Georgia State trying to finish strong
The Independent Conference member Georgia State Panthers are looking to end their first season playing FCS Division I football with a bang and a win Thursday night. They will be in tough against the no. 11 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide who will be looking
for a victory of their own to further supplant themselves in a Bowl Championship Series (BCS) bowl game.
Alabama’s season to date
The defending national champions started their season on a five game winning streak with victories over San Jose State, formerly ranked no. 18 Penn State, Duke, Arkansas, and Florida. The impressive victories supplanted the Crimson Tide in the number
one ranked spot by week six, but had a disappointing loss to the former no. 19 ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
The Tide responded with back to back wins, first over the Mississippi Rebels (Ole Miss) and then Tennessee, but fell the following week against conference rival Louisiana State Tigers (LSU).
Last week’s victory against Mississippi State 30-10 brought Alabama’s record to 8-2 overall, and has them in third place in the west division of the competitive South Eastern Conference (SEC).
Georgia State’s previous games
The Panthers started off their FCS Division I careers with an impressive 41-7 victory over in-state foe Shorter University. However, they followed that up with two straight losses to Lambuth and in overtime to Jacksonville State.
After the two losses, the Panthers went on a four game winning streak against Campbell, Morehead State, Savannah State and North Carolina Central but had the streak halted by Old Dominion. A week later, they lost to South Alabama, but have rebounded with last
week’s victory over Lamar University.
The Panthers sit in third place at 6-4 in the IAA Independent Conference and could tie Cal Poly with a win.
Alabama’s keys to victory
The Tide will have to keep their momentum from the win over Mississippi State going, but also, not to underestimate their opponent.
“(Georgia State) played to overtime against Jacksonville State who beat Ole Miss,” Alabama head coach Nick Saban said to the Anniston Star. “We respect the players that they have. We respect the good job of coaching that they do. They present issues and problems
that we need to resolve on offense, defense and special teams just like every other team that we play. Even though they have a lot of young players they have some good players, some very good players.”
Tide quarterback Greg McElroy will have to continue his accurate passing, as he has thrown for over 200 yards in his last five games.
Defensively, Alabama ranks fourth in the country in points allowed per game with 13.4. If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.
Georgia State’s keys to victory
They should not be overwhelmed when they roll into Tuscaloosa and see over 100,000 screaming Tide fans. It is a very hostile atmosphere, and the crowd can definitely get into the heads of these players who are not used to playing in front of that
many people.
If they play their game, they have potential to be successful and throw some surprises at Alabama.
Prediction
Almost embarrassingly, the point spread given for this game is Alabama -57.
Alabama will win, but not by that much: 41-3.
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