The Georgia Southern Eagles and the UMass Minutemen have scheduled a home-and-home football series for 2017 and 2018, according to a copy of the contract obtained from GSU.
In the first game of the series, Georgia Southern will travel to take on UMass in either Amherst or Foxborough on Oct. 21, 2017. The Eagles will then host the Minutemen in the second and final game at Paulson Stadium in Statesboro on Sept. 8, 2018.
News of a possible series between the two schools was first reported two weeks ago by Matt Vautour of the Daily Hampshire Gazette.
Georgia Southern and UMass have met twice previously in the Division 1-AA Playoffs. In 1998, 11th-seeded UMass upset top-ranked Georgia Southern 55-43 to win the Division 1-AA Championship.
The following season, Georgia Southern got revenge on UMass, winning 38-21 in a Quarterfinal game in Statesboro.
2014 was the first season for Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Conference. The Eagles won the conference championship after finishing 8-0 in the Sun Belt (9-3 overall).
The addition of the series with UMass gives Georgia Southern two non-conference games in 2017 and three in 2018. Other games currently scheduled those seasons include at LSU (2017), at Clemson (2018), and at Kent State (2018).
UMass will be playing their final season as a football-only member of the MAC in 2015. The Minutemen will play as an FBS Independent for the 2016 and 2017 seasons and hope to gain entry into another conference by 2018.
Football Schedules