As the Eagles reach midseason they have a lot to be proud of, but much more lies ahead. The team is sitting pretty at 5-1, with a 3-0 Sun Belt conference record and are two wins away from becoming bowl eligible for the first ever bowl game in Georgia Southern’s history.

After the heartbreaking loss to West Virginia, the Eagles have bounced back better than most fans could have ever predicted. On the tail of a four game win streak, the team is among the top teams in the nation in terms of the rushing attack.

The Eagles are atop the NCAA rushing leaderboard with 2394 yards on the ground with 29 rushing touchdown and 399 yards rushing per game. These figures lead the NCAA just as the team did last season, and they are trailed by Baylor and LSU. Speaking of LSU, their running back Leonard Fournette is at the top of the early Heisman standings, but running back Matt Breida is right on his tail.

Breida currently ranks ninth among running backs in terms of total rushing yards, even with far less carries the other top rushers. The junior sensation has rushed for 875 yards on 85 carries and 10 touchdowns, against the top running back, Fournette, who has 150 carries for 1202 yards. It is hard to compare rushing stats with such a deviation in carries, but when looking at the yards per carry Breida is a cut above the rest. He is currently the number one running back in the FBS in terms of yards per carry with 10.3. This means thhat he averages a first down every time he touches the ball.

For all of the fans looking to watch some Georgia Southern football during their Christmas break, there are four possible bowl games for the top four teams in the Sun Belt. The first is the New Orleans Bowl played down in the Mardi Gras haven of Louisiana against the 5th ranked team in the Mountain West Conference. Another is the GoDaddy.com Bowl which is located in Mobile, Alabama and played against a member of the Mid-American Conference.

The third bowl game that the Eagles could be eligible for is the Cure Bowl, which is named and dedicated to the purpose of curing Breast Cancer. This is the first year of the AutoZone Cure Bowl and it will be played in Orlando, Florida against the American Athletic Conference. The final bowl game possibility left for the Eagles would be Camellia Bowl down in Montgomery, Alabama.

With seven games remaining, the Eagles are very likely to be bowl bound this season. How far they will go will completely depend upon two swing games against Appalachian State and the University of Georgia. Regardless, fans should plan to spend a few days of their Christmas Break supporting their Eagles as they play for legitimacy in the FBS.