Troy vs Georgia State Notebook and Preview
Troy vs Georgia State
Where: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy
Time: 6:30 CT
TV: ESPNU
Spread: Troy -15.5
Since we’re on a short week, I’ve decided to do things a little differently. Instead of a stat notebook that focuses on the previous game, I’m writing a notebook that focuses on the next game: Georgia State. Since we’re talking about the Panthers, it’s also going to double as a preview.
The Trojans are hosting Georgia State on national television Thursday night in what will be Neal Brown’s fourth short week game at Troy. The Trojans are 2-1 on a short week with the lone loss being a home beatdown at the hands of Arkansas State in 2016.
Efficient offenses
Led by Kaleb Barker, Troy’s offense has worked like a well oiled machine in the past couple of weeks. Most recently, that machine even spat out a handful of explosive plays, making Troy even more dangerous. Barker is top 10 in the country in completion percentage with a 71.6 percent rate. The Trojans are averaging nearly 200 yards rushing and 5.3 yards per carry.
Jabir Frye and BJ Smith had just 15 carries combined but together had 243 rushing yards against the Chanticleers. That adds up to an astounding 16.2 yards per carry.
On the other side, efficient offense isn’t exactly what you think of when you think of Georgia State. Yet, that’s exactly what it was last Saturday in its surprisingly dominant win over ULM. In fact, the Panthers were quite literally more efficient than they’ve ever been.
Led by freshman Seth Paige, Georgia State set a new school record with 308 rushing yards. That’s about 40 percent of the Panthers total rushing production this year. Quarterback Dan Ellington also set a record for completion percentage with an 83.3 percent clip.
Whether or not the Panthers can keep up that momentum will be critical.
Sacks, sacks and more sacks
Troy actually doubled its season sack output against Coastal Carolina on Saturday. The Trojans went into the game with nine sacks and came out with 18. The nine sacks is tied for second most in the school’s FBS history.
A total of ten different players have recorded a sack for Troy this season with six of them having at least 1.5.
On the flip side, Georgia State has three sacks through five games.
Three. Do with that what you will.
Hot start
Troy has quickly become a first half firework explosion. Ever since the Boise State game, the Trojans have been dominant in the first two quarters. Troy has outscored its opponents 121-70 in the first half so far. That’s 24.2 first half points per game, which is more than three Sun Belt teams average for an entire game, including Georgia State.
In conference play, Troy has a 59-21 first half advantage but has been outscored 27-21 in the second half. How long Brown keeps the foot on the petal will be something to keep an eye on against the Panthers.
Fun with kicking
Placekicking is often a wondrously dangerous adventure. Both of these teams are well aware of this. Thus far in 2018, Troy is 3/6 while Georgia State is 5/8. To make things even more exciting, Troy’s opponents have made just two of six attempts so far. A field goal try has not been attempted against Troy since the Nebraska game, though.
On the return side, we’re all being gifted with instant lightning on both sides. Marcus Jones has a kickoff return touchdown for Troy while Penny Hart- arguably the league’s top wide receiver- has a punt return touchdown for Georgia State. Both returns happened last week.
Prediction
Georgia State may be figuring out that everything doesn’t have to revolve around Hart. The Panthers have a number of running backs and a Caleb Evans-esque quarterback they can do damage with. It’s the defense, however, that may not hold against Troy. Georgia State is giving up 33.6 points per game and 21.6 first downs.
Giving up over 200 rushing yards and 250 passing yards per game is usually a bad thing. Troy can continue its balanced attack and has a chance to put this game out of reach in the first half again. 35-17, Troy