Celebrating Georgia Southern's Title: 25 Years Later

This season commemorates the 25-year anniversary of the Georgia Southern Eagles’ last national title. In December of 2000, the Eagles took down Montana 27-25 in Chattanooga to cap off a magical 13-win season.

The title was their sixth Division I-AA national title which is now known as FCS. In 1999 they won their fifth title defeating Youngstown State. Georgia Southern was the most dominant FCS team in history until the run from North Dakota State over the last 15 years– in which they have won ten titles.

North Dakota State has won 8 FCS titles, the most in the history of the division and 2 more than Georgia Southern.

Over the past 9 seasons, North Dakota State has as many losses (8) as it has National Championships (8). pic.twitter.com/rEkcHXAUUw

— ESPN Insights (@ESPNInsights) January 11, 2020

Paul Johnson went down as one of the best coaches in Eagles history after being at the helm for both of those back-to-back titles in 1999 and 2000. Johnson went on to have great success at the FBS level where he had a 45-29 record at Navy from 2002-2007. After his success in Annapolis he was hired to Georgia Tech where he went 82-61 including a 2009 ACC title game.

That 2000 season started with a 76-0 win over Fayetteville State followed by another dominant win over Wofford 55-14. The Eagles then traveled to Oregon State where they played a very competitive game against the Beavers in a 48-41 defeat.

The Eagles remained the number one team in the nation at their level and continued their dominant play with blowout victories over Chattanooga, VMI, and Western Carolina. In Week 7 they traveled to Boone to play one of the best teams in the nation (App State) where they lost 17-16, however that would be their last loss of the season. After wins over The Citadel, ETSU, Furman, and Jacksonville State they headed to the playoffs.

In the first playoff game they defeated Northern Arizona 72-29. They then dominated another opponent in Umass with a 38-21 victory before defeating Illinois State 28-17 to punch their ticket in the national title game against Montana.

Georgia Southern finished the season outscoring their opponents by a whopping 735-276 while scoring an incredible 49 points-per-game. Quarterback JR Revere was a dual sport athlete also playing baseball for the Eagles.

Running back Adrian Peterson (not to be confused with former Vikings running back Adrian Peterson) remains the most notable player on the team. During his time at Georgia Southern he recorded 7,590 rushing yards, over six yards per carry, and 93 touchdowns. Peterson was the Walter Payton Award winner during the 1999 season. After his time at Georgia Southern, Peterson spent time in the NFL playing the majority of his career for the Chicago Bears. He was inducted into the Georgia Southern hall of fame in 2012 and remains one of the best college football running backs in history.

In the 25 years since the win, Georgia Southern has grown substantially with an enrollment of almost 30,000 students. The Eagles moved up to the FBS in 2014 and have had success including three bowl wins. The Eagles 2000 title run remains one of the most impressive seasons in school history. Georgia Southern looks to carry on that championship tradition as they continue to build within the Sun Belt Conference.