Georgia State football found itself in a familiar situation this week, trying to capture their first win.
Georgia State (0-7, 0-2) faces Louisiana-Monroe (3-4, 1-1) on Saturday, Oct. 26 at Louisiana Monroe.
The game is scheduled to kick off at 7 p.m., and marks the first time the Panthers will play the Warhawks in football.
Saturday’s game will be televised on ESPN 3 and broadcasted on the radio on 1340 AM and 88.5 FM.
Vs. Texas State
Both Georgia State and Louisiana-Monroe’s most recent games were against Texas State–just with different results. Georgia State lost 24-17 on Saturday and Louisiana-Monroe won 21-14 on Oct. 12.
In Saturday’s loss, redshirt sophomore quarterback Ronnie Bell completed 20 out of 36 passes for 208 yards passing with one touchdown and an interception.
Bell rushed for 30 yards and got a touchdown on the ground.
Senior wide receiver Albert Wilson led the team in receiving with seven receptions for 93 yards.
Wilson leads the Sun Belt in receiving yards per game with 109.0.
Meanwhile, in Louisiana-Monroe’s win against Texas State, they only managed to score once on offense with a 10 yard rushing touchdown from junior running back Centarius Donald.
The rest of the Lousiana-Monroe’s points came from turnovers with interception returns of 71 and 75 yards from senior safety Isaiah Newsome.
Newsome leads the Sun Belt in interceptions with four.
Key matchups
Saturday’s game could come down to who makes the least amount of mistakes as neither program is among the best in the Sun Belt for offense and defense.
The Panthers are ranked sixth in total offense with 335.9 yards per game and last in scoring offense with 16.6 points per game.
Georgia State gained 368 yards of total offense against Texas State on Saturday.
Louisiana-Monroe is ranked seventh in total offense with 333.1 yards per game and seventh in scoring offense with 17.3 points per game.
The Warhawks gained 192 yards of total offense against Texas State.
Georgia State is ranked last in total defense with 475.1 yards per game allowed and last in scoring defense with 35.7 points per game allowed.
The Panthers allowed 343 yards of offense on Saturday.
Louisiana-Monroe is ranked fifth in total defense with 425.4 yards per game allowed and sixth in scoring defense with 29.9 points per game allowed.
The Warhawks allowed 358 yards of total offense against the Bobcats on Oct. 12
High school connections
Panthers fifth-year senior wide receiver Kelton Hill and Warhawks senior tight end Kevin Steed were teammates (2005-2009) at Lithia Springs High School.
College connections
Some of the Georgia State football staff are no strangers to Louisiana-Monroe head coach Todd Berry, as several served alongside him before joining Georgia State.
Georgia State assistant head coach and offensive line coach Harold Etheridge served as Berry’s offensive line coach for the 1996-99 seasons for Illinois State and 2000-03 seasons.
Georgia State offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski served as offensive line coach at East Carolina when Berry was the offensive coordinator from 1992-1995.
Notables
The Panthers’ fifth ranked pass defense, allows 246.7 yards passing per game, only allowed 47 on Saturday against Texas State.
Fifth-year senior linebacker Robert Ferguson surpassed Panther alum Mark Hogan’s record of 157 with 164 tackles by getting eight on Saturday.
Fifth-year senior running back Travis Evans rushed for 71 yards on Saturday, passing the 1,400 career mark with 1,403.
Evans is nine yards behind the school record of 1,412 set by former Georgia State running back Donald Russell.
