The big buzz going into this season is the expansion of the college football playoffs with 12 teams getting an opportunity to play for a national championship.
Four of those spots are reserved for the ACC, SEC, Big 10 and Big 12 champions with another going to the highest rated Group of 5 conference champion. National pundits have tabbed Boise State and Memphis as the most likely to grab that berth.
Like Georgia Tech last week Georgia Southern finds itself in a position to have a say so in who might be in the field as they take on Boise State Saturday at 4 p.m. at Paulson Stadium in what might be the Eagles’ toughest ever home opener.
Tech was a double-digit underdog going up against Florida State and as the world knows pulled off a 24-21 upset. Georgia Southern finds itself in a similar situation in that oddsmakers have it as a 13-point dog to the Broncos.
What makes it more of a head scratcher is that while Tech was playing in Dublin, Ireland, the Eagles are playing in the friendly confines of Paulson Stadium where they have been all but unbeatable over the years.
Adding to the slight is that Georgia Southern now finds itself as a pre-season middle of the pack Sun Belt Conference team looking to avoid an unprecedented fourth straight losing season, something that has never happened since the rebirth of the football program in the 1980s.
None of this has been lost on the Eagles who see the matchup with the Broncos as a golden opportunity to reclaim some of the national notoriety which they once enjoyed.
“We’re excited to be playing them,” redshirt senior linebacker Marques Watson-Trent said. “We understand they’re a great program, but we understand our tradition, too.
“I’m just happy to be able to play a program like that,” Watson-Trent said. “This is a game that will draw a lot of national attention and as a competitor that’s what you want. This is a big opportunity for us.
“This is big for our program. We want to be 1-0 at the end of the week and we know where we want to be at the end of the season.”
While the Eagles said not draw a lot of love in the Sun Belt Conference pre-season polling—they were picked to finish fourth in the East Division behind Appalachian State, James Madison and Coastal Carolina—Watson-Trent said what happens starting Saturday is all that matters.
“You can’t focus on the pre-season,” Watson-Trent said. “The season is going to play out. The pre-season is nothing real. It’s the process of how you prepare, focusing on the season itself, focusing on the people in that locker room. That’s the most important thing you have to do.”
Watson-Trent is one of the top linebackers in the conference. He was a first team All-SBC pick last year after making second team as a sophomore. He was also a third-team All- America (HERO Sports) last year having led the Eagles with 122 tackles including 13 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks and two interceptions one of which he returned for a touchdown.
As to the opportunity the Broncos present Watson-Trent likens it to the Nebraska game of two years ago when Georgia Southern went on the road and pulled off a 45-42 win
“This gives us a chance to put the spotlight on Georgia Southern,” said Watson-Trent who led the Eagles with 10 tackles in that game. “This is an opportunity to get more eyes on us and evolve and push Georgia Southern to where we want to be.”
