1986 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 1986 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College (now known as Georgia Southern University) during the 1986 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The team was coached by Erk Russell, in his fifth year as head coach for the Eagles.

1986 Georgia Southern Eagles football
NCAA Division I-AA champion
NCAA Division I-AA Championship, W 48–21 vs. Arkansas State
Conference	Independent
Record	13–2
Head coach	Erk Russell (5th season)
Offensive coordinator	Paul Johnson (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Option
Defensive coordinator	Len Gravelson (2nd season)
Base defense	4–4
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 NCAA Division I-AA independents football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Georgia Southern ^			–					13	–	2	–	0
No. 14 Tennessee State ^			–					10	–	2	–	1
No. 8 William & Mary ^			–					9	–	3	–	0
Eastern Washington			–					5	–	5	–	0
James Madison			–					5	–	5	–	1
Florida A&M			–					4	–	6	–	0
Northeastern			–					4	–	6	–	0
Western Kentucky			–					4	–	6	–	1
^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 30	at No. 13 (I-A) Florida	No. 1	Florida Field Gainesville FL	L 14–38	74,221	^[1]
September 13	vs. Florida A&M	No. 1	Gator Bowl Jacksonville, FL	W 35–12	21,982
September 20	at No. 17 Middle Tennessee	No. 4	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	W 34–31	11,000
September 27	Chattanooga	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 34–14	15,235
October 4	at Tennessee Tech	No. 4	Tucker Stadium Cookeville, TN	W 59–13	6,211
October 11	Bethune–Cookman	No. 3	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 52–31	14,321
October 18	at East Carolina	No. 2	Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC	L 33–35	27,121	^[2]
November 1	at Western Kentucky	No. 9	L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	W 49–32	13,000
November 8	at UCF	No. 5	Florida Citrus Bowl Orlando, FL	W 33–23	11,137
November 15	James Madison	No. 5	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 45–35	16,135	^[3]
November 22	South Carolina State	No. 5	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 28–7	12,585
November 29	No. 20 North Carolina A&T	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 52–21	7,767	^[4]
December 6	No. 12 Nicholls State	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 55–31	9,121
December 13	at No. 1 Nevada	No. 4	Mackay Stadium Reno, NV (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	W 48–38	15,000
December 19	vs. No. 2 Arkansas State	No. 4	Tacoma Dome Tacoma, WA (NCAA Division I-AA Championship Game)	W 48–21	4,419	^[5]^[6]^[7]
Rankings from NCAA Division I-AA Football Committee Poll released prior to the game

^[8]

References

1. "Big game for goliath: Gators 38, Eagles 14". The Atlanta Journal & Constitution. August 31, 1986. Retrieved November 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Ga. Southern falls as ECU ends 15-loss streak". The Atlanta Constitution. October 19, 1986. Retrieved March 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
3. "Defenseless Ga. Southern survives James Madison 45–35". The Atlanta Constitution. November 16, 1986. Retrieved October 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Southern buries Aggies 52–21". The Macon Telegraph & News. November 30, 1986. Retrieved March 22, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Georgia Southern goes for 2nd-straight title". The News-Press. Fort Myers, Florida. AP. December 19, 1986. p. 5C. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
6. "Georgia Southern wins I-AA football crown". Reno Gazette-Journal. Reno, Nevada. December 20, 1986. p. 1B. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
7. "NCAA Official Scoring Summary" (PDF). December 19, 1986. Retrieved May 2, 2019 – via Amazon Web Services.
8. . CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 26, 2017.

External links

• 1986 Football Media Guide at gseagles.com