Sam Houston will make its first-ever bowl appearance against Georgia Southern in the New Orleans Bowl on Thursday, but the Bearkats will do it with a new head coach.

Sam Houston will be led by interim coach Brad Cornelsen, the team's offensive coordinator. He takes over for K.C. Keeler, who resigned after 11 seasons to become head coach at Temple. Keeler went 97-39 during his time at Sam Houston and led the team to the 2021 FCS championship and navigated the transition to FBS and Conference USA.

Cornelsen was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Virginia Tech for six seasons before joining the Sam Houston staff as offensive coordinator in 2023.

"This group of players, particularly our seniors, has been through so much to move our program forward," Cornelsen said. "We have had a great season up to now, but this is an opportunity for us to close our season with 10 wins in one of the most historic venues (Superdome) in the country."

Georgia Southern will be going to a bowl game for the third straight season under coach Clay Helton. It will be the Eagles' seventh bowl in 11 seasons since transitioning to the FBS level.

Sam Houston went 9-3 and just missed earning a spot in the Conference USA championship game. Georgia Southern was 8-4 and finished second in the East Division of the Sun Belt Conference behind Marshall.

Georgia Southern had 10 players named to all-Sun Belt Conference teams, including senior linebacker Marques Watson-Trent, the league's defensive player of the year. He finished first in the conference and is eighth in the nation in tackles per game -- 10 -- with 110 tackles in 11 games.

The Eagles have a veteran offensive line led by all-conference honorees Bryson Broadway, Caleb Cook and Pichon Wimbley. They have helped enable quarterback JC French to throw for 2,619 yards and 16 touchdowns and Jalen White to rush for 654 yards and 12 scores. Derwin Burgess Jr. (53 receptions, three TDs), Dalen Cobb (50 catches, four TDs) and Josh Dallas (41 catches, five TDs) are the top receivers.

"We have great seniors, great leadership on the team where everyone understands the mission," Watson-Trent said. "It's the type of people we recruit here. It's a blue-collar mentality and that's what we stand on."

Sam Houston led Conference USA in defense (20 points per game) and ranked second with 315.6 yards allowed per game. The unit is led by defensive back Caleb Weaver (7.3 tackles per game), linebacker Kavian Gaither (7.1 tackles per game) and defensive end Chris Murray, who has 5 1/2 sacks and 10 1/2 tackles for loss. All three were named first-team All-Conference USA team.

The Bearkats' top offensive players are quarterback Hunter Watson, who has thrown for 1,598 yards and 11 touchdowns and rushed for 623 yards and seven touchdowns. Jay Ducker is the leading rusher with 719 yards and seven touchdowns. Simeon Evans leads the team with 44 receptions and five touchdowns. The offensive line is powered by second-team all-conference selections Ethan Hagler and James Dawn II.

Although both teams were former FCS or Division I-AA powers with a combined seven national championships, it will be the first meeting between the two teams.

Georgia Southern beat Louisiana Tech 38-3 in the 2020 New Orleans Bowl.

--Field Level Media

Quickchart Matchup

Georgia Southern Off vs  Sam Houston State Def
363.2 yards 315.6 yards 3.7 yards/rush 3.9 yards/rush 7 yards/attempt 5.7 yards/attempt

Sam Houston State Off vs  Georgia Southern Def
354.8 yards 442.9 yards 4.4 yards/rush 5.2 yards/rush 6.1 yards/attempt 7.7 yards/attempt