Despite forcing three takeaways against Texas State last week, Georgia State did not win the turnover battle.
Three fumbles late in the game left the Panthers (1-4, 1-1 Sun Belt) with a turnover margin of zero. On the year, GSU’s turnover margin sits at minus-1, and in the last two weeks, the Panthers have committed seven turnovers after only having two in their first three games.
On the other side of the ball, it's been a slightly different story. The defense has forced four turnovers in the past two weeks, doubling its total for the year. And the unit's second quarter interception in last week's 41-21 win over Texas State (2-3, 0-1) led to the tying score and helped spark a 34-o run.
“It’s huge,” safety Bobby Baker said of the defenses recent turnovers. “It changes the momentum of everything, really brings a lot of energy and swagger to the team. “
On Saturday against Troy (4-1, 2-0), GSU will need to keep that swagger and continue its recent trend on defense while slowing down its own ball security issues of late if it wants a chance to pull off the upset.
“They’re a heck of a team,” coach Trent Miles said. “They’re very talented, well coached, excellent on offense and defense. Right now watching them, I would say there’s a reason they’re in first place in our conference.”
One of the reasons the Trojans have been so good this year is their plus-6 turnover margin. Troy’s 14 takeaways are nothing to look past, but the team’s eight giveaways might be even more impressive considering only one of them occurred at home.
This week the Panthers will be on the road trying to do what nobody has done yet this year and create chaos against a Trojan offense that has posted 109 points in its two home games this season. But traveling to Troy, Alabama might not be too scary for a GSU squad that came up just short of knocking off No. 8 Wisconsin (4-1, 1-1 Big Ten) in Madison a few weeks ago.
“We just like the environment of the road,” cornerback Jerome Smith said. “We like the boos. We like to silence the crowd.”
Against the Badgers, the Panthers had a turnover margin of plus-2 thanks to an interceptions, a fumble recovery and a clean game from the offense. They will need a similar performance this week against a Troy team that does not give the ball away at home and has six interceptions in two home contests.
The Trojans have only allowed 23 points at home and have scored at least 30 points in the first half of their two games as the host.
If the Panthers are going to replicate what they did last week and pick up another win, they will need to take the ball from their opponent and create some additional chances for a GSU offense that has scored just 23 points in three road games.
Additionally, GSU has only forced three turnovers in road games this year, so there’s reason to believe it will have trouble disrupting the Trojans, whose lone turnover came on a punt return. Still, the Panthers said if they can cause some fits for Troy, they think they can come out with a victory.
“If we get turnovers, I’m pretty confident we’ll win the game,” Smith said.
