By: Mike Anthony

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

Georgia Southern will make a return to bowl season for the first time since 2015 as the Eagles found out they are headed to the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Ala.

The Eagles (9-3) will face another group of Eagles in the Dec. 15 contest as their opponent will be Eastern Michigan (7-5) out of the Mid-American Conference.

Georgia Southern’s only previous bowl appearance also came against a MAC team as the Eagles stormed past 2015 MAC champion Bowling Green in the GoDaddy Bowl.

“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to play in the Raycom Media Camellia Bowl,” Georgia Southern coach Chad Lunsford said. “A bowl game is hard to get to and it’s a reward for our players, staff and fans. We’ve had a great season, but to be able to have the opportunity to pick up a 10th win against a great opponent in Eastern Michigan is something we won’t take lightly.”

Georgia Southern is one of five Sun Belt Conference teams heading to the postseason.

An official statement by the conference on Sunday placed Sun Belt champion Appalachian State in the New Orleans Bowl against Middle Tennessee State (Conference USA), Louisiana in the Cure Bowl against Tulane (American), Troy in the Dollar General Bowl against Buffalo (MAC) and Arkansas State in the Arizona Bowl against Nevada (Mountain West).

Georgia Southern didn’t learn of its exact postseason location or opponent until Sunday, but had spent the last week on the practice field in preparation for whatever bowl season had in store for it.

It served as an extra week of learning and scrimmaging for younger players while offering some banged up regular contributors a few much-needed days of taking things easy.

“Honestly, I would have rather had it not been an off week,” GSU quarterback Shai Werts said. “I think we would have all rather been playing Saturday (in the Sun Belt championship game). But it was good for some guys to get some rest. Now we just ramp it back up and get ready for Eastern Michigan.”

The ‘other’ Eagles from Ypsilanti, Michigan don’t have quite the record as Georgia Southern, but have had plenty of highlights that make them deserving of a bowl game and a tough opponent for Southern.

Eastern Michigan beat a Purdue squad that handed Ohio State its only loss of the season and dropped tough overtime contests to a then-ranked San Diego State and MAC champion Northern Illinois.

EMU is similar to Georgia Southern in that much of its success has come when a sometimes-shaky offense has shown up to compliment what is usually a very steady defense.

One bright spot for Georgia Southern — EMU’s roughest day on defense all season came at the hands of option-heavy Army as the Black Knights ran for 289 yards in a 37-22 victory.

Georgia Southern will ship out to Montgomery on Tuesday, Dec. 11 where the team will continue to practice while also taking part in multiple events hosted by the Camellia Bowl and the city of Montgomery.