Following two straight home loses against two FCS teams (Samford University and University of Tennessee-Chattanooga), the Panthers will face their first FBS opponent this season — West Virginia University.
It will be the first time that the two teams will face off in football.
The Panthers hope to put a rocky week behind them.
On Monday, two starting offensive linemen for Georgia State, center Michael Davis and guard Harrison Clottey, quit the team.
Miles was forced to make adjustments on the line throughout practices this week. Per AJC, Miles said he was pretty sure redshirt senior Cade Yates will start at center and true freshman Brandon Pertile will start at right guard.
Unfortunately, linebackers Joseph Peterson and Avery Sweeting were suspended for Saturday’s game because of what Miles called a violation of Athletic Department policies he announced on Tuesday.
However, Miles said true freshmen Jameel Spencer and Kight Dallas would be starting in the linebacker positions this week.
In addition to player personnel changes, running back coach Tony Tiller has been named assistant to the athletic director.
In response to the promotion, head coach Trent Miles moved up graduate assistant Brock Lough to take Tony Tiller’s place as the running back coach.
However, the running game has been a struggle for the team as the Panthers have rushed for 102 total yards in two games.
Miles said freshman running back Kyler Neal will see some snaps in the game against West Virginia.
“We want to look at [Neal]. We want to see him play. We’ve used his redshirt now so let him go out there and let him play and see what he can do,” Miles said.
Miles said there will be a rotation in the running back position in Saturday’s game.
The Panthers’ opponent Saturday, the Mountaineers have won 98 of their last 132 games and are 53-4 when holding opposing teams to less than 100 yards rushing, the Panthers have yet to exceed 100 yards rushing this season.
West Virginia is coming off of a loss against the AP No. 14 ranked Oklahoma Sooners by a score of 16-7.
Junior running back Dreamius Smith scored the only touchdown for the Mountaineers on a 75-yard-run on the Mountaineers second possession of the game.
Turnovers hurt the Mountaineers totaling three lost fumbles and one interception. West Virginia also had eight penalties for 66 yards.
Furthermore, the team was still able to finish with 316 total yards in the game.
The Mountaineers are a relatively young team with 30 players on their depth chart being underclassmen, the eighth most in the NCAA.
Mountaineers junior quarterback Paul Millard will start his third career game Saturday after struggling against Oklahoma.
He completed 21 of his 41 pass attempts for 218 and no touchdowns against the Sooners. He has one passing touchdown so far this season.
West Virginia struggles heavily with third-down conversions going 5 for 23 on third-downs causing them to be ranked 115th on third-downs in NCAA.
On the other side of the ball, the West Virginia defense ranks 32nd in the FBS in average points allowed per game with 16.5.
Linebacker Brandon Golson had two sacks against Oklahoma and has two forced fumbles so far this season.
Miles said he is paying attention to linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski on the Mountineers defense. Kwiatkoski leads the team in tackles tallying up seven against William and Mary and 11 against Oklahoma.
The game kickoffs at noon in Morgantown, W. Va. and can he heard on 1340 The Fan AM radio.
