The Georgia State Panthers and App State Mountaineers will meet in Boone on Saturday after the ‘Neers lost to Georgia Southern last week, 19-3. Crazier things have happened, but App State must at least win out to have a realistic shot to make the Sun Belt title game. Even then, the odds are not in their favor at the moment.
The Panthers, on the other hand, are 1-3 in the Sun Belt, so they know they aren’t making the title game. The goal is firmly now set on earning bowl eligibility, and they’ll have four games to earn two wins in order to achieve it. That said, it won’t come easy with starting quarterback Cameran Brown out with an undisclosed injury.
The Mountaineers have key injuries of their own, albeit not at the quarterback position. However, their injuries will certainly affect Singleton, as App State could be without their starting center and left tackle in this game. LT Devon Manuel is out for the season after an injury sustained a couple weeks ago, and C Jayden Thomas was stretchered off last week. Thomas was discharged from the hospital and is back in Boone, apparently suffering no neck or spine injuries, which is great, but there’s been no confirmation of his status this week. Because he was stretchered off, I’m assuming he won’t play this week, but given there are reportedly no injuries, it may be best to wait for confirmation on that front. Still, without Manuel, App State will not have, by far, its best offensive lineman.
App State’s offensive line was already bad enough, but being down potentially two starters, including its best blocker, is not ideal against a Georgia State defense that has generated havoc at a decent rate recently. Since Week 4, the Panthers are top-20 in that regard, not including garbage time, while they’re top-45 in stuff rate and line yards allowed (CollegeFootballData). Over the course of the entire year, they’re 17th in sacks and 35th in tackles for loss (CFBStats).
Because they’ve been so good up front, the Panthers have been above-average at keeping opponents behind the sticks, and they’ve carried a bend-don’t-break mentality in scoring situations. Meanwhile, the Mountaineers haven’t done anything particularly well when they have the ball, and their pass-catchers have had serious issues with drops thus far.
App State has been inconsistent at best this year, and because of their issues up front, I’m not entirely sold on them winning this game by margin – even if the Panthers are without their starting quarterback. I’m expecting GA State to win the battle in the trenches on both sides, so I’ll take the points with the road dog in this one.
Georgia State vs App State prediction: Georgia State +5.5 (-110) available at time of publishing. Playable to +4.
