After returning to bowl eligibility in their first season under Clay Helton, can the Georgia Southern Eagles kick on and become a legitimate contender in the Sun Belt in the 2023 college football campaign? Our Georgia Southern season predictions holds the answers.
Georgia Southern Season Predictions: Predicting the Game-By-Game Results
Using groupthink, College Football Network analysts have painstakingly gone through every game for every team in the Sun Belt and across the country.
Find Every Sun Belt Season Prediction per team: App State | Arkansas State | Coastal Carolina | Georgia Southern | Georgia State | JMU | Louisiana | UL-Monroe | Marshall | ODU | South Alabama | Southern Miss | Texas State | Troy
Picking these games straight up with a projected score using the rosters as up-to-date as the last spring practice, the Georgia Southern season predictions shine a light on whether the Eagles soar or fall in 2023.
Week 1 – Georgia Southern vs. The Citadel: Win, 37-8
The Eagles dispatched their season-opening FCS opponent comfortably last fall, and you can expect the same again in 2023. Georgia Southern vs. The Citadel promises to be the ultimate contrast in styles with the service academy’s option offense taking on one of the nation’s most high-volume passing attacks.
Week 2 – Georgia Southern vs. UAB: Win 28-26
Our analysts were split on the outcome of this Week 2 clash between the Eagles and a UAB Blazers team operating under first-year FBS head coach Trent Dilfer. While CFN Director Cam Mellor favors a one-score win for Georgia Southern, I can see the Blazers scraping a two-point win in a high-scoring affair. The compromise? A close Eagles win, based on the stability of coaching.
Week 3 – Georgia Southern at Wisconsin: Loss, 17-29
Wisconsin consistently churns out defenses that sit near the top of most defensive metrics, and there’s no reason to believe that will change with the hire of Luke Fickell as head coach. The Badgers should have the measure of Georgia Southern’s offense, while Braelon Allen and Chez Mellusi might have their way with the Eagles’ run defense.
Week 4 – Georgia Southern at Ball State: Win, 30-17
Rounding out the Georgia Southern out-of-conference schedule, the Eagles fly to Muncie to take on a Ball State team that loses their main offensive weapon following the departure of Carson Steele to UCLA. However, it’s the loss of CB Nic Jones to the NFL that stings against the Georgia Southern passing game.
Week 5 – Georgia Southern vs. Coastal Carolina: Win, 29-27
The Eagles’ first Sun Belt game is the marquee matchup of their 2023 college football campaign, welcoming expected East champion Coastal Carolina to Paulson Stadium. With four games under his belt to get into his stride, Davis Brin can put up enough points on a suspect Chanticleers secondary to outgun the mercurial Grayson McCall and give the Eagles a Week 5 win.
MORE: Sun Belt RB Rankings 2023
Week 7 – Georgia Southern at James Madison: Loss, 24-27
In a role reversal of last season, the Eagles beat Coastal Carolina but then lose to James Madison with two pivotal games in the space of three weeks. Georgia Southern shocked the then-ranked Dukes in Statesboro, but might struggle to overcome a secondary that includes a number of impressive playmakers this time around.
Week 8 – Georgia Southern vs. Louisiana-Monroe: Win, 29-13
After two tough games in succession, there’s some light relief as Louisiana-Monroe comes to town in Week 8. The two teams haven’t met since 2020, but Georgia Southern holds a 6-3 head-to-head advantage and their passing attack should outlast the ULM power run game.
Week 9 – Georgia Southern vs. Georgia State: Loss, 20-21
Another split decision from our analysts, with Mellor favoring a three-point win for the Panthers while I think that a combination of home-field advantage and the higher-volume passing attack should see the Eagles halt a three-game losing streak to their in-state rivals.
The compromise? Darren Grainger leads the Panthers across the line with a two-point try as time expires.
MORE: History of the Georgia State Panthers Mascot
Week 10 – Georgia Southern at Texas State: Win, 32-16
While there’s some excitement brewing around San Marcos due to a new head coach with an up-tempo offense, the Bobcats have given up an average of 39 points in their last two clashes with Georgia Southern. They didn’t face the Eagles last fall as they established themselves as a dominant pass-first offense.
Week 11 – Georgia Southern at Marshall: Win, 27-22
Marshall managed to hold the Eagles’ offense to 10 points and just 205 passing yards last fall. However, our Georgia Southern season predictions forecast that a repeat of their performance is unlikely to happen again. The Eagles last won a game in Huntington in 1990, so this could be one to savor.
Week 12 – Georgia Southern vs. Old Dominion: Win, 29-22
Old Dominion has never beaten Georgia Southern and the 2023 college football season doesn’t feel like the time and place to start. The Monarchs lost the beating heart of their offense with the departure of Ali Jennings III, Hayden Wolff, Blake Watson to the transfer portal and Nick Saldiveri and Zack Kuntz to the NFL.
Week 13 – Georgia Southern at Appalachian State: Win, 27-24
Just look at these totals: 99 points; 1,116 total yards.
The season finale between these two teams last fall was the stuff offensive dreams are made of. While this year might not see the same high scoring, the Eagles’ ability to dominate through the air should prove a difference-maker in a close game.
The result gives them a ninth win in our Georgia Southern season predictions.
