The Georgia Southern football team opens the 2025 season on Saturday when it takes on Fresno State at Valley Children's Stadium in California. Kickoff is set for 9:30 p.m. (ET)/6:30 p.m. (local) and will be broadcast nationally on FS1. It will not be available on ESPN+ or the ESPN app. The game will also be available via radio on the Georgia Southern Sports Network. Here's all you need to know about the game:
Game 1: Saturday, Aug. 30, 2025 • 9:30 PM (ET)/6:30 PM (local)
Location: Fresno, Calif. (Valley Children's Stadium; 40,727)
Records:
Fresno State: 0-1, 0-0 MWC
Georgia Southern: 0-0, 0-0 SBC
Broadcast Information
Broadcast: FS1
PBP: Dan Hellie, Analyst: Petros Papadakis
Radio: Georgia Southern Sports Network
PBP: Danny Reed (@GSEaglesVoice); Analyst: Terry Harvin (@TerryHarvin); Sidelines: Frank Sulkowski
Radio Affiliates (PDF)
GS: GAME NOTES (PDF)
Inside The Series
Overall Record: Never Met
Entz vs. GS Never Met
Helton vs. FS: 2-0
Helton vs. Entz: Never Met
GS vs. current MWC Members: 3-2
GS vs. teams from California: 0-0
GS in state of California: 0-0
GS at Valley Children's Stadium: 0-0
Helton at Valley Children's Stadium: 0-0
California Dreamin'
- Georgia Southern will spend nine days in California for this Fresno State/USC road trip. The Eagles will travel to Fresno State on Friday and play the game on Saturday. They'll then bus to Oxnard on Sunday, where they will stay for the week in preparation for next week's game at USC in Los Angeles.
- The team will practice at River Ridge Playing Fields, training camp location of the Dallas Cowboys, while in Oxnard.
Of Note:
- This will be the first football meeting between Georgia Southern and the Fresno State Bulldogs. Fresno State is scheduled to return the game in 2028 at Paulson Stadium.
- Georgia Southern will be playing its first game ever in the state of California, as well as its first team from the state of California when it takes on the Bulldogs this week.
- Clay Helton went 2-0 against Fresno State when he was the head coach at USC. In his first game as the interim head coach, he led the Trojans to a 45-20 win over the 21st-ranked Bulldogs in the 2013 Las Vegas Bowl and then beat Fresno State 21-13 in the 2019 opener at The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.
- Georgia Southern is 5-1 all-time in games played in the Pacific Time Zone: 2-0 in Tacoma, WA; 2-0 in Reno, NV, 1-0 in Moscow, ID; and 0-1 in Corvallis, OR.
- The Eagles are 3-2 against current members of the MWC. Last season, they scored the most points of any team on eventual CFP No. 3 seed Boise State in a 56-45 loss at home and went to Reno the next week to pull out a win over Nevada.
Countdown to Kickoff
10: Georgia Southern has recorded at least one defensive touchdown in 10 consecutive seasons after Tracy Hill Jr.'s Pick Six last year against South Carolina State.
9: The Eagles have won nine of 10 games under Clay Helton when allowing 21 points or less.
8: When scoring eight or more points in the second quarter, Georgia Southern is 15-4 under Clay Helton. The Eagles went 5-1 in both 2022 and 2023 and 4-2 last season when reaching this mark.
7: The Eagles have recorded at least one blocked kick in seven consecutive seasons after a blocked PAT last season.
6: Georgia Southern has played six previous games in the Pacific Time Zone, winning five of them.
5: The Eagles will face five coaches this season who are in their first year at their school, including Fresno State's Matt Entz.
4: The 2025 season marks the first time since 2019 that Georgia Southern returns its "Core Four": the same head coach (Clay Helton), offensive coordinator (Ryan Aplin), defensive coordinator (Brandon Bailey) and director of football strength & conditioning (James Heiss) that it started with the season before.
3: Offensive guard Caleb Cook allowed no sacks and just three quarterback hits last season on nearly 800 offensive snaps according to PFF.
2: Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton went 2-0 against Fresno State as the head coach at USC.
1: This match-up against Fresno State will be Georgia Southern's first football game played in the state of California, as well as its first game against a team from California.
Up Next:
Sept. 6 at USC - Los Angeles, Calif. - 4:30 p.m. local/7:30 p.m. ET - FS1