Georgia State Will Look To Be Competitive Against Oregon on Saturday
The Georgia State Football Program is young. Very young. In the grand scope of College Football it may be one of the youngest. The Panthers were born in 2010 according to Wikipedia and the program has done the best it could to build into something competitive in just five years. Their scheduling has included several Top 25 caliper schools in the first five years, including facing a tenth ranked Alabama team to end their first season. They lost to the Crimson Tide 63-7.
More from Autzen Zoo
- Oregon football: Ducks and Coach Prime playing it cordial leading up to Saturday
- Oregon Basketball: Non-conference slate features Michigan coming to Eugene
- Oregon football: Ducks find complete game effort in win vs Hawaii
- Oregon Ducks must get run game going against Hawaii
- 8 Pac-12 teams represented in Associated Press Top 25 after Week 2
Following a 1-10 record for their second season and the worst record in all of College Football, the team prepared to move to the next level and join the Sun Belt Conference for their third season in 2013. Bill Curry retired as Head Coach in August of 2013 and Trent Miles would be hired November of that year. Miles brought with him a change in the uniform, which had not been altered since the program began in 2010. The unis he introduced could be worked into twelve different combinations. (Quite far from what we Oregon Fans are used to hearing about.)
Hey Georgia state won a football game, no winless season this year
— Aaron, MBA (@thecampstar) September 13, 2015
The Georgia State Panthers played Tennessee in 2012, Alabama(for a second time) in 2013, along with Clemson and Pac-12 foe Washington last season. The team lost all four of these games. They did manage a 14-0 lead on the Huskies before getting blown out in the second half 45-14. The future schedule is also a challenge following this season and the meeting with Oregon this week. The Panthers will visit Wisconsin and Penn State the next two seasons as part of their non-conference schedule.
Gameday Must Read: Georgia State Defense Making Strides – GeorgiaStateSports
In 2015 through two games the team is averaging over twenty-seven points per game, including thirteen points off turnovers. The Panthers have accounted for over nine-hundred yards of offense in their two contests this year. Quarterback Nick Arbuckle has thrown for six-hundred seventy one yards along with four touchdowns and two interceptions. Kyler Neal leads the rushing attack with one-hundred eleven all purpose yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Defensively Joseph Peterson is one to watch with seventeen total tackles. Alonzo McGee has five tackles for a loss in 2015 and the team has four forced fumbles through two games.
Georgia State has played a conference game and a non-conference game to start 2015. The team beat New Mexico State 34-32 last weekend and had the highest Offensive output in their short history with five-hundred eighty two yards of Offense. The game on Saturday marks the second time in three weeks that the Panthers will travel West this early in the season.
The injury bug has bitten both teams since the start of the season with Oregon Quarterback Vernon Adams nursing a broken index finger. The Panthers lost have also lost some key players. Running Back Kyler Neal had seventy-six yards on the ground with two touchdowns. Taz Bateman had six carries for thirty six yards. Both departed with injuries. Head Coach Trent Miles said earlier this week that Bateman’s season may be over because of a broken forearm according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
"“Could be the year, could be four weeks, could be six weeks. We don’t know yet.”Head Coach Trent Miles on the Status of Running Back Taz Bateman"
Wide Receiver Penny Hart, who played a key role in last weekend’s win at New Mexico will be one to watch this weekend. He is just five foot nine but plays big. He has twelve receptions, a record eleven last weekend, good enough for a team leading two-hundred three yards and three touchdowns. The Panthers will be accustomed to the time change out West having traveled two weeks in a row and will give Oregon their best shot.
Oregon and Georgia State kickoff on Saturday at 11am Pacific Time on Pac-12 Networks.