The Georgia State Panthers meet the Texas State Bobcats Saturday in week 8 Sun Belt college football action from Turner Field. Texas State is coming off a matchup versus Troy last weekend. In that one, the Bobcats took a tough three-points defeat. As for Georgia State, they had a bye last week. The Panthers last saw the field in a blowout win over LA-Monroe. Check back all season long for free college football picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas State began their year with a loss to Baylor 29-20, but then picked up an OT win over FIU 23-17. After that came losses to Incarnate Word 42-34 and Eastern Michigan 29-21 before an OT win over South Alabama 33-31.
In last weekend’s matchup versus Troy, the Bobcats gave up a key fourth-quarter touchdown in a difficult 31-28 loss. QB Brady McBride had 279 yards with three TDs and three picks, while Javen Banks caught four balls for 96 yards and a score to lead the receivers.
Over on the Georgia State side, they lost their first two games to Army 42-10 and North Carolina 59-17. The Panthers managed a win over Charlotte 20-9 in game three, but then fell 34-24 to Auburn and 45-16 to Appalachian State before beating LA-Monroe 55-21.
In the blowout win over LA-Monroe, Georgia State scored 21 points in the second quarter and cruised from there. QB Darren Graniger put up 230 yards with four touchdowns on 18-of-25 passing, and Stretch Credle had seven catches for 130 yards and two scores.
Texas State is 6-1 ATS in their last seven conference games and 8-3 ATS in their last 11 overall. The Bobcats are 2-9 ATS in their last 11 games on turf.
Meanwhile, the Panthers are 4-1 ATS in their last five after an ATS win and 4-1 ATS in their last five conference games. Georgia State is 4-9-1 ATS versus a team with a losing record as well.
PICK: I’m going to take a stab on Georgia State. This should be a pretty interesting matchup regardless, though. The Panthers have been a mixed bag this season so far, but their offense has shown some signs of improvement here and there over the past three games or so. In the win over UL-Monroe, Georgia State put up 572 yards total with 39 first downs and a nice 9-of-13 on third-down tries. The 326 rush yards were certainly impressive as well.
As for Texas State, they were pretty consistent on offense with 370 total yards, 21 first downs and a nice 8-of-16 mark on third downs. The Bobcats gave up 205 rush yards and four turnovers, and that’s mostly what sealed their fate in the Troy game. Texas State should match up well with Georgia State however, so this should be a pretty competitive game most of the way.