Georgia Southern has a strong history of football during their time in the FCS. They won six FCS titles between 1985 and 2000, while also playing in two others. Before their move to the FBS, they played in the FCS playoffs in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but failed to get past the FCS semi-finals on all three occasions. In 2011 and 2012, they lost to eventual FCS National Champions North Dakota State. Georgia Southern moves to the FBS this year and will enter the Sun Belt Conference. Before we talk about 2014, let's look at last season.

2013 Georgia Southern Eagles Season

Due to Georgia Southern's transition from FCS to FBS, the Eagles were not eligible to make the FCS Playoffs. They did, however, play well in 2013. With seven starters returning on offense the Eagles averaged 33.5 points and 451 yards per game. The defense gave up an average of only 23.2 points and 360 yards per game with six starters back. Georgia Southern kicked off the season with easy victories over Savannah State (77-9) and Saint Francis (PA) (59-17) before heading into Southern Conference play. They lost their first game against Wofford 30-20 and then beat Chattanooga 23-21. They lost by ten to Samford (44-34) and beat The Citadel by a touchdown (28-21). They finished up Southern Conference play going 2-2 in the final four games. The season culminated with the enormous victory over the Florida Gators in the Swamp on November 23. It was quite the sendoff for Georgia Southern. The entire 2013 schedule is below.

Offense

The offense in 2014 will look different than the one in years past. Willie Fritz comes over from Sam Houston State as head coach. He will run a spread option that will emphasize the passing game more often than the traditional triple option formation. Fritz has stated he wants to throw the ball between 15 and 25 times a game compared to 5 to 15 times under the triple option. Fritz will have eight starters from 2013 to work with in 2014. Leading the attack will be quarterback Kevin Ellison. Ellison split time with Jerrick McKinnon in 2013 behind center. Ellison went 41 of 79 on his throws (51.9%) with 756 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions. More importantly, Ellison had 886 yards rushing with 8 touchdowns in 2013. He will be expected to raise his accuracy, but should be well suited to the change in offensive philosophy.

The running back position was heavily featured in the triple option. It will still be featured with the amount of run options and play actions in the spread offense. Ellison is the leading returning rusher, but three running backs also tallied playing time and decent rushing stats. Tray Butler had 251 yards rushing, Nardo Govan had 245 yards and two touchdowns, and Irving Huggins had 224 yards and five touchdowns. All three of them could be supplanted by redshirt freshman Chaz Thornton and incoming freshman Ryan Peterson. This group will see decent rushing numbers and also catch lots of passes out of the backfield.

The receivers coming back have not caught a lot of passes, but that is how it works in a triple option attack. BJ Johnson caught 12 passes for 216 yards in 2013 and was the top receiver a year ago. Tray Butler caught only five passes all season, but that was good enough for 139 yards (27.8 yards per catch) and two touchdowns. He could stretch the field some. Also projected to get playing time is Zach Walker. He caught 7 passes for 86 yards in 2013. In 2012, he had 9 catches for 343 yards. Former Arkansas State player Derek Keaton is also expected to get plenty of playing time. As with any triple option offense, the wide receivers do not catch a lot of passes. That makes it difficult to know how well this group of guys will perform in 2014, but the numbers will definitely increase.

The offensive line will return four of the five starters from 2013, but will have to deal with a new offensive scheme. The projected starters were recruited for the triple option, but now have to learn zone-blocking techniques. The good thing is that the four returning starters are all seniors so they have leadership qualities and should be able to learn the new schemes quickly. Leading the way will be center Manrey Saint-Amour and left tackle Garrett Frye. Both players made the 2nd team All-Southern Conference last season. The change in schemes will make the beginning of the season difficult, but the experience factor here should help with the learning curve.

Defense

The 2014 defense will have seven starters back from last year's team. The defensive line will have to replace two starters with one at defensive tackle and the other at defensive end. Nose tackle Johnathan Battle will anchor the line. He had 34 tackles and three sacks a season ago. Jay Ellison played at nose tackle in 2013, but will shift over to play defensive tackle this year. In six starts, he recorded 19 tackles and four tackles-for-loss. The line as a group gave up an average of 160 rushing yards per game in 2013. They will need to be even better this year with the step up to the FBS.

The leading tackler in 2013 returns in the form of Edwin Jackson. Jackson had 92 tackles with two sacks last year. He will be joined by Antwione Williams, who missed all of 2013 with a medical redshirt. Williams recorded 32 tackles during the 2012 season. Coming into the mix will be Junior College transfer Ken Butler. He will battle with Tay Hicklin for the nickel back spot. Hicklin finished with 27 tackles and two interceptions after starting 10 games a year ago. With Jackson leading the way, the Eagles should have a decent group of linebackers in 2014.

In 2013, the Georgia Southern secondary gave up an average of 200 passing yards per game. The secondary returns three starters and also adds in a Junior College transfer. Matt Dobson started 11 games at costless safety a year ago and recorded 44 tackles and three interceptions. Strong safety Deion Stanley finished with 30 tackles and three interceptions while being named to the 2nd team All-Southern Conference team. Valdon Cooper played at cornerback last year and was 3rd team Big 10 in 2012 while at Illinois. This unit should be very good in 2014.

Special Teams

Both specialists return in 2014, but a question remains on whether or not Younghoe Koo will retain the kicking duties. Koo went 5 of 6 on field goals with a long of 46 last season, but also missed 3 extra points. Alex Hanks went 7 for 17 in 2012 with a long of 48 yards and then 2 for 3 with a long of 31 yards in 2013. Ryan Nowicki will retain the punting duties. Nowicki averaged 43.1 yards per punt with a net of 36.6 last year. He should do well again in 2014.

2014 Season Outlook

This is the first season in the FBS and Sun Belt Conference for new head coach Willie Fritz. He is installing new offensive schemes, which can be burdensome. In addition, the competition factor increases eleven fold. Georgia Southern usually takes on one FBS opponent each year, but now they face eleven. Fritz does have 15 returning starters and some pieces in place to have a successful season. Below is the 2014 schedule for Georgia Southern.

It is a tough opening stretch for Georgia Southern with three of the first four games on the road at North Carolina State, Georgia Tech, and South Alabama. It is hard to envision the Eagles winning any of those contests. Savannah State will be an easy win for the Eagles and the schedule opens up for them after the South Alabama game. It is not difficult to see Georgia Southern winning three of the next for, if not winning all four. However, they end the season with three tough teams from the Sun Belt with a road game at Navy sandwiched in between Texas State and UL-Monroe. Georgia Southern will have a decent season to start their journey in the FBS if they can reach four or five wins.