The 2019 Georgia Southern football schedule was released Friday morning showing six home Saturday games this upcoming season- a first since 2013.

The Eagles have recognized this scheduled has proved to be one of the most difficult FBS slates in program history with at least two nationally televised games.

The Eagles will open their season traveling to play against SEC team Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge Aug. 31. LSU went 10-3 in their 2018 season, including a win over the then-undefeated University of Georgia. The Eagle’s first home game will be played Sept.7 against Maine.

“This schedule, on paper, is shaping up to be really tough, but we’re up for the challenge,” Head Coach Chad Lunsford said in a press release. “We start out at LSU, who is one of the top teams in the country, then host Maine who went to the FCS semifinals last year and then go to Minnesota, who won seven games and a bowl game as a young team last year.”

The Eagles will start conference play Sep. 28 where they will the Sun Belt teams University of Louisiana-Lafayette, Coastal Carolina, ULM and Georgia State. GS will be traveling to play conference opponents South Alabama, Appalachian State, Troy and Arkansas State.

The Eagles will have four open Saturdays with two bye weeks. With holding the tradition of playing App State on Thursday, the Eagles will also have a full 10 days to prepare to take on Troy.

Like last season, the Sun Belt conference is again split into two, five-team divisions with the championship game on Dec. 7 at the highest-ranked team’s home stadium. The Eagles are group again inside the East Division with Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina, Troy and Georgia State.

Kaitlin Sells, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu