Georgia State coach Trent Miles has chosen Conner Manning to start at quarterback in Saturday’s matchup against No. 9 Wisconsin.
After throwing 8-for-24 for 135 yards and one touchdown against Air Force on Saturday, Manning is convinced that the Panthers haven’t shown who they really are.
“What we showed on tape the first two weeks is not us,” Manning said. “We had a lot of missed opportunities the past two weeks and we know that. We’re definitely learning from it and we know what we can do offensively. It’s just a matter of putting that on tape.”
Although Manning gets the start in Madison, Wis. on Saturday, quarterback Aaron Winchester knows his name will be called in certain packages.
“Conner’s the guy for us right now, but whenever my time is called, whatever package is coach (Luke) Huard wants to use me in, that’s what I’ll do,” Winchester said. “We’re very confident in Conner and we’re very confident in myself.”
In the Panthers’ two games this season — a 31-21 loss to Ball State and a 48-14 loss to Air Force — Winchester was 5-for-11 for 39 yards.
With a the season’s biggest challenge before them in Wisconsin (2-0), both quarterbacks recognize the leadership expected of the quarterback hasn’t been strong.
“We know we’re the quarterbacks, so we lead the offense and we got to step up in that aspect,” Winchester said. “I think our leadership hasn’t really shown the past two games, but that’s on us. We accept that challenge as well and just continue to grow.”
The Panthers’ offense will face a Wisconsin team that won 54-10 over Akron last weekend, forcing the Zips to two turnovers and to go 1-for-10 on third-downs.
Playing against Manning and Winchester every day in practice, outside linebacker Michael Shaw sees strength in both of the Panthers’ offensive leaders.
“They both have great vision,” Shaw said. “They both take coaching (well) so they’re both on the same page. They’re both pretty good quarterbacks, so going against both every day I get the best of both worlds because there’s no downfall to either of them.”
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