STATESBORO — Georgia Southern was ranked No. 2 in the preseason football poll in the annual Athlon FCS Preview Magazine.
The Eagles were slotted behind Sam Houston State.
It was the second straight week the Eagles received top-10 recognition in a preseason poll. Last week, the Eagles were No. 7 in Lindy’s Football Magazine’s poll.
Athlon also released its All-American team and selected GSU senior defensive tackle Brent Russell of Comer. In 2011, Russell was fourth on the Eagles in total tackles and led the squad with 16.5 tackles for loss and 6.5 sacks. A two-time All-American, Russell was selected to five All-American teams after the 2011 season and was a member of the All-Conference first team.

GSU show wins Emmy
“Inside Georgia Southern Football,” the weekly coach’s show with Jeff Monken, won the 2012 National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Southeast Emmy for Outstanding Achievement in Television Student Production Excellence on June 9 in Atlanta.
The show was produced in part by students AnnNell Byne, Nelson Miller, Tim Hunt, Chris Ocampo, James O’Donnell, Ian Reese, Patrick Griffin, Skylar Henry, Drew Chesire, Hunter Berger, Jake Taylor and Sienna Sewell.
Other members of the production team in attendance were Executive Producer Matthew Taylor and Producers Arthur Berger, Susan DeBonis, and Tyson Davis.