THOMASVILLE — After limited crowds at Paulson Stadium for the 2020 football season, Georgia Southern University leaders are eager to have the stadium filled to its 25,000 seat capacity this fall.

With the schedule the Eagles have ahead, that’s what they’re expecting, as they met with supporters last week at an Eagle Club tour stop in Thomasville.

Georgia Southern welcomes conference foes Coastal Carolina and Louisiana, both ranked in the AP top 15 to end the 2020 season, and for the home regular-season finale the Eagles welcome their first program with a national following — BYU.

“It means the world to all of us,” Eagles head football coach Chad Lunsford said of having full capacity at Paulson. “There’s nothing like that energy. There’s nothing like what Paulson’s like when it’s full. It’s huge for us in recruiting because a lot of our guys came to Georgia Southern because of the game day atmosphere. 

“Now that they’re there, they want to experience it again,” Lunsford said. “Having a full stadium is invaluable for us. Our guys will play hard and they will play well, and we’ll be able to get recruits as well. I’m very excited what it’s going to be.”

GSU athletic director Jared Benko has called the 2021 home season one of the best the Eagles have had in a long time. Last week, the university allowed full capacity at all its outdoor sporting events.  

“It’s huge,” Benko said. “The power of Eagle Nation are its members. It’s not by accident we have a great record at home in all our sports.”

The Eagles capped the 2020 season with a 38-3 rout of Louisiana Tech in the New Orleans Bowl. Southern finished the year 8-5, and four losses were by eight points or fewer. 

This season’s six-game home slate also might be one of the more rigorous in recent years. That’s OK with Benko.

“A year ago, we didn’t know if we were going to have football,” he said. “We didn’t know if we were going to have sports.”

While visits from Coastal Carolina and Louisiana are big draws — and the Eagles also welcome a conference foe its fans refer to only as “that school in downtown Atlanta,” Georgia State — the BYU game on November 20 is already generating tremendous interest from the GSU faithful.

“It’s huge,” Lunsford said. “I think, one, it’s big for our fan base. Eagle Nation will be fired up for it. It’s big for our players. And it’s good in recruiting. There will be a lot of national focus on it. I think that’s huge for our program. As much as we can get the name and the brand out there and everybody can learn about the epic story of what Georgia Southern football is, that’s invaluable for us.”

Said Benko, “I’m asked about that game as much as any other game right now.”

Since moving up to FBS, with a first full year in 2015, the Eagles have traveled to West Virginia, Georgia, LSU, Auburn, Ole Miss and Georgia Tech.  

Georgia Southern goes to Arkansas this year and has a home-and-home with Army for 2030 and 2031. The Eagles are scheduled to bring in Boise State in 2024. 

Benko would love to bring in another of the state’s FBS programs to Paulson. In the meantime, the Eagles also will face non-conference foes Liberty and Houston at what the late Erk Russell once called “the prettiest little stadium in America” in future years.

“For us, it’s about competitive excellence,” Benko said. “We want to win every game possible. If you have a chance to bring a BYU into town, that’s awesome. Our goal is to get the best teams we can play in here. You want to get as many local teams in the state to come here. We haven’t been successful yet, we’re going to keep at it.”

There are six months and 10 other games between now and when the Cougars, who went 11-1 last season, make the trip to Statesboro. Lunsford, though, already is relieved about one aspect of that matchup: BYU won’t have Zach Wilson, the No. 2 overall pick in last month’s NFL draft.

“I’m glad their quarterback went to the NFL,” he said.