2014 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

American college football season

2014 Georgia Southern Eagles football

Sun Belt champion

Conference| Sun Belt Conference
Record| 9–3 (8–0 Sun Belt)
Head coach|

* Willie Fritz (1st season)

Offensive coordinator| Doug Ruse (1st season)
Offensive scheme| Spread option
Defensive coordinator| Jack Curtis (4th season)
Base defense| 4–3
Home stadium| Paulson Stadium

Seasons

<- 2013

2015 ->

2014 Sun Belt Conference football standings

* v
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* e

| Conf |  |  | Overall

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Team |  | W |  | L |  |  |  |  | W |  | L |
Georgia Southern * $  |  | 8  | - | 0  |  |  |  |  | 9  | - | 3  |
Louisiana–Lafayette ***  |  | 5  | - | 1  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 4  |
Appalachian State *  |  | 6  | - | 2  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
Texas State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 5  |
Arkansas State |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 7  | - | 6  |
South Alabama |  | 5  | - | 3  |  |  |  |  | 6  | - | 7  |
Louisiana–Monroe |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 4  | - | 8  |
Troy |  | 3  | - | 5  |  |  |  |  | 3  | - | 9  |
New Mexico State |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 2  | - | 10  |
Idaho **  |  | 1  | - | 7  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 10  |
Georgia State |  | 0  | - | 8  |  |  |  |  | 1  | - | 11  |

* $ - Conference champion
* * – Appalachian State and Georgia Southern ineligible for postseason play due to FCS-to-FBS transition rules
** – Idaho ineligible for postseason play due to APR penalties
*** – Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 2 wins due to NCAA violations

The 2014 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2014 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by first-year head coach Willie Fritz and played their home games at Paulson Stadium. They were first year members of the Sun Belt Conference. In their second year of the FCS to FBS transition, the Eagles were eligible for the conference championship; however, they were not bowl-eligible.

The Eagles finished their inaugural FBS season 9–3 and were undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play at 8–0, clinching the conference championship outright. Additionally, with their victory over Georgia State, the Eagles posted their 300th win in the modern era of Georgia Southern football.[1] The Eagles became only the third team ever to win a conference title in its first FBS season, after Nevada in 1992 (Big West Conference) and Marshall in 1997 (Mid-American Conference).[citation needed] They were also the first team ever to go unbeaten in conference play in their first FBS season.[2] Georgia Southern athletic director Tom Kleinlein filed for a postseason waiver to allow the Eagles to play in a bowl game; however, the NCAA denied Georgia Southern's waiver request and a subsequent appeal due to a sufficient number of "full FBS members" becoming bowl-eligible during the season.[3]

On July 22, 2016, the university announced that it was ordered by the NCAA to vacate two wins from the 2013 season and one win from the 2014 season, due to academically ineligible student-athletes participating in those games. The win affected in the 2014 season was against the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks; despite vacating this win, the ruling does not affect Georgia Southern's status as the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Football champions.[4]

## Schedule

[edit]

Date| Time| Opponent| Site| TV| Result| Attendance

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August 30| 12:30 pm| at NC State*|

* Carter–Finley Stadium
* Raleigh, NC

| ACCN| L 23–24| 54,273
September 6| 6:00 pm| Savannah State*|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| ESPN3| W 83–9| 23,121
September 13| 12:00 pm| at Georgia Tech*|

* Bobby Dodd Stadium
* Atlanta, GA

| ACCRSN| L 38–42| 53,173
September 20| 6:30 pm| at South Alabama|

* Ladd–Peebles Stadium
* Mobile, AL

| ESPN3| W 28–6| 11,348
September 25| 7:30 pm| Appalachian State|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA (rivalry)

| ESPNU| W 34–14| 24,535
October 4| 8:00 pm| at New Mexico State|

* Aggie Memorial Stadium
* Las Cruces, NM

| SS| W 36–28| 10,256
October 11| 6:00 pm| Idaho|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| SBN| W 47–24| 23,250
October 25| 2:00 pm| at Georgia State|

* Georgia Dome
* Atlanta, GA (rivalry)

| ESPN3| W 69–31| 28,427
October 30| 7:30 pm| Troy|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| ESPNU| W 42–10| 18,321
November 8| 4:00 pm| at Texas State|

* Bobcat Stadium
* San Marcos, TX

| ESPN3| W 28–25| 16,772
November 15| 3:30 pm| at Navy*|

* Navy–Marine Corps Memorial Stadium
* Annapolis, MD

| CBSSN| L 19–52| 33,894
November 29| 6:00 pm| Louisiana–Monroe|

* Paulson Stadium
* Statesboro, GA

| ESPN3| W 22–16| 16,283

* *Non-conference game
* Homecoming
* All times are in Eastern time

[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Georgia Southern Football Handles Georgia State, Posts 300th Win". Georgia Southern Athletics. October 25, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2014.
2. ^ "Georgia Southern Claims Outright Sun Belt Title - Sun Belt Winners Score Big on Saturday" (Press release). Sun Belt Conference. December 1, 2014. Retrieved December 1, 2014.
3. ^ "Georgia Southern's appeal denied". ESPN. Retrieved December 3, 2014.
4. ^ "Georgia Southern Football To Vacate Three Games From 2013-14 Seasons". Georgia Southern Eagles. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
5. ^ "2014 Georgia Southern Eagles Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved March 2, 2014.

* v
* t
* 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

National championship seasons in bold

* v
* t
* e

Sun Belt Conference football champions

* Middle Tennessee & North Texas (2001)
* North Texas (2002)
* North Texas (2003)
* North Texas (2004)
* Arkansas State, Louisiana–Lafayette, & Louisiana–Monroe (2005)
* Middle Tennessee & Troy (2006)
* Florida Atlantic & Troy (2007)
* Troy (2008)
* Troy (2009)
* FIU & Troy (2010)
* Arkansas State (2011)
* Arkansas State (2012)
* Arkansas State & Louisiana–Lafayette (2013)
* Georgia Southern (2014)
* Arkansas State (2015)
* Appalachian State & Arkansas State (2016)
* Appalachian State & Troy (2017)
* Appalachian State (2018)
* Appalachian State (2019)
* Coastal Carolina & Louisiana (2020)
* Louisiana (2021)
* Troy (2022)
* Troy (2023)
* Marshall (2024)

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*[Conf]: Conference record
*[W]: Wins
*[L]: Losses