2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team

The 2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football team represented the Georgia Southern University as a member of the Southern Conference (SoCon) during the 2002 NCAA Division I-AA football season. Led by first-year head coach Mike Sewak, the Eagles compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, winning the SoCon title for the sixth consecutive season. Georgia Southern advanced to the NCAA Division I-AA Football Championship playoffs, where they defeated Bethune–Cookman in the first round and Maine in the quarterfinals before falling to Western Kentucky in the semifinals. Eagles played their home games at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Georgia.

2002 Georgia Southern Eagles football
SoCon champion
NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal, L 28–31 vs. Western Kentucky
Conference	Southern Conference
Ranking
Sports Network	No. 3
Record	11–3 (7–1 SoCon)
Head coach	Mike Sewak (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Mitch Ware (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Rusty Russell (6th season)
Home stadium	Paulson Stadium
Seasons ← 2001 2003 →

2002 Southern Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Georgia Southern $^		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 14 Wofford		6	–	2					9	–	3
No. 10 Appalachian State ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
No. 9 Furman ^		6	–	2					8	–	4
VMI		3	–	5					6	–	6
Western Carolina		3	–	5					5	–	6
East Tennessee State		2	–	6					4	–	8
Chattanooga		2	–	6					2	–	10
The Citadel		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – Conference champion ^ – NCAA Division I-AA playoff participant Rankings from The Sports Network I-AA Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
August 29	7:00 pm	at No. 22 Delaware*	No. 5	Delaware Stadium Newark, DE	L 19–22	19,056	[1]
September 7		Gardner–Webb*	No. 12	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 56–0	18,895	[2]
September 21	7:00 pm	Wofford	No. 9	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	L 7–14	15,564	[3]
September 28		at Chattanooga	No. 18	Finley Stadium Chattanooga, TN	W 38–10	8,566	[4]
October 5		VMI	No. 18	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 52–7	15,621	[5]
October 12		at Western Carolina	No. 16	E. J. Whitmire Stadium Cullowhee, NC	W 41–24	7,749	[6]
October 19		Appalachian State	No. 13	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (rivalry)	W 36–20	15,146	[7]
October 26	2:00 pm	at The Citadel	No. 10	Johnson Hagood Stadium Charleston, SC	W 28–24	16,427	[8]
November 2		East Tennessee State	No. 9	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 40–7	16,106	[9]
November 9		at Furman	No. 9	Paladin Stadium Greenville, SC	W 39–24	15,794	[10]
November 16		Jacksonville State*	No. 4	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA	W 37–13	8,544	[11]
November 30		No. 11 Bethune–Cookman*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA First Round)	W 34–0	7,395	[12]
December 7		No. 7 Maine*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Quarterfinal)	W 31–7	6,708	[13]
December 14	5:30 pm	No. 15 Western Kentucky*	No. 2	Paulson Stadium Statesboro, GA (NCAA Division I-AA Semifinal)	L 28–31	6,573	[14]
*Non-conference game Rankings from The Sports Network Poll released prior to the game All times are in Eastern time

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