By Colin McGuigan
Game 13 • R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl
New Orleans, La. • Caesars Superdome (73,208)
Sam Houston (9-3, 6-2 CUSA) vs Georgia Southern (8-4, 6-2 SBC)
Thursday, December 19 • 6:00 PM CT
TV: ESPN2 (Jorge Sedano, Orlando Franklin, Morgan Uber)
RADIO: BSN (Carlos Zimmermann, Brian Adams); Sirius XM 388
RADIO: ESPN (Dave Neal, Aaron Murray)
HOW TO FOLLOW: Live Stats • @BearkatsFB on X
GAME NOTES: Sam Houston • Georgia Southern
Series vs the Eagles: First Meeting
NEW ORLEANS – The Sam Houston Bearkats will make their first bowl appearance as a member of the FBS when they take on Georgia Southern from the Sun Belt Conference in the 24th R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Thursday night.
Kickoff of Thursday’s contest is set for 6:00 p.m. CT at the Caesars Superdome. It will be aired on ESPN2 with Jorge Sedano and Orlando Franklin in the booth and Morgan Uber on the sidelines.
The game can be heard online on the Bearkat Sports Network and the Bearkat Athletics app with Carlos Zimmermann and Brian Adams on the call from the radio booth. The BSN broadcast can also be heard in-car on Sirius XM Channel 388.
Additionally, ESPN Radio will carry the game with Dave Neal and Aaron Murray calling the action.
KATS TO MAKE FBS BOWL DEBUT IN R+L CARRIERS NEW ORLEANS BOWL
– The Kats became the first CUSA team in 2024 to secure bowl eligibility with its win at FIU. Sam Houston is the fourth consecutive program in NCAA to make the transition up and become bowl eligible within the first 2 seasons of being at the FBS (Jax State 2023, James Madison 2023, Liberty 2018)
– The Bearkats have won 12 of their last 16 games after starting their venture into FBS with an 0-8 start in 2023
– Sam Houston is seeking to get to 10 wins just a season after starting 0-8. The last time an FBS team started a year with at least straight eight losses and then post double-digit wins a year later was when Georgia Southern did just that, starting the 2017 season 0-9 before going 10-3 a year later and winning the Camelia Bowl
– Sam Houston will be playing in the New Orleans Bowl under the direction of acting head coach and offensive coordinator Brad Cornelsen following former head coach KC Keeler’s departure at season’s end to accept the head coaching position at Temple
– The Kats have five players on the roster who have played in bowl games previously: Jaylon Jimmerson (Liberty), Jay Ducker (NIU/Memphis), Austin Smith (Memphis), CJ Johnson (Memphis) and Quincy Wright (Oregon State)
– Although it is Sam Houston’s first bowl appearance as a member of the FBS, it is not the program’s first postseason bowl appearance. The Kats played in four postseason bowls as a member of the Lone Star Conference (NAIA) in the early years of the program, taking part in the Shrimp Bowl (1952), Refrigerator Bowl (1953 & 1956) and the Christmas Bowl (1958). Each of those appearances came under head coach Paul Pierce who also led the Kats to an NAIA co-national championship in 1964
– Over the past 25 years (since 2000) there have been 22 programs to make the transition from the FCS/1-AA to the FBS level with the Kats being 1 of 6 programs in that span to post a season of 9+ wins within the first 2 years of the move up. The others include FAU (2004), Georgia Southern (2014, 2015), Appalachian State (2015), James Madison (2023), Jax State (2023, 2024)
– There are still 10 players remaining who were on the roster from that team. They are: Ife Adeyi, Noah Smith, Trey Fields, Ethan Hagler, Ysidro Mascorro, Jevon Leon, Jaylen Phillips, Seth Kohlscheen, Richard Outland Jr. and Briceon Hayes
– Smith, Adeyi and Leon have all been on the team since 2019 and enter their final collegiate game having been a part of 45 Bearkat wins in 6 years. That run also includes a streak of 22 straight victories, including 21 wins in the 2021 calendar year
SERIES HISTORY
– The Bearkats and Eagles have a combined seven national titles at the FCS/1-AA level; however, the programs have never previously squared off on the gridiron
– Georgia Southern will be the second Sun Belt Conference opponent the Kats have battled this year, having already beaten Texas State at NRG Stadium on September 28. The Bobcats are not a common opponent for the teams as GS did not take on Texas State in SBC play in 2024
SAM HOUSTON > GEORGIA SOUTHERN CONNECTIONS
– The Bearkats and Eagles share a former head coach as current Houston head coach Willie Fritz coached in both Huntsville and Statesboro. Fritz’s first Division I head job was at SHSU where he posted a 40-15 record from 2010-13, leading the Bearkats to consecutive FCS National Championship games in 2011 and 2012. Fritz left Huntsville after the 2013 season to take over at Georgia Southern where he spent the 2014 and 2015 seasons, posting a 17-7 record before moving on to Tulane.
COURTESY SAM HOUSTON STATE ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
STATESBORO – The Georgia Southern football team will make its seventh bowl appearance in 10 years when it takes on the Sam Houston Bearkats in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl at Caesars Superdome as both teams wrap up their seasons. Kickoff is set for 7:02 p.m. (ET) and the game will be broadcast on ESPN2. The game will also be available via radio on the Georgia Southern Sports Network and on ESPN Bowl Radio. Here’s all you need to know about the game:
R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024 • 7:02 PM (ET)
Location: New Orleans, La. (Caesars Superdome; 74,295)
Records:
Sam Houston: 9-3, 6-2 C-USA
Georgia Southern: 8-4, 6-2 SBC
Broadcast Information
Broadcast: ESPN2
PBP: Jorde Sedano; Analyst: Orlando Franklin; Sidelines: Morgan Uber
Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed (@GSEaglesVoice); Analyst: Terry Harvin (@TerryHarvin); Sidelines: Frank Sulkowski and Anthony Beck II
Radio: Bowl Season Radio
PBP: Dave Neal; Analyst: Aaron Murray
GS: GAME NOTES
SHSU: GAME NOTES
Inside The Series
Overall Series Record: First Meeting
Cornelsen vs. GS: Never Met
Helton vs. SHSU: Never Met
Helton vs. Cornelsen: Never Met
GS vs. current C-USA Members: 26-10
GS vs. teams from Texas: 7-2
GS in state of Louisiana: 5-7
GS at Caesars Superdome: 1-0
The Ties That Bind
- Eagle senior Sam Kenerson and Bearkat junior Da’Veawn Armstead both went to Central High in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
- Former Georgia Southern (and now Houston) head coach Willie Fritz left Sam Houston to come to Statesboro in 2014. He went 40-15 in four seasons at SHSU and 17-7 in two seasons at Georgia Southern.
- Reid Dedman and Jalen White both played in the 2020 New Orleans Bowl and will suit up again for the 2024 version. Eight players total were on the Eagles’ roster for that 2020 season, but due to COVID restrictions, only the travel squad went to New Orleans.
Of Note:
- This will be the first football meeting between Georgia Southern and the Sam Houston Bearkats. It’s the second GS/Conference USA matchup in a bowl game (GS is 1-0).
- Southern will be making its seventh bowl appearance when it participates in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. The Eagles are 3-3 in five previous bowl games, knocking off Bowling Green (2015 GoDaddy Bowl), Eastern Michigan (2018 Camellia Bowl) and Louisiana Tech (2020 New Orleans Bowl). The Eagles lost to Liberty in the 2019 Cure Bowl, to Buffalo in the 2022 Camellia Bowl and to Ohio last year in the Myrtle Beach Bowl.
- Georgia Southern is 11-7 all-time when the roof is over its head as it will be in the Caesars Superdome.
- Georgia Dome (2-0): def. MTSU (’95); def. Georgia St. (’14)
- Tacoma Dome (2-0): def. Furman (’85); def. Ark St. (’86)
- Superdome (1-0): def. Louisiana Tech (’20)
- Kibbie Dome (1-0): def. Idaho (’15)
- UNI-Dome (1-0): def. Northern Iowa (’85)
- Mini-Dome (4-4): went 4-4 against ETSU
- Holt Arena (0-1): lost to Furman (’88)
- Fargo Dome (0-2): went 0-2 against NDSU
Countdown to Kickoff
10: Jalen White already has a career-high 12 rushing touchdowns this season, but two more in the bowl game will give him 37 for his career and move him into a tie for 10th place all-time at Southern with Matt Breida (2013-16).
9: The Eagles have won the coin toss nine times this year, winning six of those games.
8: Georgia Southern has eight players on this year’s roster who were on the roster in 2020 when the Eagles played in the COVID-affected New Orleans Bowl. Only two of those eight—Reid Dedman and Jalen White—played in the game.
7: This will be Georgia Southern’s seventh bowl game and third in a row.
6: Linebacker Marques Watson-Trent has six games with 10 or more tackles this season and 16 for his career. He is second all-time at Southern with 355 career tackles.
5: Led by Josh Dallas’s five scores, five different players have two or more receiving touchdowns this season.
4: The Eagles recorded four interceptions of Louisiana Tech quarterbacks when they played in the 2020 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl en route to a 38-3 victory.
3: After going 1-7 in the month of November under Clay Helton in 2022 and 2023, the Eagles won three of four games this year in the final month to finish with eight wins.
2: With four catches against App State, Derwin Burgess Jr. became just the second player in program history to pass 200 career receptions. He enters the bowl game with 202 catches. Khaleb Hood holds the school record with 245 catches.
1: Reid Dedman is ranked first in program history with 67 career games played in six seasons at Georgia Southern.
Up Next:
Season Complete
COURTESY GEORGIA SOUTHERN ATHLETIC COMMUNICATIONS
