Georgia Southern University football and the Southern Conference are parting ways after this season, and for its final act GSU would love to win the regular season conference title outright.

Before GSU can worry about conference play, the team will have to beat Savannah State University in front of a raucous home crowd at Paulson Stadium.  This should not be very tough considering the Eagles have never lost to SSU.

The Eagles shared a 6-2 conference record last year with Wofford College and Appalachian State University, but with GSU and App. State both heading to the Sun Belt Conference all three teams have a little more incentive to prove who runs the SoCon.

GSU will open conference play against Wofford in week three on the road.  The Eagles have won the last three meetings between the two teams, but last year’s game sat at 10-6 before a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter gave GSU some breathing room.

Also last year, The Citadel gave GSU its first loss of the season in a mistake-filled 23-21 contest.  Unless GSU fumbles five times and misses two field goals for the second year in a row, The Citadel will not beat GSU this year.

The game against App. State will be a battle as always with the memory of last season’s 31-28 home loss still fresh in the minds of GSU head football coach Jeff Monken’s squad. GSU will be looking for a measure of revenge when it heads up to on Boone, North Carolina on Oct. 26.

A penalty on the Eagle’s final possession saw what could have been the game-winning drive stall.  GSU is 1-3 in its last four games against App. State, and has not won at Kidd Brewer Stadium since 2007.  I believe App. State pulls out a close one on its home field.

I see GSU finishing this season 8-3, the same record the team had at the end of the regular season last year.

To see football reporter Will Cheney’s prediction column, click here https://thegeorgeanne.com/?p=9475 .