Ranking the Top 131 College Football Programs of the Last 40 Years: 105. Georgia Southern
Not to be confused with Georgia State
And after Vandy, we’re right back to the G5 teams. Make no mistake, though: Georgia Southern is a very proud program. They won 6 FCS national titles from 1985-2000, and probably would’ve won a couple in the early 2010’s had North Dakota State not been on their crazy run. A team whose history is built on the option, they’ve won their way, and have continued to win their way even after moving up a division.
Best Seasons and Highlights
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| rank | team | year | resume score | record |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
| 30 | Georgia Southern | 2018 | 12.492 | 10-3 |
| 40 | Georgia Southern | 2014 | 7.001 | 9-3 |
| 46 | Georgia Southern | 2015 | 5.452 | 9-4 |
| 57 | Georgia Southern | 2020 | -4.259 | 8-5 |
| 57 | Georgia Southern | 2019 | -6.558 | 7-6 |
| 81 | Georgia Southern | 2016 | -20.056 | 5-7 |
| 91 | Georgia Southern | 2022 | -21.059 | 6-7 |
| 113 | Georgia Southern | 2021 | -42.661 | 3-9 |
| 121 | Georgia Southern | 2017 | -54.21 | 2-10 |
+------+------------------+------+--------------+--------+
Overall Score: 2505 (105th)59-54 record
1 conference title
3-2 bowl record
0 consensus All-Americans
4 NFL players drafted
9 seasons played, 5 winning seasons, 7 seasons with at least 5 wins, and 3 top 50 finishes. That’s pretty good for such a short amount of time! In just 9 years, Georgia Southern has won as many bowl games as Vanderbilt has in 40. In addition to running the option well, Georgia Southern’s become a bit of a kicking factory. Tyler Bass (2015-19) is the starting kicker for the Buffalo Bills, and Younghoe Koo (2013-16) is the starting kicker for the Atlanta Falcons. Those 2 in the locker room together in 2015-16 is arguably one of the best kicking rooms in NCAA history.
Top 5 Seasons
Worst Season: 2017 (2-10 overall, 2-6 Sun Belt)
That’s what happens when you don’t believe in the option! Coach Tyson Summers was in his 2nd year of trying to move away from the option, and was canned just 6 games after an 0-6 start. Losses to bottomfeeders UMass, New Mexico State, and FCS New Hampshire were inexcusable and Summers was replaced by interim coach Chad Lunsford. At 0-9, Georgia Southern had one of the most random blowouts of the season in a 52-0 win over South Alabama, who came into the game as 6 point favorites. A win at UL Lafayette the next week allowed GS to finish with 2 wins and “only” 2nd to last in the conference. Lunsford was hired as the full-time head coach after the year, and would go on to have 3 of the top 5 seasons on this list.
5. 2019 (7-6 overall, 5-3 Sun Belt)
Lunsford’s 2nd full season. It started with a bang as starting QB Shai Werts was indefinitely suspended for what was thought to be cocaine possession, until it was tested and came back to be bird poop. Werts would bounce back to make Honorable Mention All-Sun Belt with 799 passing yards 9 TD 1 INT and 733 rushing yards 5 TD for the year. Competing in a very tough division with Appalachian State coming off an 11-2 year and Troy coming off a 10-3 year, Georgia Southern still managed to finish 2nd in the Sun Belt East with a 5-3 record. They were better than their record too, with a win over #20 Appalachian State and a 32-35 loss to Minnesota, who finished top 10 in the nation. A 38-10 win over Georgia State to end the regular season was a triple whammy: they won their rivalry game, became bowl eligible, and clinched 2nd in the East while Georgia State finished 3rd. Despite giving up 28.2 PPG on defense throughout the year, Southern had 5 players make the All-Sun Belt Team, including 3 DBs.
4. 2020 (8-5 overall, 4-4 Sun Belt)
13 games, 13 non-Power 5 opponents. Hey, it was covid. They still played some good opponents like #19 Louisiana and #25 Coastal Carolina, who both finished the season in the top 15. The last few weeks salvaged the season—at 6-4, Georgia Southern hadn’t beaten anyone that finished with a winning record, but beat 5-1 FAU and 5-4 Louisiana Tech in 2 of the last 3 weeks. QB Werts, in his 4th year as a starter, had a disappointing year, throwing just 8 TD to 6 INT, but did run for his 2nd highest rushing TD total of his career with 11. DB Derrick Canteen led the Sun Belt with 6 INTs and DE Raymond Johnson III was 4th in total TFL with 14. While this was coach Chad Lunsford’s 3rd winning season in a row, he’d be let go early next season after a 1-3 start, fans citing discipline issues within the team.
3. 2015 (9-4 overall, 6-2 Sun Belt)
Georgia Southern got off to a roaring start after the move from FCS → FBS, going 9-3 in 2014 and 9-4 in 2015. Coach Willie Fritz had previously gone 97-47 at Division II Central Missouri and 40-15 at FCS Sam Houston State with 2 FCS national title appearances, and after 2015 would go on to take over Tulane and lead them to their best ever season in 2022. Fritz had this team READY TO GO. 2014-15 Georgia Southern had some absolute ballers. QBs Kevin Ellison and Favian Upshaw may have combined for just 4 TD 10 INT on the year, but they also combined for 1281 rushing yards and 14 TD on 6.6 YPC. Matt Breida was one of the best RBs in the country, rushing for 1609 yards on 17 TD and 7.9 YPC! La Ramsby and Wesley Fields were high quality backups, combining for 1505 rushing yards and 20 TD. If you were a Georgia Southern fan around this time, you probably remember these guys very fondly, as all 5 had pretty good careers in college. Younghoe Koo hit 7 of 9 FGs, DB Antonio Glover had 6 INTs, and LB Antwione Williams was drafted in the 5th round of the NFL Draft after the season. They also took 7-3 Georgia to OT late in the year.
2. 2014 (9-3 overall, 8-0 Sun Belt)
In just their first FBS season, Georgia Southern won the Sun Belt title! They became the first ever first year team to go unbeaten in conference play, and were the third team ever to win their conference in their first FBS season (Nevada 1992, Marshall 1997). It’s a shame they didn’t get to play in a bowl because of the FBS transition, as they probably would’ve impressed on a more national stage. Despite 3 non-conference losses, 2 of them were a 23-24 loss to NC State and a 38-42 loss to Georgia Tech. NC State finished the year 8-5, and Georgia Tech finished #8 in the nation. GS was a bit fortunate in their Sun Belt scheduling though, as they avoided playing 2nd place UL Lafayette and 5th place Arkansas State (who won the Sun Belt title every year from 2011-16 except 2014). Still, the offense was cooking, averaging 39.1 PPG. Fritz had two 1000 yard rushers with RB Breida going for 1485 and 12 TD, QB Ellison going for 1096 and 12 TD, and backup RB Ramsby added 691 and 12 TD. Fritz won Sun Belt Coach of the Year.
1. 2018 (10-3 overall, 6-2 Sun Belt)
GS fans may or may not prefer the experience of 2014 over 2018, but the 2018 team certainly had its moments. After starting 6-1 with the sole loss to #2 Clemson, Georgia Southern hosted #25 Appalachian State for one of the biggest Deeper Than Hate rivalry games in recent memory. Georgia Southern was nearly perfect, thumping App State 34-14 thanks to 5 App State turnovers. Next week GS was technically ranked 28th in the nation with 62 votes for the AP Top 25, but it was short lived as they’d drop back-to-back games to UL Monroe and Troy. A 3-0 end to the season finished with them beating Eastern Michigan on a last second 40 yard FG from Tyler Bass, 23-21. Bass made 1st Team All-Sun Belt going 19/21 on FGs. Georgia Southern finished #30 in my rankings thanks to a 1-1 record against Top 25 opponents and going 3-2 against teams with a winning record. QB Shai Werts had his best year, nearly flawless with 987 passing yards 10 TD 0 INT along with 908 rush yards 15 TD.
5th Quarter
How do Georgia Southern fans feel about Clay Helton moving to more of an air-raid attack? What was the best year, 2014, 2015, or 2018? Which of those was the best team? For non-Georgia Southern fans, how do you view the program?
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