2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

American college football season

2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football

SoCon champion

NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 28–31 vs. Western Kentucky

Conference| Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network| No. 3
Record| 11–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach|

* Mike Sewak (1st season)

Offensive coordinator| Mitch Ware (1st season)
Defensive coordinator| Rusty Russell (6th season)
Home stadium| Paulson Stadium

Seasons

<- 2001

2003 ->

2002 Southern Conference football standings

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| Conf. |  |  | Overall

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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

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.

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Rank| Site| Result| Attendance| Source

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August 29| 7:00 pm| at No. 22 Delaware*| No. 5|

* Delaware Stadium
* Newark, DE

| L 19–22| 19,056|
September 7| | Gardner–Webb*| No. 12|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| W 56–0| 18,895|
September 21| 7:00 pm| Wofford| No. 9|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| L 7–14| 15,564|
September 28| | at Chattanooga| No. 18|

* Finley Stadium
* Chattanooga, TN

| W 38–10| 8,566|
October 5| | VMI| No. 18|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| W 52–7| 15,621|
October 12| | at Western Carolina| No. 16|

* Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium
* Cullowhee, NC

| W 41–24| 7,749|
October 19| | Appalachian State| No. 13|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA (rivalry)

| W 36–20| 15,146| [1]
October 26| 2:00 pm| at The Citadel| No. 10|

* Johnson Hagood Stadium
* Charleston, SC

| W 28–24| 16,427|
November 2| | East Tennessee State| No. 9|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| W 40–7| 16,106|
November 9| | at Furman| No. 9|

* Paladin Stadium
* Greenville, SC

| W 39–24| 15,794| [2]
November 16| | Jacksonville State*| No. 4|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| W 37–13| 8,544|
November 30| | No. 11 Bethune–Cookman*| No. 2|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)

| W 34–0| 7,395|
December 7| | No. 7 Maine*| No. 2|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)

| W 31–7| 6,708|
December 14| 5:30 pm| No. 15 Western Kentucky*| No. 2|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)

| L 28–31| 6,573|

* *Non-conference game
* Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game
* All times are in Eastern time

[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.

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* e

Georgia Southern Eagles football

Venues|

* Womack Stadium (1982–1983)
* Paulson Stadium (1984–present)

Bowls & rivalries|

* Bowl games
* Appalachian State
* Georgia State

Culture & lore|

* Freedom
* GUS
* "Georgia Southern Fight Song"
* Southern Pride Marching Band

People|

* Head coaches
* NFL draftees
* Statistical leaders

Seasons|

* 1924
* 1925
* 1926
* 1927
* 1928
* 1929
* 1930
* 1931
* 1932
* 1933
* 1934
* 1935
* 1936
* 1937
* 1938
* 1939
* 1940
* 1941
* 1942–1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984
* 1985
* 1986
* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992
* 1993
* 1994
* 1995
* 1996
* 1997
* 1998
* 1999
* 2000
* 2001
* 2002
* 2003
* 2004
* 2005
* 2006
* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

National championship seasons in bold

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Southern Conference football champions

Pre-SEC|

* Vanderbilt, Georgia Tech & North Carolina (1922)
* Vanderbilt & Washington and Lee (1923)
* Alabama (1924)
* Alabama & Tulane (1925)
* Alabama (1926)
* Georgia Tech, Tennessee, & NC State (1927)
* Georgia Tech (1928)
* Tulane (1929)
* Alabama & Tulane (1930)
* Tulane (1931)
* Tennessee & Auburn & LSU (1932)

Pre-ACC|

* Duke (1933)
* Washington and Lee (1934)
* Duke (1935)
* Duke (1936)
* Maryland (1937)
* Duke (1938)
* Duke (1939)
* Clemson (1940)
* Duke (1941)
* William & Mary (1942)
* Duke (1943)
* Duke (1944)
* Duke (1945)
* North Carolina (1946)
* William & Mary (1947)
* Clemson (1948)
* North Carolina (1949)
* Washington and Lee (1950)
* Maryland & VMI (1951)
* Duke (1952)

Post-ACC|

* West Virginia (1953)
* West Virginia (1954)
* West Virginia (1955)
* West Virginia (1956)
* VMI (1957)
* West Virginia (1958)
* VMI (1959)
* VMI (1960)
* The Citadel (1961)
* VMI (1962)
* Virginia Tech (1963)
* West Virginia (1964)
* West Virginia (1965)
* East Carolina & William & Mary (1966)
* West Virginia (1967)
* Richmond (1968)
* Davidson & Richmond (1969)
* William & Mary (1970)
* Richmond (1971)
* East Carolina (1972)
* East Carolina (1973)
* VMI (1974)
* Richmond (1975)
* East Carolina (1976)
* Chattanooga & VMI (1977)
* Chattanooga & Furman (1978)
* Chattanooga (1979)
* Furman (1980)
* Furman (1981)

I-AA/FCS|

* Furman (1982)
* Furman (1983)
* Chattanooga (1984)
* Furman (1985)
* Appalachian State (1986)
* Appalachian State (1987)
* Furman & Marshall (1988)
* Furman (1989)
* Furman (1990)
* Appalachian State (1991)
* The Citadel (1992)
* Georgia Southern (1993)
* Marshall (1994)
* Appalachian State (1995)
* Marshall (1996)
* Georgia Southern (1997)
* Georgia Southern (1998)
* Appalachian State, Furman, & Georgia Southern (1999)
* Georgia Southern (2000)
* Furman & Georgia Southern (2001)
* Georgia Southern (2002)
* Wofford (2003)
* Furman & Georgia Southern (2004)
* Appalachian State (2005)
* Appalachian State (2006)
* Appalachian State & Wofford (2007)
* Appalachian State (2008)
* Appalachian State (2009)
* Appalachian State & Wofford (2010)
* Georgia Southern (2011)
* Appalachian State, Georgia Southern, & Wofford (2012)
* Chattanooga, Furman, & Samford (2013)
* Chattanooga (2014)
* Chattanooga & The Citadel (2015)
* The Citadel (2016)
* Wofford (2017)
* East Tennessee State, Furman, & Wofford (2018)
* Wofford (2019)
* VMI (2020)
* East Tennessee State (2021)
* Samford (2022)
* Furman (2023)
* Mercer (2024)

National championships in bold

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*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template
*[Conf.]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses
*[No.]: Number