The Georgia State Panthers will hit the road this Saturday in search of their first victory of the 2012 season as they visit the William & Mary Tribe in a battle of winless Colonial Athletic Association teams.
The Panthers are coming off their fourth consecutive blowout loss after falling to the Richmond Spiders on Saturday by a final score of 35-14, despite a good performance by quarterback Ronnie Bell and running back Donald Russell.
The team still hasn’t reached the level of consistency it takes to start winning games. Russell emphasized that practice is the key.
“We’ve just got to make plays, that’s all,” Russell said at the Richmond postgame conference. “It’s just something we’ve got to keep working on and eventually we’ll be able to do it [consistently].”
The loss pushed the Panthers’ record to 0-4 on the season and was their first CAA loss.
William & Mary was defeated by Delaware 51-21 this past Saturday evening. They are also 0-4 on the season following previous losses to Maryland, Lafayette and Towson.
The Tribe is piloted by quarterback Raphael Ortiz, a sophomore out of Rahway, N.J.
Ortiz, along with running backs Meltoya Jones and Keith McBride, leads an offense that has rushed for over 115 yards per game.
The Tribe defense had been rather stingy before Delaware’s 51-point outburst, which was aided by a pair of scores on defense and another by the special teams.
The unit is surrendering an average of just less than 24 points per game.
The Georgia State offense will have to deal with William & Mary playmakers linebackers Luke Rhodes and Airek Green. The duo has accounted for over 60 total tackles this season.
The Saturday tilt will be the first ever between the two schools and will take place at William & Mary’s Zable Stadium.
The game is set to kickoff at 7 p.m. and will be televised live on CSS.
