The bottom two teams of the Sun Belt Conference are set to face each other as the Western Kentucky Hilltoppers (4-4, 1-3 Sun Belt) travel to the Georgia Dome to face the Georgia State Panthers (0-8, 0-3 Sun Belt).
The head coach of the Hilltoppers, Bobby Petrino, returns to the Georgia Dome for the first time since 2007 when he deserted the Atlanta Falcons after just 13 games as the head coach.
Since his departure from Atlanta, Petrino coached for the Arkansas Razerbacks earning a record of 34-17 over four seasons.
Now, in his first season with the Hilltoppers, Petrino leads an inconsistent team that defeated Navy and the University of Louisiana at Monroe but lost to South Alabama and Troy.
Western Kentucky is led by senior running back Antonio Andrews.
Saturday’s game will feature college football’s top two players in career all-purpose yards among active FBS players.
Andrews is No. 1 among active FBS players in career all-purpose yards with 6,082. Behind him is Georgia State’s Albert Wilson who has 5,444 all-purpose yards with the Panthers.
Andrews is currently college football’s leading rusher with 1,180 yards and 11 rushing touchdowns this season. Andrews is also first in all-purpose yards averaging 237.6 per game.
“We’re going to have to gang-tackle…do all we can to wrap [Andrews] up, get his legs and get him on the ground,” head coach Trent Miles said about facing the nation’s leading rusher.
Last week against Troy, Andrews rushed for 144 yards and one touchdown extending his streak of games with 100-or-more all-purpose yards to 21.
Andrews is tied for first on the team in receptions with 26 for 332 yards. Wide receiver Joel German has 26 receptions as well but has picked up seven more yards than Andrews putting him in front. German averages 42.4 reception yards per game.
Taking the snaps for the Hilltoppers is redshirt junior Brandon Doughty who has thrown for 2,045 yards and eight touchdown passes. His longest was on a 60-yard pass to Andrews in the last game against Troy.
Doughty has utilized his tight-ends as a part of his throwing game finding Mitchell Henry 23 times this season for 268 yards and two touchdowns. Henry has had three games receiving for at least 50 yards this season.
Henry was added to the 2013 John Mackey Award Midseason watch list, an award that is given to the most outstanding tight end each year.
Western Kentucky is going up against a Georgia State team that has continously been hurt by offensive injuries.
Among the most notable injuries is center Ron Martin who is having season-ending surgery on his finger. In addition, guard Cade Yates and tight-end Mark Ruskell are out for Saturday’s game with guard Tim Wynn labeled as questionable.
As if things weren’t bad enough, news came out Thursday that four freshman were suspended from Saturday’s game, according to Doug Roberson of the AJC.
Starting defensive lineman Shawanye Lawrence, running back Kyler Neal, and offensive linemen Brandon Pertile and Davis Moore were all suspended for a violation of team rules in respect to academics.
Quarterback Ronnie Bell is expected to start against the Hilltoppers after throwing four interceptions in the last three games.
In the game against Louisiana-Monroe, Bell and backup quarterback Ben McLane combined for four turnovers while throwing no touchdowns.
“We teach them everyday,” Miles said when asked on his team’s ability to protect the football. “Every now and then, they have a bad game.”
Bell has completed 113 passes for 1,520 yards and 10 touchdowns this season. He has seven interceptions.
Georgia State’s running game has slightly improved. What did average roughly 76 rushing yards per game in the first six games has improved 148 yards per game in the last two games.
Travis Evans, who became Georgia State’s all-time leading rusher in the game against ULM, has one touchdown and 333 yards this season. The only other player to rush for a touchdown is Bell.
The rush defense for the Panthers must be on point to limit Andrews, and Miles said they will defend Andrews heavily on every play knowing it will create opportunities for the Hilltoppers to run the play action.
“We’ve got to stop the run first,” Miles said.
“We’re going to try and contain. You don’t stop guys like this.”
The rush defense has struggled this season allowing 1,823 rushing yards, more than 1,000 yards than Georgia State has rushed for this season.
The game starts at 1 p.m. It will be broadcasted on The Sun Belt Network/ CSS and can be heard on 1340 AM The Fan 3.
