# 2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia, and competed in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by first-year head coach Chad Lunsford. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in third place in the East Division. They were invited to the Camellia Bowl where they defeated Eastern Michigan.
The Eagles had the biggest turnaround in FBS in 2018, going from a 2–10 record in 2017 to 10–3. They also set a new FBS record by losing only five turnovers during the season. The previous record of eight had been achieved by six teams, most recently by LSU in 2017.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 1 | 6:00 p.m. | South Carolina State* | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | ESPN+ | W 37–6 | 15,260 |
| September 8 | 6:00 p.m. | UMass* | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | ESPN+ | W 34–13 | 15,071 |
| September 15 | 12:00 p.m. | at No. 2 Clemson* | Memorial StadiumClemson, SC | ESPNU | L 7–38 | 79,844 |
| September 29 | 6:00 p.m. | Arkansas State | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | ESPN+ | W 28–21 | 17,320 |
| October 6 | 3:30 p.m. | South Alabama | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | ESPN3 | W 48–13 | 17,622 |
| October 11 | 7:30 p.m. | at Texas State | Bobcat StadiumSan Marcos, TX | ESPNU | W 15–13 | 9,545 |
| October 20 | 6:00 p.m. | at New Mexico State* | Aggie Memorial StadiumLas Cruces, NM | | W 48–31 | 7,300 |
| October 25 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 25 Appalachian State | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA (rivalry) | ESPNU | W 34–14 | 19,252 |
| November 3 | 3:00 p.m. | at Louisiana–Monroe | Malone StadiumMonroe, LA | ESPN3 | L 25–44 | 13,787 |
| November 10 | 1:00 p.m. | Troy | Paulson StadiumStatesboro, GA | ESPN+ | L 21–35 | 16,289 |
| November 17 | 5:00 p.m. | at Coastal Carolina | Brooks StadiumConway, SC | ESPN+ | W 41–17 | 9,886 |
| November 24 | 2:00 p.m. | at Georgia State | Georgia State StadiumAtlanta, GA (rivalry) | ESPN+ | W 35–14 | 20,011 |
| December 15 | 5:30 p.m. | vs. Eastern Michigan* | Cramton BowlMontgomery, AL (Camellia Bowl) | ESPN | W 23–21 | 17,710 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Eastern time |||||||

## Game summaries
### South Carolina State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Bulldogs | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Eagles | 13 | 3 | 7 | 14 | 37 |

### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
| Eagles | 0 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 34 |

### At Clemson

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 2 Tigers | 0 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 38 |

### Arkansas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Red Wolves | 0 | 3 | 11 | 7 | 21 |
| Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 28 |

### South Alabama

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Jaguars | 0 | 6 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
| Eagles | 7 | 10 | 10 | 21 | 48 |

### At Texas State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 10 | 5 | 0 | 15 |
| Bobcats | 0 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 13 |

### At New Mexico State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 10 | 14 | 21 | 3 | 48 |
| Aggies | 14 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 31 |

### Appalachian State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 25 Mountaineers | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Eagles | 0 | 17 | 10 | 7 | 34 |

### At Louisiana–Monroe

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 10 | 8 | 7 | 25 |
| Warhawks | 13 | 14 | 14 | 3 | 44 |
at Malone Stadium • Monroe, LA
* Date: November 3
* Game time: 3:00 p.m. EST
* Game weather: 74° · Sunny · SW – 11 mph.
* Game attendance: 13,787
* Referee: Jeremy Parker
* TV: ESPN3
Game information :
First quarter
ULM - Caleb Evans 5-yard TD run, Craig Ford kick no good, 12:26 (ULM 6-0)
ULM - Marcus Green 80-yard TD pass from Evans, Ford kick good, 6:43 (ULM 13-0)
Second quarter
ULM - Green 69-yard TD pass from Evans, Ford kick good, 13:58 (ULM 20-0)
GASO - Tyler Bass 38-yard field goal, 5:40 (ULM 20-3)
ULM - Josh Johnson 1-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 2:49 (ULM 27-3)
GASO - Mark Michaud 22-yard TD pass from Shai Werts, Bass kick good, 1:02 (ULM 27-10)
Third quarter
ULM - Derrick Gore 1-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 6:31 (ULM 34-10)
GASO - Jessie Liptrot 57-yard interception returned for TD, Wesley Field two-point conversion run good, 3:15 (ULM 34-18)
ULM - Evans 2-yard TD run, Ford kick good, 0:14 (ULM 41-18)
Fourth quarter
GASO - Benz Josue 5-yard returned block punt for TD, Bass kick good, 10:37 (ULM 41-25)
ULM - Ford 32-yard field goal, 4:16 (ULM 44-25)
Leading Passers
ULM - Caleb Evans - 13/22, 337 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
GASO - Shai Werts - 8/15, 78 yards, TD
Leading Rushers
ULM - Derrick Gore - 19 carries, 114 yards, TD
GASO - Wesley Fields - 17 carries, 73 yards
Leading Receivers
ULM - Marcus Green - 2 receptions, 149 yards, 2 TD
GASO - Davarius Bargnare - 3 receptions, 23 yards :

### Troy

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Trojans | 3 | 14 | 11 | 7 | 35 |
| Eagles | 14 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 21 |

### At Coastal Carolina

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 3 | 10 | 21 | 7 | 41 |
| Chanticleers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### At Georgia State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eagles | 0 | 13 | 15 | 7 | 35 |
| Panthers | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 14 |

### Vs. Eastern Michigan (Camellia Bowl)

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| EMU Eagles | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| GASO Eagles | 7 | 10 | 0 | 6 | 23 |

## Awards and honors
### Preseason
#### Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released
| Award | Player | Position | Year |
| Rimington Trophy | Curtis Rainey | C | SR |
| Doak Walker Award | Wesley Fields | RB | SR |
| John Mackey Award | Ellis Richardson | TE | SR |
| Lou Groza Award | Tyler Bass | K | JR |
| Wuerffel Trophy | Wesley Fields | RB | SR |

#### Sun Belt coaches poll

On July 19, 2018, the Sun Belt released their preseason coaches poll with the Eagles predicted to finish in fourth place in the East Division.
East Division :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Appalachian State | 46 (6) |
| 2 | Troy | 44 (4) |
| 3 | Georgia State | 26 |
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 22 |
| 5 | Coastal Carolina | 12 |

#### Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

The Eagles had six players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams.

### Post-season finalists and winners
#### All-Sun Belt Selections

Twelve Georgia Southern football players were honored by the league coaches and members of the media as the Sun Belt Conference announced the selections for its all-conference teams.
* Offensive Selection
       Curtis Rainey - OL (First team)
       Wesley Fields - RB (Second team)
       Jeremiah Culbreth - OL (Second team)
       Wesley Kennedy III - RB (Honorable mention)
       Shai Werts - QB (Honorable mention)
* Defensive Selection
       Kindle Vildor - DB (First team)
       Raymond Johnson- DL (Second team)
       Monquavion Brinson - DB (Second team)
       Logan Hunt - DL (Third team)
       Rashad Byrd - LB (Honorable mention)
       Ty Phillips - DL (Honorable mention)
* Special Teams Selection
       Tyler Bass - PK (First team)
per Sun Belt Conference