Khadrice Rollins
krollins@ajc.com
It’s now or never for Georgia State.
The Panthers (1-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) host UT Martin (4-3, 3-1 OVC) in the Georgia Dome on Saturday for what will be a pivotal game as GSU tries to turn its season around.
The Skyhawks come into the matchup riding a two-game winning streak and averaging more than 40 points a contest. If the Panthers are going to pick up their second win of the season, there are some key areas in the game that need to go their way, or else they may end up on the wrong end of this one.
1. UT Martin passing attack vs. GSU secondary
The last three times the Skyhawks took the field, quarterback Troy Cook eclipsed 250 yards through the air with at least three touchdown passes, and he topped the 300-yard mark in each of the last two games. UT Martin has been able to spread the ball all over the field, as five different receivers have more than 200 yards and at least three touchdowns already this season. For an offense that has scored at least 30 points every game besides the season opener — the one game Cook did not start — the ability to keep defenses guessing about who will be catching the ball has given the unit a chance to excel and show just what it is capable of.
On the other side, the Panthers are only allowing opposing QBs to throw for 181.3 yards per game and complete just 54.5 percent of their passes. Last week against Troy (5-1, 3-0 Sun Belt) was the first time all year the Panthers’ secondary gave up multiple touchdown passes in a game. The only time they allowed more than 235 yards through the air was in their lone victory, a home blowout over Texas State (2-4, 0-2). And in every game with the exception of the contest against Air Force (4-2, 1-2 Mountain West), which only threw nine passes, the Panthers have been able to get at least one interception.
2. GSU offensive line vs. UT Martin front six
The Panthers are not a running team by any stretch of the imagination, but it is not because of any questions or concerns on the line. When asked to make holes and running lanes, the big boys up front for GSU have shown just what they can do. The Panthers have only run the ball more than 25 times just once this season, and on that day, they earned 196 yards on the ground and picked up three touchdowns. For the most part, the GSU offensive line has been needed to keep quarterback Conner Manning clean in the pocket, and until last week, they had excelled in that quest. The unit only allowed their quarterback to get sacked eight times, with three of those sacks coming against Troy.
But the unit will need a bounce back performance if the Panthers will handle business against the Skyhawks. UT Martin has been able to consistently make appearances in opponents’ backfields despite its 3-3-5 base defense, getting at least two sacks in each of its last five games. The Skyhawks have sacked the opposition four times in each of their last two games, so it will be up to the Panthers’ line to keep Manning safe from this stout group. In the team’s two previous games against FBS competition, UT Martin only had one sack in each contest, but those were also the first two games of the season. Against the pass-happy Panthers, they will have plenty of opportunities to show that those first two games of the year were flukes, and they can pressure the quarterback.
