The 0-6 Georgia State Panthers travel to San Marcos, Texas to face the 3-3 Texas State Bobcats. Both teams are hoping to come out of the game with their first Sun Belt victory.
The Panthers, 0-1 in the conference, and the Bobcats, 0-2 in the conference, are each in their first season in the Sun Belt.
The Panthers came up short in their first Sun Belt game falling to the Troy Trojans 35-28. The Panthers had the lead twice in the game, but a late interception given up by Panthers quarterback Ronnie Bell cleared the way for the Trojan’s victory.
This season, Bell has completed 91 of his 196 pass attempts and has nine touchdown passes. He has four interceptions.
Senior receiver Albert Wilson has caught six of Bell’s passes for touchdowns accumulating 670 yards. Wilson averages 20.3 yards per catch.
In the game against Troy, Wilson had seven catches for 158 yards and two touchdowns putting him over 5,000 career all-purpose yards.
Wilson, the Panthers main kick and punt returner, has 478 yards on 18 kick returns this season, but has yet to return one for a touchdown.
True freshman Robert Davis is another Georgia State receiver who has made an impact for the offense.
Davis has 24 receptions for 362 yards and two touchdowns.
The offensive line has been a ever-changing area for the Panthers, and now with the injury of center Cade Yates, more young guys will be coming in.
Redshirt junior Ronald Martin is likely to start at center against Texas State. Martin played in the game against Troy after Yate’s first quarter ankle injury.
“I think [Martin] performed very well,” senior left tackle Ulrick John said. “He was making all his calls…and he really helped us out.”
Guard Tim Wynn is labeled as questionable for Saturday’s game, according to head coach Trent Miles.
Garrett Gorringe came in for Wynn against Troy, and is possible to start in the game against Texas State.
The Panthers offense will go up against the 11 ranked rushing defense in college football that is averaging 90.3 rushing yards allowed per game.
The Panthers have struggled all season with the running game scoring just one touchdown on the ground back in the game against West Virginia on Sept. 14.
“It’s just not a strength right now,” Miles said on his running game. “We’re in an adjustment period…bubbles, swing passes and screens are counting as runs for us.”
Junior Linebacker Daivd Mayo leads the Bobcat’s defense with 53 tackles and three interceptions.
Mayo was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week after the season opener against Southern Miss. Mayo came out of the game with a sack and two interceptions.
The Bobcats struggle against the pass having allowed 293 yards per game in the air and eight touchdowns.
Texas State had success in their last game against Louisiana-Monroe holding them to 148 yards passing and no touchdown passes.
The Bobcats, however, still lost 21-14 committing their second straight loss.
The Bobcats offensively are led by running back Robert Lowe who leads the team with six touchdowns this season.
Lowe has 442 yards on 76 carries. Lowe’s longest touchdown was on a 49-yard run at Texas Tech.
Lowe has one of the two total touchdown receptions this season for the Bobcats. Lowe has seven catches for 66 yards.
The Bobcats run a spread offense with freshman Tyler Jones and senior Tyler Arndt each taking the snaps.
Jones has completed 24-of-33 of his passes and has one touchdown pass.
Arndt is 45-of-81 passing with no touchdown passes. Arndt did pick up a touchdown on the ground against Southern Miss.
The Sun Belt matchup kicks off at 7 p.m. Eastern time. The game will be televised on the Sun Belt Network/ CSS and broadcasted on 1340 AM The Fan 3.
