2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football
2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football
SoCon champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 28–31 vs. Western Kentucky
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 3
Record	11–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Mike Sewak (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Mitch Ware (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Rusty Russell (6th season)
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
	Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

The 2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Sewak, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SoCon title for the sixth consecutive season. Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Bethune–Cookman in the first round and Maine in the quarterfinals before falling to Western Kentucky in the semifinals. Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

2002 Southern Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^	7	–	1	11	–	3
No. 14 Wofford	6	–	2	9	–	3
No. 10 Appalachian State ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
No. 9 Furman ^	6	–	2	8	–	4
VMI	3	–	5	6	–	6
Western Carolina	3	–	5	5	–	6
East Tennessee State	2	–	6	4	–	8
Chattanooga	2	–	6	2	–	10
The Citadel	1	–	7	3	–	9

$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	7:00 pm	at No. 22 Delaware*	No. 5	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	L 19–22	19,056
September 7		Gardner–Webb*	No. 12	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 56–0	18,895
September 21	7:00 pm	Wofford	No. 9	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	L 7–14	15,564
September 28		at Chattanooga	No. 18	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	W 38–10	8,566
October 5		VMI	No. 18	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 52–7	15,621
October 12		at Western Carolina	No. 16	Bob Waters Field at E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	W 41–24	7,749
October 19		Appalachian State	No. 13	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (rivalry)	W 36–20	15,146	^[1]
October 26	2:00 pm	at The Citadel	No. 10	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 28–24	16,427
November 2		East Tennessee State	No. 9	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 40–7	16,106
November 9		at Furman	No. 9	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	W 39–24	15,794	^[2]
November 16		Jacksonville State*	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 37–13	8,544
November 30		No. 11 Bethune–Cookman*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 34–0	7,395
December 7		No. 7 Maine*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 31–7	6,708
December 14	5:30 pm	No. 15 Western Kentucky*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 28–31	6,573
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

^ "No. 13 and growing up". The Atlanta Constitution. October 20, 2002. Retrieved December 1, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Georgia Southern takes easy win over Paladins". The Item. November 10, 2002. Retrieved September 24, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "2002 Football Schedule". CFBDataWarehouse.com. Archived from the original on January 13, 2016. Retrieved January 11, 2017.

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