The Georgia State-Georgia Southern rivalry game, also known as “Modern Day Hate,” kicks off Thursday night with this Sun Belt showdown.
Georgia State is 6-1 on the season and has won the last three games in this rivalry. The Panthers aim to keep its Sun Belt title hopes alive.
Meanwhile, Georgia Southern is 5-2 and looking to clinch a bowl-game berth. The Eagles are undefeated at home this season and will attempt to keep that streak going in what projects to be a close one.
What Channel Airs the Georgia State-Georgia Southern Game?
Georgia State @ Georgia Southern
- Start Time: 7:30 p.m. ET
- Channel: ESPN2
- Odds: Georgia Southern -1.5
- Over/Under Total: 62.5
This matchup pits two underrated quarterbacks against each other: Georgia State’s Darren Grainger and Georgia Southern’s Davis Brin. Grainger is an excellent dual-threat quarterback whose ability as a passer has grown leaps and bounds to put himself on NFL radars. Brin, a transfer from Tulsa, is the only Sun Belt QB with over 2,000 passing yards and operates Georgia Southern’s up-tempo spread offense with ease.
Not only does this game boast two talented quarterbacks, but this rivalry also boasts a deep talent pool at the offensive skill positions as well.
Georgia State’s Marcus Carroll is second in the Sun Belt in rushing yards and has 10 touchdowns on the season, while Georgia State’s Jalen White is a talented do-it-all running back who sits eighth in the Sun Belt in rushing. These two are some of the best backs in the Group of Five and excel in two totally different styles of rushing attacks.
Despite these two talented backs, the fireworks show is on full display with the wide receivers for these two teams. These teams have a combined four receivers in the top 10 of the Sun Belt in receiving yards.
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For Georgia State, Robert Lewis has been Grainger’s go-to target this season. He’s responded with 561 yards and five touchdowns, including a 220-yard game against Charlotte a few weeks ago. Lewis is an explosive mover who is a threat to score anytime he touches the ball.
Tailique Williams often takes the slot role next to Lewis and is just as productive as the secondary option. He does more of his damage after the catch, getting most of his targets underneath to let him do damage in the open field. Williams is tenth nationally in yards after the catch.
These two receivers excel at generating separation and Grainger has been tremendous hitting them in stride, leading the Sun Belt in on-target percentage.
On the flip side, Georgia Southern’s receiving duo of Khaleb Hood and Derwin Burgess Jr. are just as exciting. Hood takes most of the slot reps for the Eagles and gets peppered with targets often. Only five receivers in the country have more targets than Hood, and only three of them have generated more first downs than he has. He’s undersized at 5’10”, 180 pounds, but he’s shifty and explosive and should be a Shrine/Senior Bowl target this draft season.
Burgess Jr. has been a secondary option for Georgia Southern, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t just as productive. Burgess is a solid route-runner with contested catch ability that belies his size, and he’s top 10 in the country in missed tackles forced after the catch.
I was also impressed by tight end Keaton Upshaw for Georgia Southern. While he doesn’t get the same volume of production as these receivers, he’s a reliable big-body target at 6’7″, 245. He’s been a solid blocker and red-zone target. The Kentucky transfer isn’t a tremendous athlete, but he can play all over an offense, and his skill set should intrigue teams.
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Georgia State’s Travis Glover is an intriguing draftable player to watch in this one as well. Glover has over a thousand career snaps at both tackle spots and over 400 at left guard, giving him quality versatility. He has allowed just two sacks in the last two seasons and has only allowed seven pressures this season.
This game will come down to which defense can generate enough stops, something that hasn’t come in abundance for either group. Both defenses rank in the bottom five of the Sun Belt in yards per attempt allowed and yards per game allowed. Georgia State’s aggressive and blitz-heavy defense has them top five in the conference in pressures but leaves them open to big plays behind them when they aren’t getting to the quarterback.
Both of these defenses sing a different story in run defense, as they both are stout against the run. While not on the level of James Madison, they are both top five in the Sun Belt in rushing yards allowed per game and don’t miss many tackles. Georgia State’s Justin Abraham and Georgia Southern’s Marques Watson-Trent excel in run defense and are a big part of why they are shutting opposing rushing attacks down.
The defensive back to watch in this one is Georgia Southern cornerback Shemar Bartholomew. The Northwestern State transfer is allowing just 33% of passes to be completed on him and allows 0.4 (yes, that is a decimal point) yards per coverage snap on the year, easily the top mark in the conference.
His teammate in East Carolina transfer Damel Hickman gets targeted more but has responded just as well, allowing just a 27.4 rating when targeted and zero touchdowns allowed on the season.
Both defenses will be tested in this game by two explosive offenses, and it’s easy to understand why the over/under total was set so high. With two talented quarterbacks and a bevy of offensive talent on both sides, this should be a tremendous Thursday night game with all the energy of a rivalry game to boot.
