Georgia State vs. Savannah State: Preview & Prediction

Georgia State vs. Savannah State

Kickoff: 1:00pm Georgia Dome

Radio: WRAS 88.5, WCFO 1160

Yep, former Smart Guy Tahj Mowery is a Savannah State alum and former football player.

Quick Slant: After putting together the first winning streak in football history, by dismantling Morehead State (and they followed my checklist pretty well, I digress) and dominating on both sides of the ball, the Panthers face a taller task: Complacency. This week could present itself as our biggest margin of victory or our best chance for a Lambuth sized let down.

About Savannah State: Hard to mince words here. The Tigers are 0-5 and can't get out of their own way. They average less than 10 points per game and have been steamrolled this year by losing games by a combined score of 211-48. They turn the ball over (5 INTs and 5 Fumbles lost) and they commit penalties (8 for 53 yards on average). They do have above average size on the offensive line but have only averaged 3.4 yards per rush. They've also given up 14 sacks which tells me those big fellas may be slow afoot.

What to Watch
1. Will Drew Little take shots deep? SSU has shorter corners and I fully expect after taking two shots down the field to Albert Wilson (and completing one for 50 yards to set up 1st and Goal) that the plan will be to run then play action pass deep.

2. Can the Panthers continue to run the football? Coach Curry has absolutely hammered the offensive line last week and they responded. 40 rushes for 153 yards. I could absolutely see better results per rush this week vs. a SSU line that averages 255lbs. across the line.

3. Can the Panthers step on the gas again? The thing about a team that is going in the wrong direction is that if they feel the game slipping away, there's a "here we go again" mentality that can take effect. The offense has outscored opponents in the 1st Quarter 42-19. Savannah State has yet to score in the 2nd quarter all year.

Georgia State Wins If...
The Panthers stay balanced and force Savannah State into 3rd and long. QB Drew Little had a tremendous game on Saturday and continued to protect the ball. Cut down on the fumbles by the WRs and this should be a field day for the Panthers.

Savannah State Wins If...
They can execute. It's easy to say but they do have guys that can make plays. The Tigers have just beaten themselves over and over. If they can limit penalties and not get caught up in the bright lights of the Dome they could upset the Panthers.

Georgia State Checklist:
1. Impose Their Will Along the Lines. Yep, same formula as the game vs. Morehead State. The task gets tougher for the defensive line but I believe our offensive line is taking a step each and every game. Chemistry is such an underrated thing on the offensive line.

2. Let Savannah State beat themselves. They do a great job of giving it to you and letting you get off the field. Allow them to do that and maintain focus and intensity between the whistles. Giving them free yards is not something we can afford to do.

3. Turn Bully loose. I believe that the last 2 games have been a bit of a coming out party for our TE Arthur 'Bully' Williams. Dragging a defender at least 5 yards into the end zone wass one of my personal highlights of the year so far. You almost felt bad for the Eagle defender. I said almost. The 6'4, 270lbs. workhorse from Miami is an absolutely stud. Give the big fella another 3 or 4 touches out the outside and I dare a Tiger defender to bring him down.

The Roar
The bunch from Savannah may actually win one battle on Saturday: the halftime show. Our band is very good, there band is better. The Coastal Empire Sound Explosion does a great job and Georgia State fans are in for a treat. They should also bring a decent group as the Morehead State fans couldn't fill out a middle school music class.

The prediction: Georgia State 45, Savannah State 7

Monday Quick Hitters - 10.4.10

Pleasant Monday to all of the Panther Nation. It's October which means our football team has been alive and well for a little more than a month of game action. Our boys sit at 3-2. Yep, that's right. Looking forward to Saturday after a fantastic Domecoming.

On we go...

Speaking of Homecoming: I typically let everyone else have their say on the game itself and check the links below from 2 of our perspectives, one from the AJC and one from Morehead State's point of view with some interesting comments by MSU Head Coach.
AJC Link
Morehead State Link
Examiner.com Link
What Others Are Saying via GSU Sports Communications

My take: As I hoped and discussed in my preview, we came out and mashed them in all 3 phases of the game. You can single out great performances (which their were several) and good stretches, I tip my hat to two players for outstanding individual efforts. The first, Nate Anthony (#1 in your program) who as a gunner (outside guys who typically run really fast) realized that the MSU player dropped the ball, pushed him out of the way and recovered the fumble to give the Panthers offense great field position and continue the momentum train chugging along. The second, Jr. TE Arthur 'Bully' Williams showed his might on a 11 catch that should have been for a minimal gain.  Instead, he proceeded to drag an Eagle defender into the end zone for the Panthers final TD. Absolutely tremendous power, athleticsm and sheer grit to will his way in.

Inaugural Season DVDs on Sale: GSU Sports Link

Attendance and an 'Atta Boy' to our Athletic Dept: I like, many of you, probably received or will receive a phone call from somone in our athletic department checking in. We are nearly half way through the first year and attendance has seemed to be a roller coaster ride as students are continuing to show up in increasing numbers but it seems that many of our season ticket holders are not. A great job by our athletic department to seek answers on why they bought them and have not shown up.

Anyone else paying attention to the other Fall Sports?  Women's Soccer is 9-3-1 and off to its best start in CAA play under veteran coach Domenic Martelli. Men's soccer is 4-3-2 and 1-2 in CAA play (the team has already matched its win total from 2009) under new head man Brett Surrency. Volleyball is 9-8 and 3-0 in CAA play under new coach Tami Audia. Have you supported any of the Fall Sports yet? If not, I urge you to check them out.

Georgia State vs. Morehead State: Preview & Prediction

Georgia State vs. Morehead State



Kickoff: 1:00pm Georgia Dome 

Radio: WRAS 88.5, WCFO 1160

Quick Slant: After a less than impressive win on the road in Buies Creek, the Panthers head back home to face our 3rd straight FCS program in Morehead State.  I'm looking forward to getting back inside the air conditioned Dome and kick the 100 plus degree weather that almost tripped us vs. the Camels.

Beaker will be in the Dome tomorrow.  Will you?

About Morehead State: The Eagles are riding a roller coaster so far this season.  They are 2-2 and have lost to CAA member James Madison 48-7 and Dayton 34-28, both on the road.  They flat out air it out and are currently 8th in FCS with more than 300 yard per game passing.  Their defense is porous allowing 35.5 ppg and give up nearly 400 yard per game to its first 4 opponents.

What to Watch
1. Can the Panthers run the football? Coach Curry has absolutely hammered the offensive line this week and I expect them to come out and mash the undersized MSU defensive line.  The Eagle D-Line averages less than 248lbs. collectively across the board.  It's time to eclipse 200 yards again.

2. Can the Panthers start fast? Morehead State has been outscored 91-38 in the first half this season.  Can we get out and establish the run and march the ball down the field.  The downfield passing game could absolutely come alive as the Eagles have short cornerbacks. Also, the KR game has been a tremendous weapon and I'm interested to see if the Eagles will kick to Albert Wilson & Darren McCray aka Blur Squared.

3. Can the Defense crank up the pressure?  Morehead State's offensive line is also light as they average only 270lbs. across the board. Can the Noseguard disrupt the timing of the Eagle quick passing game?  MSU QB has thrown 6 INTs in 4 games.  Will this be the game that the TO margin turns in the Panthers favor?

Georgia State Wins If...
The Panthers take care of the football. QB Drew Little protected the ball well vs. Campbell and made one mistake vs. JSU in throwing to a spot.  I expect to see an expanded game plan as well as 35 carries by the RB corps.  This could also be the game to start taking some shots down the field as long as the Offensive Line plays better.
Morehead State Wins If...
They keep it close and capitalize on mistakes.  Forcing fumbles and baiting Little into INTs will give the Eagles a chance.  They have smaller WRs who can make people miss.  The young Panthers secondary should receive a boost with the return of Brent McClendon but if they gamble and miss, MSU can capitalize deep.

Georgia State Checklist:
1. Impose Their Will Along the Lines.  We've yet to see the kind of smashmouth line play that we were anticipating because both groups are still trying to find chemistry and truly trust each other.  I fully expect the Panther Offensive Line to play well tomorrow. 

2. Keep plays in front of you.  Morehead State's offense has been forced to throw and they've done a good job hitting a deep play or two per game.  The corners will have to play well and force the action inside where the LBs and Safeties can assist.  If they let the guard down, it will keep the Eagles in the game.

3. Play Action. Drew is not the most mobile of our QBs but he does a great job in play action. We normally utilize a TE rollout or a drag route with our Slot WR.  I'm interested to see if theTackles can give him enough time to unleash a few to back the smaller safeties up and give the RB corp even more space. 

The Roar
The Eagles will likely walk into a large crowd as I'm anticipating nearly the same amount of student support that came out vs. Shorter in the opener.  If the Alumni and Season Ticket holder show up, this could be a huge and boisterous crowd.  As JSU's Coach mentioned, he was suprised at the level of noise.  How will the Eagles react to this as they have done a pretty good job of keeping penalties at bay. 

The prediction: Georgia State 28, Morehead State 17

AJC: Panthers Win by 6

Congrats to Jeff Schultz for nailing the score last week vs. Campbell.  He's predicting another W for the home team this week: 

"Morehead State at G-State: The first Homecoming week included the pageantry of a golf cart parade through the concrete campus. It was a success — none of the carts got booted. This is what I know about Morehead State: They went 2-6-1 even with Phil Simms at quarterback. Panthers by 6."

Check out the rest of his weekend predictions and pretty funny comments.  AJC Link

Tuesday Quick Hitters - 9.28.10

Welcome to what feels like Fall and football season for that matter! The guys are ready to hit the practice field.  Enjoyed seeing some of their social media responses at 6:15am this morning.  They weren't dreading getting up that early, they were ready to get prepared for Week 5 and MSU.

Let's Get It...

Winning Record? SB Nation Thinks So:

Georgia State Panthers - 6-5

You heard it hear first, Georgia State will definitely finish its first season with a winning record! After starting out 2-2 and consistently playing to the level of its opponents, the Panthers will end the season 6-5. In fact, this past weekend's victory over Campbell was just the beginning of the Panthers' own four-game winning streak (all over FCS opponents!).

The biggest news to come out of Atomic Football's predictions for GSU is that the Panthers WILL NOT LOSE BY TRIPLE DIGITS TO ALABAMA. GSU is predicted to finish its season with (only) a 57-0 loss to the Crimson Tide. But who knows, they do have a 0.1% chance of winning (I guess those algorythms have some GSU bias too).


Additionally, if Georgia State had the opportunity to play the remainder of its season 1,000 times, it would win out one of those times! SB Nation Link

Jeff Sagarin Rating Update: We are currently #239 (still behind South Alabama and Lamar, as they are #229 and #231, respectively).  Not the most fond of his numbers but it gives you an idea of how we are viewed nationally.  AL.com Link

AJC Preview of Morehead State: Ken S is on the case and puts a nice capsule together.  Check out his Twitter page @AJCGSU for continuous updates.  AJC Link

PantherTalk.com is growing again: We've added a photographer to our team and we should have pictures from the game from our new PantherTalk.com photographer.  Bookmark PantherTalk.com and visit early and often.

We're #1: National Jurist magazine, a publication aimed at law school students ranked the College of Law at Georgia State University No.1 in value, up from its fourth place ranking last year.  The University of Georgia School of Law, the only other school from the Peach State to make the list, ranked 15th. The magazine based its selection on bar passage rates, tuition costs, average student debt after graduation and post-graduation employment rates. AJC Link

Our Opponents Impressive this weekend

Gamecock players letting out a Rebel yell in Oxford on Saturday

Photo Courtesy of Rogelio V. Solis/Associated Press

Jacksonville State - 1-0 It all starts with our Week 3 home opponent Jacksonville State.  They walked into Ole Miss and capitalized on 3 Rebel turnovers and beat them in 2 OTs 49-48.  A great win for them and I've got to believe they'll be very excited and will have a very large following on Sept. 18th.

Campbell - 1-0 Our Week 4 opponent defeated previously winless UVA-Wise 20-16 for their season opening win.

Morehead State - 0-1 Our Homecoming and Week 5 opponent absolutely got housed vs. James Madison losing 48-7.

Savannah State - 0-1 Our Week 6 opponent headed to Statesboro to face the Georgia Southern Eagles and received a worse beating that Morehead State did, losing 48-3.

North Carolina Central - 1-0 Our Week 7 foe beat Johnson C. Smith 59-0.

Old Dominion - 0-1 Week 8 road opponent ODU had a tough go and lost to non scholarship Jacksonville University 35-25 at home.

South Alabama - 1-0 Week 9 road opponent beats NAIA Pikeville (Ky.) 59-0 in front of 22,376 fans at Ladd Peebles Stadium.

Lamar - 0-1 Week 10 and final home game opponent loses to #11 McNeese State 30-27.

Alabama - 1-0 (0-0 SEC) The defending BCS National Champions defeated San Jose State 49-3 without Heisman Trophy winner Mark Ingram. 

Through Week 2 our opponents are 6-8 (Lambuth lost on Thursday night to the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech.

Game vs. ODU on CSS

Great news from the Virginian-Pilot.  This makes 3 games on television this season: Morehead State on CSS, ODU on CSS and Alabama on ESPNU.