Not that the intensity of the annual football game between Georgia State and Georgia Southern needed an excuse to get ramped up, but it just got one.
The rivalry between the Sun Belt Conference teams now has its own trophy, and it will be up for grabs for the first time when they meet at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Center Parc Stadium.
The Commissioner’s Cup will be presented by Georgia Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper to the winning team of what is now being called the Georgia Grown Bowl. The winning school also can claim the winning hashtag – #StateNotSouthern or #SouthernNotState.
The game can be seen on ESPNU and heard locally on WRAS-FM 88.5, WGTJ-FM 97.5 and the Georgia State mobile app.
“I think it’s very important to our kids and both universities,” Georgia State coach Dell McGee said. “We’re just thrilled that we have a chance to hoist a trophy and have bragging rights for 364 days until you do it again.”
Georgia State (2-1) had last week off after its dramatic 36-32 last-minute win over Vanderbilt on Sept. 14. Georgia Southern (2-2) is coming off a 52-13 loss to No. 6 Ole Miss. Georgia State leads the series 6-4, but Georgia Southern won last year’s game 44-27 in Statesboro.
“All of a sudden you make it the Georgia Grown Bowl and there’s a trophy involved, and it just grows,” Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton said. “Emotions are elevated, and passions are elevated because of the opportunity to play somebody within your state.”
As much pride as there may be at stake – the largest crowd of the season at Georgia State is expected – the winner also should get a bump in recruiting within the state’s borders. Georgia State has 61 Georgians and Southern has 87 on the roster. The two schools chase many of the same prospects.
“Anytime you talk about two state schools in battle, there’s a lot of common high school camaraderie, relationships,” McGee said. “We have several guys from Georgia and so do they, so it becomes sort of a pride deal. I’m not saying that people outside Georgia don’t understand rivalries, but I think it means a lot more when you’re from the state and you’re going to put that much more into the preparation.”
Helton has gotten a chance to see the rivalry close up for two years and has been on the winning and losing side.
“Anytime you have two teams that are in the same state you see the importance to the kids,” Helton said. “We’ve signed 61 high school players (from Georgia) in our two years here, and coach McGee, look at his recruiting, he’s doing the same thing. There’s so much talent in this state that you grow up together, you compete against one another in high school, and you carry it over to college.”
McGee’s background adds another layer to the game. Before coaching for eight seasons at the University of Georgia, McGee spent two seasons at Georgia Southern as an assistant coach under Willie Fritz, who remains one of his mentors. He was the interim head coach for the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl, where the Eagles beat Bowling Green 58-27.
There are plenty of statistical similarities between the teams.
Georgia State ranks eighth in the Sun Belt in rushing (153.3 yards per game with Freddie Brock No. 4 with 230 rushing yards. Christian Veilleux has thrown for 717 yards and six touchdowns. Georgia Southern is 13th (89.8 yards) in rushing and No. 7 in passing (233.3 yards) behind J.C. French, who has thrown for 885 yards and six touchdowns.
Georgia State ranks fifth against the run (137 yards) and No. 11 against the pass (258.7 yards). The Panthers are expected to get inside linebacker Justin Abraham and cornerback Izaiah Guy back from injury for Saturday.
Southern is No. 13 (232.3 yards) against the run and No. 14 against the pass (286.3).
“Statistically it may not look like they have a very good defense, but they really do,” McGee said. “They really fly around. You talk about Ole Miss being one of the top teams in the country and (Southern) competed and were in the game on the road. We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
