The Georgia State football program is following one of its more successful seasons with perhaps its most challenging non-conference schedule.
The Panthers, who went 6-4 and made its second consecutive bowl appearance, will face seven teams that went to bowl games and six opponents who won eight or more games.
Georgia State will play Army in the season opener Sept. 4 at Center Parc Stadium, at North Carolina on Sept. 11, home against Charlotte on Sept. 18, and at Auburn on Sept. 25.
It will be the first time since 2014 that Georgia State has played two Power 5 teams.
The Sun Belt Conference will announce its league schedule March 1. Georgia State will have home games against Appalachian State, Troy, Arkansas State and Texas State and play road games against Sun Belt-champion Coastal Carolina, rival Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana-Monroe.
Auburn went 6-5 last season, lost to Northwestern in the in the Citrus Bowl, and will feature new coach Bryan Harsin. North Carolina, in coach Mack Brown’s third season, is coming off an 8-4 season, a loss to Texas A&M in the Orange Bowl, and has a potential Heisman Trophy candidate in Sam Howell. Georgia State has never played Auburn or North Carolina.
Army went 9-3 last season and lost to West Virginia in the Liberty Bowl. Georgia State defeated Army 28-21 in the rain in 2018.
Charlotte was 2-4 and finished fourth in the Conference USA’s Eastern Division. The 2020 meeting between Georgia State and Charlotte was canceled at the last minute because of COVID-19 concerns. The two schools have split two previous meetings.
Georgia State will face the difficult schedule with an experience group. The Panthers return all 11 starters on offense, eight starters on defense and both its specialists from the team that beat Western Kentucky in the LendingTree Bowl.
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