Georgia State will hold its first practice of August camp on Thursday with higher expectations than the program has ever set.
A team that went 6-7 last season and appeared in its first bowl game returns nine starters on defense and six to seven on offense. The players say the goal is to challenge for the Sun Belt Conference title.
The coaching staff that led the team to that record returns mostly intact, and the players have had almost a full year to take advantage of the strength and conditioning center that opened at the practice facility last September.
Here are five questions the team must answer during camp:
Who will be quarterback? Gone is Nick Arbuckle, who passed for more than 7,500 yards the past two seasons. Battling to replace him are redshirt junior Conner Manning, redshirt sophomore Emiere Scaife and redshirt freshman Aaron Winchester.
None have started a college game, and Manning and Scaife have combined for just a few snaps.
Coach Trent Miles said a starter likely won’t be named until the days or hours before the season-opener against Ball State on Sept. 2 at the Georgia Dome.
Scaife has the most experience in the system and the strongest arm. Manning shows nice touch on his passes after having set numerous records while in high school in California. Winchester had a great spring game, but it’s difficult to put too much value in those controlled situations.
It would be surprising to see each quarterback get a different set of plays to run during games so that each gets experience, but it may not be surprising considering each has already used their redshirt year.
Who will get most of the carries at running back? There could be as many as seven players competing for snaps: redshirt juniors Kyler Neal and Kendrick Dorn, juniors Taz Bateman and Glenn Smith, redshirt freshman Demarcus Kirk and freshmen Darius Stubbs and Tra Barnett headline the group.
Bateman led the group in yards per game (36.1) while Smith led in total yards (356). The good news is the skills are diversified: Neal and Kirk are mostly between the tackles guy, while Smith and Bateman can line up behind the quarterback or go into motion and become wide receivers. Dorn, out with an injury for an year, is an all-around runner. It will be interesting to see what the freshmen bring.
Where is the depth at wide receiver? There is certainly quality at the position with Penny Hart, the Sun Belt newcomer of the year after more than a 1,000 yards in receiving last season, and all-conference honoree Robert Davis, who caught more than 600 yards in passes, on the outside. Behind them, things will get interesting.
Todd Boyd figures to be the third wide receiver, with Mattavius Scott also competing. Then, it’s a group of sophomores and freshmen.
Who will replace Joseph Peterson and Tarris Batiste? Peterson left as the school's all-time leading tackler and the unquestioned leader of the program, while Batiste was close behind in leadership and made several big plays during the four-game winning streak that propelled the team to the Cure Bowl.
The program is deep at both positions, so much so that Jesse Minter said there shouldn’t be a dropoff between the two players and whoever steps in for them. Bryan Williams seems the likely starter at Batiste’s position at safety, with some shuffling at linebacker resulting in different players changing positions compared to where they played last year. Kaleb Ringer and Alonzo McGee will likely take over as the leaders on the defense.
Who will handle field goals? The only player on the roster who will be trying to replace Wil Lutz is freshman Barry Brown. There were several walk-ons who were given opportunities during the spring. Brown kicked a 46-yard field goal as a junior at Dublin High School.
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