Georgia Southern has obligations for four non-conference football games for the 2015 season with games at Georgia and West Virginia and home contests against The Citadel and Western Michigan, Director of Athletics Tom Kleinlein announced earlier this week.
Kleinlein also scheduled Kent State for a home-and-home series for 2018 and 2019 in the construction of the Eagles’ future non-conference schedules.
“As we plan for our future, we continue to review and determine the best scheduling scenarios for our program,” Kleinlein said. “More opportunities are available to Georgia Southern and we’re involved in more conversations now that we have the advantage of an expanded network and our new league affiliation.”
In 2015, the Eagles open at West Virginia on Sept. 5 in the program’s first-ever matchup against a Big 12 opponent.
The Eagles welcome to Paulson Stadium their first FBS non-conference opponent, Western Michigan, on Sept. 12.
The third week of the season, Georgia Southern plays host to The Citadel on Sept. 19. Moving the 2016 game a year earlier, the Eagles will travel to Athens to meet Georgia at Sanford Stadium on Nov. 21.
Kleinlein, who served as the deputy athletic director at Kent State prior to his appointment at Georgia Southern, began discussions to bring the Golden Flashes to Statesboro after the University accepted the invitation to join the Sun Belt Conference last March.
A Sept. 22, 2018 date is set for the Eagles-Golden Flashes meeting at Dix Stadium, just an hour’s drive from Canton, Ohio, the home of the Pro Football Hall of Fame, a popular destination for football fans.
The Golden Flashes return the trip to Statesboro on Sept. 21, 2019.
Georgia Southern plays its first season in FBS and the Sun Belt this year, opening its 2014 slate at N.C. State on Aug. 30.