2007 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 2007 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented Georgia Southern University in the 2007 NCAA Division I FCS football season.

2007 Georgia Southern Eagles football
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 18
Sports Network	No. 17
Record	7–4 (4–3 SoCon)
Head coach	Chris Hatcher (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Rance Gillespie (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Triple option
Defensive coordinator	Ashley Anders (1st season)
Base defense	4–3
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
Seasons ← 2006 2008 →

2007 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 1 Appalachian State +^		5	–	2					13	–	2
No. 6 Wofford +^		5	–	2					9	–	4
No. 17 Georgia Southern		4	–	3					7	–	4
No. 23 Elon		4	–	3					7	–	4
The Citadel		4	–	3					7	–	4
Furman		4	–	3					6	–	5
Chattanooga		2	–	5					2	–	9
Western Carolina		0	–	7					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network FCS Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	6:00 pm	West Georgia*		Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 45–21	21,489
September 15	7:00 pm	at Coastal Carolina*		Brooks Stadium Conway, SC	SS	W 42–34	8,448
September 22	7:00 pm	Chattanooga		Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	CSS	L 38–45 OT	18,785
September 29	3:30 pm	Western Carolina		Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	CSS	W 50–21	15,486
October 6	2:00 pm	South Dakota State*		Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA		W 41–38	15,912
October 13	3:00 pm	at Elon	No. 21	Rhodes Stadium Elon, NC	SS	L 33–36 2OT	5,429
October 20	3:30 pm	at No. 5 Appalachian State		Kidd Brewer Stadium Boone, NC (rivalry)	MASN	W 38–35	28,202
October 27	12:00 pm	No. 25 The Citadel	No. 22	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	CSS	W 21–17	18,506
November 3	1:30 pm	at No. 10 Wofford	No. 17	Gibbs Stadium Spartanburg, SC		W 38–35	12,124
November 10	3:30 pm	Furman	No. 11	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	SS	L 22–24	23,373	[1]
November 17	2:00 pm	at Colorado State*		Hughes Stadium Fort Collins, CO		L 34–42	14,332
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

Game summaries

West Georgia

It was a successful coaching debut for Chris Hatcher, who took over as Eagles coach after winning a national championship at Valdosta State in NCAA Division II. He was brought on to restore Georgia Southern's prestige as a Football Championship Subdivision powerhouse again after finishing 3–8 last season, the last when the division was recognized as 1-AA.^[2]

	1	2	3	4	Total
West Georgia	7	14	0	0	21
Georgia Southern	10	0	14	21	45

Coastal Carolina

Jayson Foster ran for 253 yards and six touchdowns to lead Georgia Southern past Coastal Carolina 42–34 on Saturday night...The Eagles (2v0) also got 206 yards from Lamar Lewis on 18 carries, including a 63-yard run.^[3]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia Southern	14	7	0	21	42
Coastal Carolina	7	7	7	13	34

Chattanooga

It was the Southern Conference opener for both teams. Georgia Southern (2–1, 0–1) got another outstanding night from quarterback Jayson Foster who rushed for 210 yards and completed 16 of 19 passes for 120 yards.^[4]

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Chattanooga	14	3	14	7	7	45
Georgia Southern	7	7	14	10	0	38

Western Carolina

Jayson Foster ran for one touchdown and threw for another while completing all 10 of his passes to lead Georgia Southern to a 50–21 Southern Conference victory over Western Carolina on Saturday. Foster, who led Division I Football Championship Subdivision rushers with an average of 231.2 yards per game, had only 96 yards rushing, but he was effective throwing the football. The 5-foot-9, 164-pound senior was 10-for-10 passing for 147 yards, including a 29-yard scoring pass to Michael McIntosh. Foster is now 27-for-30 in his last two games and his perfect performance against the Catamounts was a new school single game completion record.^[5]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Western Carolina	0	0	7	14	21
Georgia Southern	10	17	3	20	50

South Dakota State

Jesse Hartley kicked a 54-yard field goal on the final play of the game to give Georgia Southern a 41–38 victory over South Dakota State on Saturday....Hartley's game winning kick, a career long, was set up by an interception by Carson Hill with 21 seconds remaining. The Jackrabbits got the ball back with 31 seconds to play and the score tied but chose not to sit on it.^[6]

	1	2	3	4	Total
South Dakota State	0	7	17	14	38
Georgia Southern	14	17	0	10	41

Elon

The Phoenix (4–2, 2–1 Southern Conference) beat the Eagles for the first time in eight games....Hartley, who made a 49-yard try in the second quarter as one of his four field goals, missed a 38-yard attempt in the second overtime as the Eagles gained only 4 yards in three downs. The Phoenix actually lost 7 yards in three plays before Wilcox made the winning kick.^[7]

	1	2	3	4	OT	2OT	Total
Georgia Southern	7	6	10	7	3	0	33
Elon	3	17	3	7	3	3	36

Appalachian State

Lamar Lewis ran for 74 yards and two touchdowns, including a key fourth-quarter score, as Georgia Southern held off an Appalachian State rally Saturday and took a 38–35 victory in the Southern Conference.^[8]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia Southern	21	10	0	7	38
Appalachian State	14	3	3	15	35

The Citadel

Jayson Foster scored a pair touchdowns in the fourth quarter to help Georgia Southern rally late in a 21–17 win over The Citadel on Saturday....Foster also completed 11-of-16 passes for 106 yards. Lamar Lewis chipped in on the running game, gaining 82 yards on 18 carries.^[9]

	1	2	3	4	Total
The Citadel	7	7	3	0	17
Georgia Southern	3	0	3	15	21

Wofford

Jayson Foster had 279 rushing yards and three touchdowns to lead Georgia Southern a 38–35 victory over Wofford on Saturday....With the game tied at 35, Georgia Southern (7–2, 4–2 Southern Conference) had a 45-yard kickoff return to set up the game-winning field goal with 8:58 left in the game.^[10]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia Southern	14	14	0	10	38
Wofford	14	0	14	7	35

Furman

	1	2	3	4	Total
Furman	3	7	14	0	24
Georgia Southern	0	15	0	7	22

Colorado State

Gartrell Johnson ran for two touchdowns and caught a touchdown pass, leading Colorado State to a 42–34 victory over Georgia Southern Saturday. Johnson finished with 136 yards on the ground. Caleb Hanie completed 13-of-16 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, and Damon Morton caught four passes for 100 yards and a score for Colorado State (2–9)....Quarterback Jayson Foster ran for 195 yards on 27 carries and scored three touchdowns for the Eagles. He also threw for 107 yards for Georgia Southern (7-4).^[11]

	1	2	3	4	Total
Georgia Southern	0	3	14	17	34
Colorado State	7	21	7	7	42

References

1. "Field goal try on last play goes awry". The Atlanta Constitution. November 11, 2007. Retrieved September 25, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
2. "Georgia Southern 45, West Georgia 21". Yahoo! Sports. September 8, 2007. Retrieved September 9, 2007.
3. "Georgia Southern 42, Coastal Carolina 34". Yahoo! Sports. September 15, 2007. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
4. "Chattanooga 45, Georgia Southern 38, OT". Yahoo! Sports. September 22, 2007. Retrieved September 23, 2007.
5. "Georgia Southern 50, W. Carolina 21". Yahoo! Sports. September 29, 2007. Retrieved September 30, 2007.
6. "Georgia Southern 41, S. Dakota State 38". Yahoo! Sports. October 6, 2007. Retrieved October 7, 2007.
7. "Elon 36, Georgia Southern 33, OT". Yahoo! Sports. October 13, 2007. Retrieved October 14, 2007.
8. "Georgia Southern 38, Appalachian St. 35". Yahoo! Sports. October 20, 2007. Retrieved October 21, 2007.
9. "Georgia Southern 21, The Citadel 17". ESPN. October 27, 2007. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
10. "Georgia Southern 38, Wofford 35". ESPN. November 3, 2007. Archived from the original on May 19, 2011. Retrieved November 4, 2007.
11. "Colorado St. 42, Georgia Southern 34". ESPN. November 17, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2007. Retrieved November 18, 2007.