The Georgia Southern Eagles and the Jacksonville State Gamecocks have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2025 and 2026, FBSchedules.com has learned.
A copy of the football game contract with Jacksonville State University was obtained from the Georgia Southern University athletics department.
In the first game of the series, Georgia Southern will host Jacksonville State at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 13, 2025. The following season on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2026, the Eagles will travel to take on the Gamecocks at JSU Stadium in Jacksonville, Ala., which will conclude the series.
Georgia Southern was previously scheduled to host Jacksonville State in Statesboro on Sept. 5, 2026, which was a single-game contract both schools agreed to back in 2021. Since Jacksonville State is moving up from the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in 2023, that contract was replaced.
Georgia Southern and Jacksonville State first met on the gridiron in 1992 and have played four times overall. In their most recent matchup in 2002, the Eagles defeated the Gamecocks 41-3 to improve their unbeaten record in the series to 4-0.
With the addition of the Jacksonville State series, Georgia Southern has tentatively completed their non-conference slate for both seasons. The Eagles are also scheduled to play Fresno State, Liberty, and Kennesaw State in 2025 and Clemson, Houston, and Liberty in 2026.
Georgia Southern is the first opponent announced for Jacksonville State in 2025 and 2026 since they revealed their move to the FBS and Conference USA. The Gamecocks are also slated to host Murray State in 2025, which is part of a home-and-home series that begins this season at Murray State.
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I’m curious if Southern will make a change to their 2025 non-cons. No Power 5 as of now, and Liberty has a bunch of schedule changes to make while joining CUSA.
Good regional game. Hopefully Jacksonville State tries to get more of this type matchup. Troy, UAB, South Alabama, Southern Miss, would all be great.