JACKSONVILLE – Jacksonville State will host Georgia Southern at Burgess-Snow Field in football after the two schools announced a home-and-home series on Friday.
 
The Gamecocks will travel to Statesboro, Ga., on Sept. 13, 2025 to open the two-game series and the Eagles will return the game to JSU Stadium on Sept. 19, 2026. The announcement is the first of an FBS home game for the Gamecocks, who are moving into Conference USA from the FCS after the 2022 season.
 
"To be able to secure this series with Georgia Southern is really exciting for us and our move to FBS," JSU Athletics Director Greg Seitz said. "When we announced that we were joining Conference USA, our scheduling options increased greatly. To be able to have a regional FBS opponent with such a storied tradition like Georgia Southern come to Jacksonville is a huge step in our process. We look forward to announcing more games like this as we go forward."
 
The Gamecocks and Eagles have met four times before, with the last meeting coming in 2002. GSU leads the series 4-0 and is 3-0 all-time against JSU in Statesboro. The only previous meeting in Jacksonville was in 1999.
 
Jacksonville State is making the move to FBS almost a decade after the Eagles made the jump in 2014, when they joined the Sun Belt Conference. JSU will become a member of Conference USA for the 2023 season, when the Gamecocks will begin play as an FBS member.