By: Mike Anthony

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The comparison is often made that good teams – like wild animals – can be most dangerous when backed into a corner. There is obviously some truth to that for the saying to have become cliche, but there is more than one law to both nature and sports.

Sometimes, the most danger stems from guard being let down with a known threat that has become so commonplace that people have taken it for granted.

For nearly its entire modern existence, the Georgia Southern football program has been a powerhouse.

In just their second season of Division I-AA (now Football Championship Subdivision) competition, the Eagles claimed a national title. One year later, they became the first team ever to win consecutive championships at that level.

The next quarter century saw Georgia Southern rise as the unquestioned dynasty atop its level of competition, with ‘bad years’ being more commonly recognized as early playoff exits than losing records.

And when the time finally came to move up to the Football Bowl Subdivision, it was like a refresher course in GS Football history.

The Eagles’ first season in FBS resulted in a 9-3 record with two very-near upsets against ACC opponents. And it would have ended with a bowl if not for a useless NCAA bylaw that kept them out of consideration.

2015 brought about another stellar season and a game against Georgia that went into overtime and has kept the Bulldogs from releasing any comment on future dates for what had been a renewing rivalry series.

That season culminated in the first-ever bowl for Georgia Southern – a date with Bowling Green in the Go Daddy Bowl. The Eagles thoroughly disassembled the Mid-American Conference champs in that game and seemed poised to become an immediate player in the perennial ‘G5’ discussion.

But a funny thing happened on the way to more Georgia Southern dominance.

The 2016 season seemed to be set up for even more success than the previous year’s bowl-winner. Newly-hired head coach Tyson Summers got off to a 3-0 start in his tenure, but then the wheels fell off.

And then those wheels careened off of a cliff… And then the truck itself slammed into a mountain… and then the remains of that truck also fell off of the cliff.

The 2016 campaign ended with a 5-7 record and no return to a bowl. The next season began with a losing streak that nearly doubled the previous school record and Summers had been relieved before the Eagles saw their first win.

But the good thing about a program that can barely comprehend such a bad run of results is that it doesn’t take much to build up optimism for the next go-round.

Chad Lunsford was named the interim head coach midway through 2017. And while Georgia Southern won just two of the six games during that stint, a change in mood and culture was palpable and led to Lunsford being named the official head coach before the season concluded.

Some firings and hirings took place, while other members of the existing staff remained.

The first ‘early signing day’ of the new NCAA recruiting rules saw GS fall behind Sun Belt rivals, but the staff made more hires, ramped up the recruiting efforts, and by February ended up with the top-rated recruiting class in the conference.

The ultimate judgment on whether or not the Eagles have turned things around won’t come until the fall, but it’s hard to argue that Georgia Southern hasn’t had a great offseason that is quickly erasing a disastrous 2017.