Georgia Southern is the best rushing team in Division I, averaging 372 yards per game.
Georgia State has one of the worst rushing defenses in Division I, allowing an average of 240.9 yards per game.
So how can the Panthers (1-6, 0-4) hope to stop the Eagles (5-2, 4-0) when the teams meet at the Georgia Dome on Saturday?
It starts, as it does for any defense, with discipline.
“If you have the quarterback, you have to take the quarterback,” Georgia State linebacker Joseph Peterson said. “If you have the dive, you have to take the dive. If you have the pitch, you have to take the pitch.”
The Panthers haven’t had much discipline against option teams this season.
Air Force, which runs a different version of the option than Georgia Southern, rushed for 315 yards on 65 carries in a 48-38 win. Arkansas State, which runs a basic read option, rushed for 384 yards on 53 carries in a 52-10 win. South Alabama, which also runs a basic read option, rushed for 321 yards on 54 carries in Saturday’s 30-27 win.
“We’ve struggled stopping the run, and they run it extremely well,” Georgia State coach Trent Miles said of Georgia Southern. “We have to prove this week in practice and play better in the game.”
The Eagles are difficult to stop because they feature two quarterbacks who can run in Kevin Ellison (98.1 yards per game) and Favian Upshaw (43.7 yards per game) and a stable of fast running backs led by Matt Breida, who has averaged 118.7 yards per game.
The Eagles have had no trouble running against anyone, from FCS teams such as Savannah State (564 rushing yards) to FBS teams such as N.C. State (246 yards) and Georgia Tech (383 yards). (Because it is in process of transitioning to the FBS level, Georgia Southern’s stats don’t appear in the rankings on NCAA.com).
“They ran a lot of the same plays we were running, they were just in the gun,” said Tech coach Paul Johnson, whose option offense was honed when he was a coordinator and then head coach of the Eagles.
Johnson gave some credit for the Eagles’ success to their veteran offensive line, which features four seniors and a junior.
Georgia State defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said the line and the backs do a good job of creating angles and numerical mismatches on plays, which can cause a defender to think and react, instead of just react. That split-second of indecision can be all that’s needed to add another to the list of 35 plays of at least 25 yards the Eagles have this season.
“They do a really good job schematically putting you in binds,” Minter said.
But Panthers fans shouldn’t lose hope.
Miles noted the team forced several three-and-outs against South Alabama last week, and the squad has a lot of experience playing against the option this season, even if the schemes weren’t exactly the same as what the Eagles will run.
“If all 11 men are on the same page and we play together, anybody who plays us will be in for a game,” defensive tackle Jalen Lawrence said.
Ticket sales: Georgia State projects as many as 23,000 tickets sold and distributed for Saturday's game against Georgia Southern at the Georgia Dome. It will be the first meeting between the two schools in football.
A school spokesman said more than 13,100 tickets had been sold as of Thursday morning. The Panthers have averaged 11,824 at their four home games this season. The season-high of 16,836 came against Air Force.
The projection of 23,000 would be the third-highest total in tickets sold for Georgia State since the program started in 2010.
The inaugural game against Shorter had an announced attendance of 30,237. The 2011 opener against Clark Atlanta had an announced attendance of 26,273. Georgia State hasn’t cracked more than 20,000 in any other home game.
Slide: Georgia State fans may have been slightly nervous to see quarterback Nick Arbuckle continue to go head on against linebackers and safeties when he ran during last week's loss at South Alabama.
He carried a season-high 15 times for 19 yards. His rushing yards, which included a season-long 21-yard scamper, were offset by five sacks.
Arbuckle said backup quarterback Ben McLane tried to teach him how to slide the day before the game, but he couldn’t get the hang of it. Instead, he said he will work on lowering his pads during contact to minimize the risk of injury.
Arbuckle has rushed 54 times for 38 yards this season, but he’s doing most of his damage as a passer. He surpassed 2,000 yards for the season after throwing for 311 yards and three touchdowns against the Jaguars.
