2001 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

2001 Georgia Southern Eagles football
SoCon co-champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 17–24 vs. Furman
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 3
Record	12–2 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Paul Johnson (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Sewak (5th season)
Defensive coordinator	Rusty Russell (5th season)
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium

2001 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 2 Furman $^		7	–	1					12	–	3
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^		7	–	1					12	–	2
No. 6 Appalachian State ^		6	–	2					9	–	4
Western Carolina		5	–	3					7	–	4
East Tennessee State		4	–	4					6	–	5
Wofford		3	–	5					4	–	7
The Citadel		2	–	6					3	–	7
Chattanooga		1	–	7					3	–	8
VMI		1	–	7					1	–	10
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

The 2001 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2001 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by Paul Johnson in his fifth and final year as head coach, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 12–2 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the SoCon title with Furman. Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Florida A&M in the first round and Appalachian State in the quarterfinals before falling to Furman in the semifinals. Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 1	7:00 pm	Savannah State*	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 69–6	23,167
September 8	12:00 pm	No. 15 Delaware*	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 38–7	16,105
September 22	1:00 pm	Chattanooga	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 70–7	14,656
September 29	12:30 pm	at VMI	No. 1	Alumni Memorial Field Lexington, VA		W 31–14	4,952
October 6	1:00 pm	Western Carolina	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 50–14	17,804
October 13	3:30 pm	at No. 8 Appalachian State	No. 1	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC (rivalry)		W 27–18	15,331	[1]
October 20	1:00 pm	The Citadel	No. 1	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 36–20	18,637
October 27	7:00 pm	at East Tennessee State	No. 1	Kermit Tipton Stadium Johnson City, TN		L 16–19	5,543
November 3	3:30 pm	No. 2 Furman	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	FSNS	W 20–10	21,593	[2]
November 10	2:00 pm	at Elon	No. 2	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC		W 27–21	10,632
November 24	1:00 pm	at Wofford	No. 2	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC		W 48–10	6,685
December 1	12:00 pm	No. 22 Florida A&M*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)		W 60–35	9,884	[3]
December 8	12:00 pm	No. 8 Appalachian State*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)		W 38–24	9,352	[4]
December 15	12:00 p.m.	No. 4 Furman*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	CCSS	L 17–24	11,827	[5]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^[6]

References

1. "Peterson streak ends at 48". The Atlanta Constitution. October 14, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Back in contention, Peterson, Revere lead Eagles to SoCon win". The Atlanta Constitution. November 4, 2001. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Eagles better by half". The Atlanta Constitution. December 2, 2001. Retrieved April 16, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Eagles will face Furman in semifinals". The Atlanta Constitution. December 9, 2001. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Furman snaps record Georgia So. streak". The Charlotte Observer. December 16, 2001. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "2001 Football Schedule". CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 12, 2017.