Statesboro is the largest city and county seat of Bulloch County, Georgia, United States. Located in the southeastern part of the state, its population was 33,438 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Statesboro micropolitan area, which had 81,099 residents, and is part of the Savannah–Hinesville–Statesboro combined statistical area.
Georgia Southern University is a public research university in the U.S. state of Georgia. The flagship campus is in Statesboro, with additional campuses in Savannah and Hinesville. Founded in 1906, Georgia Southern is the fifth-largest institution in the University System of Georgia. GSU offers over 140 different academic majors at the bachelor's, master's, and doctoral levels. The university has a combined enrollment of approximately 27,000 students from all 50 states and over 80 countries. Georgia Southern is classified among "R2: Doctoral Universities – High research activity" and a comprehensive university by the University System of Georgia.
The Georgia Southern Eagles are the athletic team(s) of Georgia Southern University (GS). The Eagles compete in the Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and are members of the NCAA Division I Sun Belt Conference. Prior to joining the Sun Belt Conference in 2014, the Eagles were members of the Trans America Athletic Conference and the Southern Conference (SoCon). During their time at the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS/I-AA) level, the Eagles have won six national championships.
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.
Erskine "Erk" Russell was an American football, basketball, track and baseball player and coach. He was also the defensive coordinator for the Georgia Bulldogs for seventeen years (1964–1981) and head football coach (1981–1989) of the Georgia Southern Eagles. He was also the head coach at Grady High School in Atlanta, Georgia in the 1950s. He graduated from Auburn University where he earned ten varsity letters. He was the last four-sport letterman in the college's history.
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 produced two Walter Payton Award winners. Georgia Southern first continuously fielded a football team in 1924, but play was suspended for World War II and did not return until 1981. The Eagles competed as an FCS independent from 1984 to1992 and as a member of the Southern Conference from 1993 to 2013, winning 10 SoCon championships. In 2014, Georgia Southern moved to the FBS level and joined the Sun Belt Conference, winning the conference championship outright in its first year. Georgia Southern's main Sun Belt rivals are Appalachian State and Georgia State.
The Georgia State Panthers are the intercollegiate athletics teams that represent Georgia State University, located in Atlanta, Georgia. Almost all GSU teams compete at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level as members of the Sun Belt Conference, a conference of which they were a charter member. Previously, GSU was a member of the CAA, and prior to that, the ASUN Conference.
Sports in Georgia include professional teams, Olympic Games contenders and medalists, collegiate teams in major and small-school conferences and associations, and active amateur teams and individual sports.
Southern Pride is the name for the marching band of Georgia Southern University located in Statesboro, Georgia.
The Georgia Southern–Georgia State rivalry, also known as Modern Day Hate, is a college athletics rivalry between the Georgia Southern Eagles and Georgia State Panthers. Both schools are members of the Sun Belt Conference (SBC). For the 2021–22 school year, the men's soccer rivalry temporarily moved to the Mid-American Conference, with both schools joining that league for men's soccer after the SBC disbanded its men's soccer league. However, SBC expansion in 2022 and the addition of three "Power Five" programs led to the reinstatement of SBC men's soccer effective in 2022–23. While the teams have only met eight times in football, the rivalry dates back to the 1970s in basketball and other sports.
South Georgia Tormenta FC is an American soccer organization based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2015, the club fields a professional team in USL League One, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as well as a pre-professional team in USL League Two called Tormenta FC 2 and a pre-professional team in USL W-League. The team colors are midnight navy, sky blue, silver, and magenta. The team's crest shows an ibis.
Peachtree City MOBA is an American soccer team based in Peachtree City, Georgia. Founded as a soccer academy in 2013, the team plays in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the United States soccer league system.
The 2006 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern University during the 2006 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The team was coached by Brian VanGorder, in his first and only year as head coach for the Eagles.
The 1988 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College during the 1988 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 seventh year as head coach for the Eagles.
The 1987 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College during the 1987 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 sixth year as head coach for the Eagles.
The 1985 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College during the 1985 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 fourth year as head coach for the Eagles.
The 1984 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College during the 1984 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 third year as head coach for the Eagles.
The 1983 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern Eagles of Georgia Southern College during the 1983 NCAA Division I-AA football season. The Eagles played their home games at Womack Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The team was coached by Erk Russell, in his second year as head coach for the Eagles.
South Georgia Tormenta FC 2, officially known as Tormenta FC 2, is an American soccer team based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2019, the club fields a pre-professional team in USL League Two, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid. They are the reserve club of USL League One team South Georgia Tormenta FC. Tormenta FC 2 is known by the nickname Twomenta, a play off of Tormenta and the number 2.
Optim Sports Medicine Field at Tormenta Stadium is a 5,300-seat soccer-specific stadium in Statesboro, Georgia. The stadium is the home field for South Georgia Tormenta FC, a professional soccer club that plays in USL League One, the third tier of soccer in the United States.
