The 2018 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented

Georgia Southern University Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hine ...

in the

2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2018 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in 2018. The regular season began on August 25, 2018, and ended ...

. The Eagles played their home games at

Paulson Stadium Allen E. Paulson Stadium is a 25,000-seat on-campus football stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. It is home to the Georgia Southern Eagles football team and the focal point of Erk Russell Athletic Park. Paulson Stadium was dedicated on September 29, ...

in Statesboro,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

, and competed in the East Division of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

. They were led by first-year head coach

Chad Lunsford Chad Kevin Lunsford (born February 24, 1977) is an American football coach who is currently the tight ends coach at Florida Atlantic Owls football, Florida Atlantic. He previously served as the head coach of the Georgia Southern Eagles football ...

. 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 Camellia Bowl can refer to one of three college football bowl games: * Camellia Bowl (1948) The Camellia Bowl was a post-season major college football bowl game played at McNaspy Stadium in Lafayette, Louisiana, on December 30, 1948, between t ...

where they defeated

Eastern Michigan Eastern Michigan University (EMU, Eastern Michigan or simply Eastern), is a public research university in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School, the school was the fourth normal school established in the United Sta ...

. 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.

Previous season

The Eagles fired head coach

Tyson Summers Tyson Summers (born April 11, 1980) is an American college football coach. He is the defensive coordinator at Western Kentucky University, a position he had held since 2022. He previously served as an analyst at the University of Florida. Prior ...

six games into the season. He was replaced by interim head coach

. They finished the season 2–10, 2–6 in Sun Belt play to finish in a tie for tenth place. Following the season, interim head coach Chad Lunsford was promoted to head coach.

Schedule

Game summaries

South Carolina State

UMass

At Clemson

Arkansas State

South Alabama

At Texas State

At New Mexico State

Appalachian State

At Louisiana–Monroe

Troy

At Coastal Carolina

At Georgia State

Vs. Eastern Michigan (Camellia Bowl)

Awards and honors

Preseason

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

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.

Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams

The Eagles had six players selected to the preseason all-Sun Belt teams. Offense ''2nd team'' Wesley Fields – RB Ellis Richardson– TE Curtis Rainey – OL Defense ''1st team'' Logan Hunt – DL Monquavion Brinson – DB Tae Hayes – DB Special teams ''2nd team''

Tyler Bass Tyler Bass (born February 14, 1997) is an American football placekicker for the Buffalo Bills of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Southern and was drafted by the Bills in the sixth round of the 2020 N ...

– K

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 Kindle Lee Vildor (born December 11, 1997) is an American football cornerback for the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Georgia Southern and was drafted by the Bears in the fifth round of the 2020 ...

- 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 ::

- PK (First team) per Sun Belt Conference

References

{{Georgia Southern Eagles football navbox

Georgia Southern Georgia Southern University (GS or Georgia Southern) is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, and other locations include the Armstrong Campus in Savannah and the Liberty Campus in Hin ...

Georgia Southern Eagles football seasons Camellia Bowl champion seasons

Georgia Southern Eagles football The Georgia Southern Eagles football program represents Georgia Southern University in football as part of the Sun Belt Conference. The current head coach is Clay Helton. The Eagles have won six FCS (I-AA) national championships and have produce ...