Erk Russell once said "And you ain't seen nothing yet" as he resurrected Georgia Southern football and led the Eagles to three 1-AA national titles in the 80s.

GSU fans like to echo that saying whenever the Eagles mark a new accomplishment. It was appropriate after the 2013 win over Florida and the next year when GSU won the Sun Belt Conference in its first year as an FBS program.

I heard the phrase again in the early hours of Dec. 24 after Georgia Southern claimed victory in its first ever bowl appearance, a 58-27 drubbing of Bowling Green on national television. I understand it's something Georgia Southern fans are supposed to say after such a game, but I'm not sure it was as appropriate.

We did see something at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Ala. Something special.

The sight of players and fans storming the field at the GoDaddy Bowl was easily the most memorable moment in my first year covering the Eagles. There wasn't anyone connected to Georgia Southern inside of that stadium who didn't think they were, at that moment, part of program history.

I had seen Georgia Southern play one time before I came to Savannah, and that was against Florida, my alma mater. But I walked out of Ben Hill Griffin calling for Will Muschamp's head and knowing, as injury-plagued as Florida was that season, there was no excuse to lose to an FCS team.

And yeah, that's all still true. But I gave Georgia Southern no credit then. That part has changed. That's what I've learned in my short time covering the Eagles: they're unlike any other team in football.

The Bowling Green game was a perfect example. No way the Georgia Southern secondary could slow down the nation's top passing offense. No way the offense could be productive enough after scoring just 7 at home in a blowout loss to Georgia State. No way the Eagles could win after losing Willie Fritz to Tulane. No way.

That's what they said about … well, fill in the blank. This is a team that has built its history on defying the odds, and it will continue to do so.

It wasn't just getting the win that embodied the Eagles; it was the way they won. They won with an interim head coach who decided to ride the hot hand of a backup quarterback throughout the second half - a quarterback who ran for 199 yards and four touchdowns.

They won with a defensive lineman who came into the game with just six tackles all season, but recovered fumbles near the opponent's 10-yard line on back-to-back possessions. They won in spite of the shadow that loomed over the program after Fritz's departure.

The win couldn't have come at a better time for Georgia Southern. It rescued a season that was mired by three bad losses and turned them into afterthoughts. It proved the Eagles were more than just a coach. And there's no telling what it will do for recruiting.

This team is full of players recruited to play in the FCS. Two years into the FBS, they won a conference title and a bowl game.

Now, three-star Division I-A prospects are on their way to Statesboro. Think about that.

I researched other Russell quotes to find something more appropriate to where the Eagles are right now. I found two:

"If you don't have the best of everything, make the best of everything you have."

That from a guy who started coaching a team that had to borrow county school buses to get to games and practices.

The Eagles could finish with the top recruiting class in the Sun Belt, but really, it doesn't matter who new head coach Tyson Summers and his staff bring in to continue this transition.

If their success depended on landing top talent, they wouldn't be the Georgia Southern Eagles.

"It's not what you have; it's what you do with what you have."

Yep, that'll do.

Nathan Deen covers Georgia Southern sports for the Savannah Morning News. Contact him at 912-652-0353 or nathan.deen@savannahnow.com. Follow him on Twitter @NathanDeenSMN.