Georgia State football prepares for meeting with Georgia State

Release from Georgia State Athletics:

ATLANTA — In a highly anticipated matchup, Georgia State faces in-state rival Georgia Southern in football for the first time Saturday at The Georgia Dome.

The Panthers (1-6, 0-4 Sun Belt) are coming off a 30-27 defeat at South Alabama, their third three-point loss in Sun Belt play in which they led late in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Southern (5-2, 4-0 Sun Belt) had an open date.

“We are excited this week to play the team from the south part of Georgia,” Georgia State head coach Trent Miles said. “Our kids are excited and they are dialed in,” Miles continued at his weekly press conference. “We need a great week of preparation to have a chance to play with them. They’re an outstanding football team. We look forward to Saturday.”

The two schools are meeting in football for the first time but were formerly conference rivals in other sports in the Trans America Athletic Conference.

“Rivalries are things that are established over years and history,” Miles said. “So this is the start of one because it’s natural, we’re in the same conference and the same state. Hopefully in years to come they’ll be talking about what a great rivalry it is.”

Georgia State is the Sun Belt’s top passing team with 303.1 yards per game. Panthers’ quarterback Nick Arbuckle leads the Sun Belt in passing (294.9 yps) and total offense (300.3 ypg). As a team, Georgia State is averaging 27.0 points and 417.4 yards per game.

Arbuckle’s top targets include wide receivers Donovan Harden (34 receptions, 521 yards, 3 TD), Robert Davis (33 receptions, 442 yards, 1 TD), and LynQuez Blair (27 receptions, 341 yards, 3 TD) and tight end Joel Ruiz (24 receptions, 331 yards, 2 TD). Ruiz leads all tight ends in the nation in receiving yards per game (67.7) and is second in receptions per game (5.2).

Georgia Southern (5-2, 4-0 Sun Belt) leads the league in rushing (370.0 ypg), as well as scoring (41.3 ppg) and total offense (505.6 ypg).

Under first-year head coach Willie Fritz, the Eagles are in first place in the Sun Belt and leads the league in scoring (41.3 ppg) and total offense (505.6 ypg), including 370.0 rushing yards per game. Georgia Southern feature the league’s top two rushers in running back Matt Breida (118.7 ypg) and quarterback Kevin Ellison (93.6 ypg).

Georgia State faced an option attack against Air Force earlier this season, but Miles noted that Georgia Southern’s style is much different.

“It’s a totally different offense than Air Force,” Miles said. “When you face the option, you always learn something about assignment football, but this is a totally different scheme.

“[Georgia Southern’s] offense is dynamic and their quarterback, No. 4, he can go. They’ve got some excellent skill position guys. It’s a very difficult scheme and they utilize it really well. You’re not really going to be able to stop them, you want to slow them down.”