Date: Saturday, Nov. 9
Contest: Ga. Southern (7-2, 6-1) at Furman (6-2, 4-1)
Time: 3:30 p.m.
Place: Paladin Stadium in Greenville, S.C.
TV: Fox Sports NetTHE GAME: Georgia Southern holds an 9-4 advantage in the series over Furman that started in 1985 … The first two meetings came during the NCAA playoffs with GSU posting a 44-42 win in the 1985 championship game … In ’88, Furman posted a 17-12 win over the Eagles in the title game … The two teams swapped victories last year with the Eagles winning the regular season contest, 20-10, and the Paladins posting a 24-17 victory in the NCAA Division I AA semifinals … Both of last year’s games were played in Statesboro … At Paladin Stadium, GSU has a slight 3-2 lead in the series but Furman won the last meeting, 45-10, in 2000.
THE COACHES: Georgia Southern head coach Mike Sewak (Virginia ’81) is in his first season with the Eagles and has a record of 7-2 … He spent the last five seasons as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator, helping the club to a 62-10 record during that time … Furman head coach Bobby Lamb (Furman ’86) is in his first season as head coach with the Paladins and has a record of 6-2 … The SoCon career passing efficiency leader, Lamb spent 16 years as a Paladin assistant after earning league Player-of-the-Year honors in 1985.
GAME NOTES: GSU was at home last week and posted a 40-7 win over ETSU… The Paladins enjoyed an open date and were idle last week … The teams swapped victories last year, but Furman eliminated the Eagles in the Dec. 15 NCAA I-AA semifinals to go on to play for a national championship … GSU is ranked ninth in the nation this week, Furman is fourth … The nationally top ranked Eagle rushing offense contains the top two rushers in the league in QB Chaz Williams (108.2 YPG) and FB Jermaine Austin (94.4 YPG) … The Eagles are sucessful on both sides of the ball this season, leading the conference in both scoring offense and scoring defense … Furman is second in scoring offense and is second in passing offense and first in pass efficiency … The Paladins, who are perfect on fourth down conversions this season, will have to contend with the Eagle defense that is allowing its opponents a stingy 46.7 percent conversion rate on fourth down …Furman QB Billy Napier, second in the nation in passing efficiency (161.8), will have to contend with the SoCon’s leading pass defense in GSU.

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