The day before Halloween, the Georgia Southern football team lost at home to Samford – a team that finished 4-7 and didn’t win another game after beating the Eagles.
Following that defeat, which dropped the Eagles to 4-4 in Jeff Monken’s first season as head coach, Georgia Southern didn’t look much like Football Championship Subdivision playoff contenders, much less national championship contenders.
Six weeks and six wins later, the Eagles (10-4) are playing No. 3 seed Delaware (11-2) in the semifinals today for a spot in the Jan. 7 championship game in Frisco, Texas.
“We just were hoping we could improve as a football team, and we’re still hoping we can improve as a football team,” Monken said of the Eagles’ late-season surge. “Our guys are working hard, they’re trying hard, and I appreciate the fact that they’ve really tried to do all the things that we’ve asked of them and demanded of them.”
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga coach Russ Huesman knows a thing or two about starting slowly and finishing strong. In 2008, when he was Richmond’s defensive coordinator, the Spiders were 4-3 before reeling off nine straight wins to earn the national championship.
“Whenever you talk about playoffs, it’s when you get hot, who’s healthy, how you’re playing leading into it,” Huesman said. “Obviously [the Eagles] were playing pretty good leading into the playoffs. So does it surprise me that they’ve done well in the playoffs? No, not at all.”
Huesman’s Mocs beat Georgia Southern 35-27 on Oct. 16, a loss that dropped the Eagles to 3-3. At 4-4 after losing to Samford, the Eagles had to win out to have a shot at the playoffs.
They upset top-ranked Appalachian State in overtime on Nov. 6, cruised by Western Carolina the next week and rallied in the fourth quarter of Bobby Lamb’s final game as Furman’s coach to beat the Paladins 32-28.
A 7-4 record didn’t guarantee the Eagles a spot in the 20-team playoff field, but they got a lot of help from UTC, which lost to Wofford on the final Saturday of the season.
The Eagles were among the last at-large teams selected, but they were able to host their first-round game against South Carolina State, winning easily. The following week, GSU traveled to No. 2 seed William & Mary and thumped the Trible 31-15.
Last week, in an all-Southern Conference, all-triple-option matchup at Wofford, the Eagles not only held on for a 23-20 win but did so with about 5,000 of their fans at Wofford’s Gibbs Stadium.
Because of its high seed, Delaware had a first-round bye. The Eagles, on the other hand, are playing for the 11th week in a row.
“It would have been nice to have a week off, but we’re just lucky to be in the playoffs and practicing another week with our team,” GSU All-America sophomore defensive tackle Brent Russell said. “It’s great to have Georgia Southern back winning.”
The Eagles fans stormed the field after last week’s game, earning a rebuke from the NCAA FCS championship committee. Georgia Southern received a letter from the NCAA this week warning that a repeat could cost GSU a chance to host postseason games in the future.
“We’re just enjoying the Saturdays together,” Monken said. “We feel fortunate to just have had more than the regular season to be able to compete and coach these guys and for them to have a chance to play together.”
Contact John Frierson at jfrierson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6268. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/mocsbeatCTFP.