Georgia State won’t open summer camp until August, so it’s a perfect time to start looking ahead to the teams the Panthers will face during the upcoming season.
I've already done the opener against Charlotte and Week 2 opponent New Mexico State.
Let’s turn to Oregon. The Panthers will play in Eugene on Sept. 19. The game has an odd 2 p.m. kickoff, which is 11 a.m. on the West coast.
Oregon
2014 record: 13-2, 8-1 in the Pac-12. The Ducks lost to Ohio State in the national championship game.
Coach: Mark Helfrich, in his third season.
Starters returning: Six on offense: wide receiver Devon Allen or Byron Marshall, wide receiver Dwayne Stanford, tight end Pharoah Brown, right tackle Tyrell Crosby or Matt Pierson, right guard Cameron Hunt, running back Royce Freeman.
Six on defense: Nose guard Alex Balducci, defensive end DeForest Buckner, outside linebacker Tyson Coleman, safety Reggie Daniels, linebacker Rodney Hardrick, linebacker Joe Walker.
Three on special teams: Placekicker Aidan Schneider or Matt Wogan, kicker Matt Wogan and punter Ian Wheeler.
Offensive system: Spread option.
Defensive system: 3-4.
Three significant stats last year:
- Marcus Mariota became the team's first Heisman Trophy winner. He is now in the NFL and several candidates, including Jeff Lockie and incoming transfer Vernon Adams will compete to run the Quack Attack, which averaged 45.4 points (4th in FBS) and 547 yards per game last year (3rd in FBS). The team failed to score at least 30 points twice last year. Both of those game were losses: at Arizona and to Ohio State.
- Defense allowed 429.7 yards per game, but gave up just 30 points per game.
- Despite ranking 118th in time of possession (26:49), the Ducks had more first downs than any other FBS team.
Key starters returning:
- Leading rusher Royce Freeman ran for 1,365 yards.
- Byron Marshall had 1,003 receiving yards on 74 receptions.
How does Georgia State match up
Not very well, but who does against Oregon?
Georgia State did surprise Washington for a half last year before the Huskies turned that game around, so Panthers fans shouldn’t give up hope that this will get out of hand quickly. However, they also shouldn’t hope that this could be Georgia State’s first win against an FBS opponent from one of the power conferences.
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