2019 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

2019 Georgia Southern Eagles football
Cure Bowl, L 16–23 vs. Liberty
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Division	East Division
Record	7–6 (5–3 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Chad Lunsford (2nd season)
Offensive coordinator	Bob DeBesse (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Pistol
Defensive coordinator	Scot Sloan (2nd season)
Base defense	3–4
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium

2019 Sun Belt Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 19 Appalachian State x$		7	–	1					13	–	1
Georgia Southern		5	–	3					7	–	6
Georgia State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Troy		3	–	5					5	–	7
Coastal Carolina		2	–	6					5	–	7
West Division
Louisiana x		7	–	1					11	–	3
Arkansas State		5	–	3					8	–	5
Louisiana–Monroe		4	–	4					5	–	7
Texas State		2	–	6					3	–	9
South Alabama		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Appalachian State 45, Louisiana 38
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University during the 2019 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 second year head coach Chad Lunsford.^[1]

Preseason

On August 2, 2019, it was announced that QB Shai Werts and DE Quan Griffin had been indefinitely suspended following their arrests, which were not related. The charges against Werts were subsequently dropped, after what was believed to be cocaine on his car was tested to be bird feces, and he has since been cleared to play.^[2]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	7:30 p.m.	at No. 6 LSU*	Tiger Stadium Baton Rouge, LA	SECN	L 3–55	97,420
September 7	6:00 p.m.	No. 6 (FCS) Maine*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 26–18	17,202
September 14	3:30 p.m.	at Minnesota*	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 32–35	41,021
September 28	6:00 p.m.	Louisiana	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	L 24–37	19,220
October 3	7:30 p.m.	at South Alabama	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL	ESPNU	W 20–17 ^2OT	20,013
October 19	3:00 p.m.	Coastal Carolina	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	W 30–27 ^3OT	11,015
October 26	3:00 p.m.	New Mexico State*	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN3	W 41–7	10,907
October 31	8:00 p.m.	at No. 20 Appalachian State	Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC (rivalry)	ESPNU	W 24–21	18,796
November 9	3:30 p.m.	at Troy	Veterans Memorial Stadium Troy, AL	ESPN+	L 28–49	22,108
November 16	3:00 p.m.	Louisiana–Monroe	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	ESPN+	W 51–29	10,266
November 23	3:00 p.m.	at Arkansas State	Centennial Bank Stadium Jonesboro, AR	ESPN+	L 33–38	18,319
November 30	6:00 p.m.	Georgia State	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (rivalry)	ESPN+	W 38–10	15,175
December 21	2:30 p.m.	vs. Liberty*	Exploria Stadium Orlando, FL (Cure Bowl)	CBSSN	L 16–23	18,158
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 5 released prior to game All times are in Eastern time

^[3]

Game summaries

At LSU

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	3	0	0	3
No. 6 Tigers	21	21	10	3	55

See also: 2019 LSU Tigers football team

Maine

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 6 (FCS) Black Bears	3	0	0	15	18
Eagles	0	10	6	10	26

See also: 2019 Maine Black Bears football team

At Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	10	10	0	12	32
Golden Gophers	14	7	0	14	35

See also: 2019 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

Louisiana

Louisiana at Georgia Southern

1 2 3 4 Total • Ragin' Cajuns 7 10 7 13 37 Eagles 3 10 8 3 24 Date: September 28, 2019 Location: Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA Game start: 7:05 p.m. EDT Elapsed time: 2 hours and 55 minutes Game attendance: 19,220 Game weather: 88 °F (31 °C) • Weather: Clear • Wind: 7 SE MPH Referee: Jason Autrey Television network: ESPN+

Scoring summary 1 13:42 LA Elijah Mitchell 5–yard rush (Stevie Artigue kick) (5 plays, 75 yards, 1:18) LA 7–0 05:20 GASO Tyler Bass 28–yard field goal (15 plays, 64 yards, 8:22) LA 7–3 2 12:09 GASO Tyler Bass 44–yard field goal (5 plays, 16 yards, 2:42) LA 7–6 08:05 LA Trey Ragas 3–yard rush (Kenneth Almendares kick) (10 plays, 75 yards, 4:04) LA 14–6 04:58 GASO Logan Wright 2–yard rush (Tyler Bass kick) (2 plays, 7 yards, 0:49) LA 14–13 00:00 LA Stevie Artigue 25–yard field goal (14 plays, 67 yards, 7:10) LA 17–13 3 08:04 LA Ja'Marcus Bradley 1–yard pass from Levi Lewis (Kenneth Almendares kick) (11 plays, 55 yards, 4:44) LA 24–13 00:15 GASO J.D. King 1–yard rush (J.D. King two–point conversion rush) (14 plays, 78 yards, 7:41) LA 24–21 4 12:30 LA Elijah Mitchell 19–yard rush (Stevie Artigue kick) (8 plays, 75 yards, 2:45) LA 31–21 05:35 GASO Tyler Bass 31–yard field goal (14 plays, 74 yards, 6:50) LA 31–24 02:34 LA Trey Ragas 1–yard rush (Kenneth Almendares kick failed) (6 plays, 75 yards, 3:01) LA 37–21

See also: 2019 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team

Pregame line	Over/under
Louisiana	–3.0

Statistics	Louisiana	Georgia Southern
First downs	23	18
Total yards	440	252
Rushing yards	275	215
Passing yards	165	37
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	26:04	33:56

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Louisiana	Passing	Levi Lewis	11–18, 165 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Trey Ragas	16 carries, 131 yards, 2 TDs
	Receiving	Jarrod Jackson	1 reception, 51 yards
Georgia Southern	Passing	Shai Werts	6–12, 37 yards
	Rushing	Shai Werts	21 carries, 93 yards
	Receiving	NaJee Thompson	4 receptions, 24 yards

At South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Eagles	0	10	0	7	0	3	20
Jaguars	0	7	7	3	0	0	17

See also: 2019 South Alabama Jaguars football team

Coastal Carolina

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	3OT	Total
Chanticleers	0	7	0	3	7	7	3	27
Eagles	3	7	0	0	7	7	6	30

See also: 2019 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers football team

New Mexico State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Aggies	7	0	0	0	7
Eagles	7	21	13	0	41

See also: 2019 New Mexico State Aggies football team

At Appalachian State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	7	3	14	0	24
No. 20 Mountaineers	0	7	0	14	21

See also: 2019 Appalachian State Mountaineers football team

At Troy

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	0	14	0	14	28
Trojans	14	13	0	22	49

See also: 2019 Troy Trojans football team

Louisiana–Monroe

See also: 2019 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team

Pregame line	Over/under
Georgia Southern	–6.5

Week Ten: Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks at Georgia Southern Eagles – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Warhawks	7	0	7	15	29
Eagles	7	17	7	20	51

at Paulson Stadium • Statesboro, GA

• Date: November 16
• Game time: 3:00 p.m. EDT
• Game weather: 48° · Wind – N 13 · Overcast, soggy
• Game attendance: 10,266
• Referee: Kyle Olson
• TV: ESPN+
• [1]

Game information

First quarter (11:07) GASO TD – Shai Werts 11-yard rush, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 7–0; Drive: 3 plays, 21 yards, 1:14 (04:56) ULM TD – Austin Vaughn 3-yard rush, Jared Porter kick Tied 7–7; Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 6:11 Second quarter (13:29) GASO FG – Tyler Bass 26-yard field goal Georgia Southern 10–7; Drive: 7 plays, 34 yards, 3:00 (09:00) GASO TD – Shai Werts 24-yard rush, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 17–7; Drive: 6 plays, 73 yards, 3:30 (00:37) GASO TD – Darion Anderson 33-yard pass from Shai Werts, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 24–7; Drive: 9 plays, 84 yards, 3:13 Third quarter (06:41) ULM TD – Caleb Evans 1-yard rush, Jared Porter kick Georgia Southern 24–14; Drive: 8 plays, 84 yards, 3:19 (00:25) GASO TD – J. D. King 6-yard rush, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 31–14; Drive: 2 plays, 6 yards, 0:44 Fourth quarter (14:41) GASO TD – Donald Rutledge Jr. 42-yard interception returned, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 38–14; Drive: 3 plays, 5 yards, 0:44 (12:15) ULM TD – Markis McCray 1-yard pass from Caleb Evans, Caleb Evans two-point conversion pass to Josh Pederson Georgia Southern 38–22; Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 2:26 (02:48) GASO TD – Wesley Kennedy III 1-yard rush, two-point conversion rush attempt failed Georgia Southern 44–22; Drive: 13 plays, 75 yards, 9:27 (00:20) ULM TD – Josh Pederson 16-yard pass from Caleb Evans, Jared Porter kick Georgia Southern 44–29; Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 2:28 (00:13) GASO TD – Monquavion Brinson 42-yard kickoff returned, Tyler Bass kick Georgia Southern 51–29; Drive: 0 plays, 0 yards, 0:00 Leading Passers ULM – Caleb Evans – 21/36, 285 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT GASO – Shai Werts – 5/10, 80 yards, TD Leading Rushers ULM – Josh Johnson – 12 carries, 43 yards GASO – J. D. King – 16 carries, 102 yards, TD Leading Receivers ULM – Perry Carter Jr. – 2 receptions, 95 yards GASO – Darion Anderson – 1 reception, 33 yards, TD

Statistics	Louisiana–Monroe	Georgia Southern
First downs	18	20
Total yards	370	334
Rushing yards	85	254
Passing yards	285	80
Turnovers	3	0
Time of possession	26:24	33:36

At Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	16	8	6	33
Red Wolves	14	21	3	0	38

See also: 2019 Arkansas State Red Wolves football team

Georgia State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	7	0	3	0	10
Eagles	7	10	14	7	38

See also: 2019 Georgia State Panthers football team

Vs. Liberty (Cure Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Flames	7	9	7	0	23
Eagles	0	7	6	3	16

See also: 2019 Liberty Flames football team and 2019 Cure Bowl

Players drafted into the NFL

See also: 2020 NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	NFL Club
5	163	Kindle Vildor	CB	Chicago Bears
6	188	Tyler Bass	K	Buffalo Bills

References

1. "2019 Georgia Southern Football Schedule Released". WTOC.com. March 1, 2019. Archived from the original on March 28, 2019. Retrieved March 1, 2019.
2. "Georgia Southern QB arrested, suspended from team activities". WJCL. August 2, 2019. Retrieved August 2, 2019.
3. "2019 Georgia Southern Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved March 29, 2019.