College Football Predictions – Georgia St Panthers 2020 NCAA Football Preview
August 9, 2020
2019 Recap
Record – 7-6
ATS – 6-5-2
The Panthers booked their 2nd seven-win season in three years and pulled one of the biggest upsets of the college football season when they took down Tennessee (!) on the road (W 38-30) in the opening week of the season. They laid a couple of STINK BOMBS including a seemingly 900-point loss to Western Michigan, but they get full marks for starting 6-2 (!) and getting to a bowl game. Sadly, they got blown out in the Arizona Bowl by a nasty Wyoming team.
Let’s see how the roster shapes up in 2020!
2020 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
East Division – #5
Sun Belt – #7
Georgia St Panthers 2020 Outlook
OFFENSE
The Panthers rode their star QB Dan Ellington to 30 PPG (31.2, #47) and 440 YPG (#31 FBS) and that was with him finishing the season playing with a torn ACL. A truly inspiring performance, Dan! That’s a yuuuuge hole to fill at QB and it’s unclear who will win the starting gig as we approach press time. Last season’s backup Cornelius Brown (28 attempts LY) might have the inside track, but there are few other interesting youngsters in the mix. They also lose their fantastic 1,400-yard RB Tra Barnett who booked 12 TDs on the ground LY. Their #2 and #3 RBs are back in the mix (Destin Coates, Seth Paige) and they’ll be running behind one of most talented offensive lines in the Sun Belt. The front line has four returning starters including a pair of stars at center (Malik Sumter) and LG (Shamarious Gilmore). Another positive? The Panthers bring back their top-3 pass catchers from LY including WR Cornelius McCoy (757, 5 TD) and TE Roger Carter.
It’s hard to know what to expect given the change at QB but we like the look of the rushing attack, and note that Georgia St has made strides the L2Y on the ground (242, 171 rushing YPG).
DEFENSE
Georgia St was brutal on defense for the second consecutive year (#9 Sun Belt scoring defense, 36.2 PPG) and couldn’t stop the run (#8) or the pass (#7). Not a great combo. Things should improve this year <crosses fingers> with nine starters returning for duty including a lot of upperclassmen. The LB group looks pretty solid with the return of their top-two tacklers including tackling machine Trajan Stephens-McQueen. DE Hardrick Willis led the team in sacks LY (4.5) and they have a small handful of experienced CBs. We worry about their overall size as a stop unit and it’s worrisome that they have never recorded more than 24 sacks in a season (21 LY).
They’ll do a better job this year but the high-bar is likely an “average” performance in key statistical categories.
SPECIAL TEAMS
RUH ROH.
The kicking game might be a problem area as Brandon Wright ran out of eligibility and recall that he was the both the PK and punter a season ago. The Panthers were in the bottom-10 of the FBS in both KR and PR in 2019.
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The BLOODBATH game with ROLL TIDE has been canceled and their are 11 games left on the docket right now. After the opening date with FCS foe Murray St they have a tough stretch of four games that will probably set the tone for the rest of the year (Louisiana, at Charlotte, East Carolina, at Arkansas St). Things lighten up a bit after that, other than the trip to Boone, NC.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – Louisiana (September 19th)
Tough assignment in game number two. Don’t think we’ll be backing the Panthers in this spot as it’ll be their first conference test with a brand new starting QB.
Season Win Total
TBD
MEGALOCKS says:
TBD
MEGAmazing Tidbit
Georgia State University is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It’s the largest institution of higher education by enrollment based in Georgia and is in the top-10 in the United States in terms of number of students.
MEGALOCKS Outlook:
It’s a process, yo.
The Panthers have booked two winning seasons under the watch of HC Shawn Elliott and appear to be on the right track. Losing their leader and star QB is going to hurt but maybe the defense can improve and pick up the slack? They’re a year away from challenging for the division crown and should be content with aiming for a bowl bid.
Want more Georgia St Football ?
WEBSITE
https://georgiastatesports.com/sports/football
FORUM
http://georgiastate.247sports.com/Board/Georgia-State-Panthers-Message-Board-Forum-59462
NEWS
https://www.ajc.com/sports/georgia-colleges/
http://www.espn.com/college-football/team/_/id/2247/georgia-state-panthers
TWITTER
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