Three storylines
Can the offense continue to improve? It will need to do so without quarterback Drew Little, who didn't recover well enough from hits he took in Saturday's loss to Murray State to play in this game. Bo Schlechter, who started the season's first three games before being benched for ineffectiveness, will start, and Kelton Hill will back him up. Look for the team to try and establish a power running game to take the pressure off their two quarterbacks.
Will the run defense improve? It needs to, or the team may lose its fifth consecutive game. The Bulldogs average 199.2 rushing yards per game, compared with 131.8 passing.
Will the Panthers play smarter? Who knows, certainly not the players or coaches. Committing penalties, making the wrong reads and missing assignments aren't things they want to happen, but they have occurred too frequently in every game, even the season-opening win against Clark Atlanta. Five games isn't an anomaly, it's a trend.
A Georgia State win would ...
- Snap a four-game losing streak.
- Be its second road win ever.
A South Carolina State win would ...
- Be its third in three home games this season.
- Be the 80th for coach Buddy Pough.
Keep an eye on ...
For Georgia State: Kelton Hill. Fans are clamoring to see more of the dual-threat quarterback. His scrambling skills were established last season, in which he led the Panthers in rushing. He's starting to show more of his passing skills, including a 43-yard touchdown pass to Danny Williams last week. Coach Bill Curry said Hill will get more playing time this week
For South Carolina State: Asheton Jordan. The junior is big (6-0, 205 pounds), strong and productive, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. He seldom is tackled behind the line, so the Panthers must be fundamentally sound when wrapping up, or Jordan will quickly be in the secondary.
The numbers game
20 Cumulative wins (in 28 games) of the teams that Georgia State has played this season.
59 Number of penalties committed by South Carolina State, one of the more penalized teams in the FCS (formerly Division I-AA) in terms of total penalties and penalty yards per game (101.7).
The history book
This is the teams’ first meeting.
The bottom line
The hard part of the schedule still isn’t over. The Bulldogs made the FCS playoffs last year and are capable of running through the Panthers if the defense doesn’t improve. The Panthers have continued to work on the mental mistakes and other errors that have contributed to their four-game losing streak. And again, Curry and the players said they have had a good week of practice. Again, can they take it to the field?
