickname

Eagles is the third nickname of Georgia Southern University. From 1924 to 1941, the nickname was the Blue Tide. After World War II, athletic teams were referred to as the Professors, as the school was a teachers college. However, in 1959, when the school was renamed Georgia Southern College, a student vote was held to determine the new mascot. Eagles was chosen over Colonels by a narrow margin. [ Georgia Southern Football Media Guide, 2004. 188 ]

Football

The head coach of the Eagles is Chris Hatcher, who completed the 2007 season with a record of 7-4. The Eagles have won an unprecedented six NCAA FCS (I-AA) National Championships (1985, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1999, and 2000) and eight Southern Conference championships (1993, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2004). Home football games are played at Allen E. Paulson Stadium, known as "The Prettiest Little Stadium in America." Georgia Southern fielded its first football team in 1910; however, the sport was suspended for World War II and was not restarted until 1982. [ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 50. ]

Erk Russell

In 1982, former University of Georgia defensive coordinator Erksine "Erk" Russell was hired to restart the football program at Georgia Southern, as the program had not competed in 40 years. In 1985, three years after beginning the team, Coach Russell won his first of three national titles, with the others coming in 1986 and 1989. Russell's final record at Georgia Southern, after his retirement in 1989, was 83-22-1 (.788).

Beautiful Eagle Creek

When Georgia Southern resurrected football in 1981, it lacked tradition. A drainage ditch that the team had to cross several times a day during football practice came to be called Beautiful Eagle Creek by Coach Erk Russell. When the Eagles traveled to Northern Iowa during the 1985 playoffs, Coach Russell brought along a jug of this Eagle Creek water to sprinkle on the field. The Eagles were victorious and went on to win many national championships with the help of that magic water.

The Hugo Bowl

In 1989, ESPN was to broadcast a Thursday Night Football game between the Georgia Southern Eagles and the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders. However, Hugo, a category 4 hurricane, was headed straight towards the coast of Georgia. At the time of landfall, Hugo ranked as the eleventh most intense hurricane to strike U.S. this century, and it delivered the highest ever recorded storm surge on the East Coast. Nevertheless, the decision was made to continue with the game. For safety purposes, an open line was kept between the press box at Paulson Stadium and the National Hurricane Center in Florida. The Eagles went on to defeat MTSU by a score of 26-0 in a classic that will forever be known in Eagle history as the Hugo Bowl.

Men's Basketball

The head coach of the Eagles basketball squad is Jeff Price, who is in his ninth year at Georgia Southern with a record of 137-99. The men's basketball team participated in the NCAA Division I Tournament in 1983, 1987, and 1992, and the NIT in 1988, 1989, and 2006. The first year of men's basketball at Georgia Southern was 1926, and the first year the school played in Division I was 1971. [http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/downloads1/26529.pdf?ATCLID=1283216&SPSID=97230&SPID=10903&DB_OEM_ID=18700] Georgia Southern basketball player Roger Moore was the first African-American athlete to receive a scholarship in the University System of Georgia [ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 190.]

Baseball

The baseball team is led by head coach Rodney Hennon, who is in his eight year at Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern played its first year of baseball in 1933. [http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/pdf5/96489.pdf?ATCLID=1312642&SPSID=99579&SPID=10900&DB_OEM_ID=18700] The team went to the College World Series in 1973 and 1990 and has appeared in 11 NCAA regionals. The team was also crowned the NAIA National Champions in 1962, sweeping Portland State. [ Delma Eugene Presley, The Southern Century. Statesboro: Georgia Southern University, 2006. 179.]

Notable alumni

Alum|name=Jayson Foster|year= |nota=NFL Player
ref=

See also

*Southern Conference
*Erk Russell
*Georgia Southern Eagles football

References

External links

* [http://www.georgiasouthern.edu Georgia Southern University]
* [http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com Georgia Southern Athletics]
* [http://www.soconsports.com Southern Conference]