A hearing is set on whether to remove the judge in the felony child abuse case against Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson who is charged with beating his 4 year old son in Texas.
By: Jared Oliver
The start of a new rivalry will take place when Georgia State will take the field against the Georgia Southern Eagles at the Georgia Dome on Saturday, Oct. 25. Now that Georgia Southern has joined the Sun Belt Conference, there will be several matchups of these two universities down the road. The Panthers first began play as members of the Sun Belt last season. Georgia Southern Strengths The Eagles present one of the most proficient running attacks in the nation. Georgia Southern is first in FBS rankings for rushing yards, averaging 275.8 yards a game. They also present an athletic defense that does not give up points easily. Georgia Southern's defense is 33rd in the country, only giving up 21 points a game. Georgia State must be aware of these numbers if they plan to take down Georgia Southern. Georgia Southern weaknesses Whereas they are strong when keeping the football on the ground, Georgia Southern is not that much of a passing savvy team (122nd in the country). If Georgia State can get an early lead on Georgia Southern, it will force the Eagles to throw the ball and push them out of their comfort zone. FBS Standings: Passing Yards: 122nd (135.6) Rushing Yards: 1st (372.0) Points for: 13th (41.3) Points against: 33rd (21.0) Georgia Southern's offense is similar to Air Forces who Georgia State previously played this year, losing 48-38. Falcon’s running back Jacobi Owens rushed for 133 yards on 25 carries along with two touchdowns. Overall, the team had a combined 315 total rushing yards. The Eagles are even more of a threat than Air Force was considering the athletes they have on both sides of the ball. The Panthers defense must find a way to find a way to slow down the damaging triple-option offense that Georgia Southern has. Attempting to slow down such an imposing offense is difficult, but very achievable. Georgia State Strengths Georgia State is 21st in the nation in throwing the ball, averaging 301.1 passing yards. The Panthers have a high-powered offense when clicking on all cylinders. The offense is led by quarterback Nick Arbuckle who is the centerpiece of the offense. Georgia State has receivers that are athletic and fast with the ability to get open. Georgia State Weaknesses Georgia State's defense has allowed teams to average 40.0 points (124th in the country). If Georgia Southern's running game gains momentum, there could be early trouble for the Panthers. FBS Rankings: Passing yards per game: 21st (301.1) Rushing Yards: 113th (118.3) Points for: 86th (27.0) Points Against: 124th (40.0) Players to Watch: Nick Arbuckle, Donovan Harden Pregame Analysis: Georgia State quarterback Nick Arbuckle has had a breakout season so far. He has thrown for 1,591 yards with a 63.45 completion percentage and a 142 passer rating. In order for the Panthers to prevail over their rival Georgia Southern, they will need Arbuckle to have one of his best games of the season. The Panthers will need Arbuckle to make precise movements and quick decisions. Another key will be for him to find open receivers, including 6-foot-3 sophomore wide receiver Robert Davis. Coming into this season, Davis was looked at as the primary target in the team's passing game this year. So far, Davis has only 442 receiving yards this season and one touchdown. Davis is definitely capable of turning this year into another of his best seasons after finishing second in touchdowns and receiving yards in 2013 behind only Albert Wilson. His presence must be felt in this game to make life difficult for Georgia Southern's defense. Since the Panthers' leading rusher Kyler Neal will be out for the rest of the season due to a torn MCL, junior running back Marcus Caffey will take the handoffs from Arbuckle this week. Caffey also was one of the Panthers' defensive backs who started this season on the defensive side. He began this season as a defensive player but was moved to running back as injuries and Krysten Hammon's release made Georgia State short in that position. Running the ball will be vital this game to put the Georgia Southern defense on its heels and for Arbuckle to get comfortable. Georgia Southern has won its last four games and has done so by being very aggressive on the offensive side of the ball, scoring an average of 41.3 points a game this season. The Eagles are a team that has athletic players at the skill positions and disciplined offensive linemen. Georgia Southern has two running backs that have surpassed the 500 yard mark this season. The 5-foot-10 sophomore running back from Brooksville, Fla., Matt Breida, has rushed for over 800 yards with 96 carries seven games into the season. Breida is averaging 8.7 yards a carry this season. A major compliment in the backfield for Breida is quarterback Kevin Ellison. He happens to lead the team in carries for the Eagles with 98. Ellison is very durable and is a very important piece to the triple-offense system. If Georgia State's defense can contain Ellison, it can increase their chances of defeating the Eagles. Freshman running back Alfred Ramsby has also hauled in 90 carries for 419 yards. This Saturday, Oct. 25 is the beginning of a heated in-state rivalry for years to come on the gridiron! The GSU Panthers' football team is terrible as expected. After winning the first game, the Panthers have lost the last six. The program be playing better than they are playing. The offense lacks a running game and is careless with the football at times. The defense is just outright terrible; it's 121st out of 125 FBS teams in points allowed. The team can't execute its plays and reads consistently. The offense struggles to execute the game plan when it's leading and when it's losing. When the team is up, the offense tends to get sloppy with the ball and turn it over. When the team is down, the offense struggles to move the chains and score, because the offense is one dimensional. The offense can fix its turnover woes by protecting the ball more and allowing quarterback Nick Arbuckle going through his progressions. Due to injuries in the back-field the offense will have to continue to remain pass oriented. The running backs haven't been given the chance to establish the running game consistently. The running backs are not really producing ever since Kyler Neal went down with a knee injury against Washington for the rest of the season. The offense should still try to establish some form of a running game. Hopefully, the Panthers will be able to recruit a running back that will take the reins and will take some of the pressure off of Arbuckle. As for the other side of the team, the defense seems to make too many mental errors. The defense has blown schematic reads all season. They do not attack the ball as they should. The defense is not a top tier defense, but it can be better than what is being displayed. There seems to be inexcusable reasons that the defense is giving up 40 points a game. The Panthers need to get it together and focus. They must learn to take one play at a time. It’s time for the football program to start gaining respect from the student body and increase their fan base is now! By Davon Scarlett Dallas Cowboy running back Joseph Randle was arrested and charged for shoplifting, and accused of stealing cologne and underwear valued at $123 from a department store located in Dallas. Telling a police officer he thought to himself, “all right, yall got me,’ after a security guard stopped him. Randle, who faces charges of a misdemeanor theft was arrested Monday evening by the department store’s security and later escorted to the Frisco city jail. Sgt. Brad Merritt says, “He posted a $350 bond early Tuesday.” The arrest was just after one of Randle’s rewarding games since becoming a part of the Dallas team as a fifth round draft pick from Oklahoma State last season. With a 38-yard run and key tackle on a kickoff in a 30-23 victory at the Super Bowl champion Seattle, it gave the Cowboys their first 5-1 record since 2007. Randle was caught on video putting items in a Dillard’s bag, later identified as Gucci Guilty Black cologne and two- packs of Polo underwear, after making a purchase at the store at Stonebriar Centre. The 22 year-old was approached and stopped by the department security guard in the parking lot and later told a police officer that he saw the, “old guy”, referencing the security guard. After being stopped by the security guard, Randle returned the items back to the store. The amount of the items were valued at $123.50. Randle is in his second year of a four year contract bringing in $2.3 million with a base salary of $495,000. Randle, declined to talk to reporters in the locker room Tuesday, he could be suffering from kleptomania. A disorder that occurs in individuals who have the urge to steal. By Jamal Goss Georgia States Men’s tennis team dominated this weekend against Wake Forest by collecting a bunch of wins in the tournament. This weekend October 11th through October 13th the Georgia State men’s tennis team traveled to Winston- Salem to take on Wake Forest. The Panthers had a fantastic opening day in the tournament going 5-3 in the single matchups and 6-2 in the doubles competition. Georgia State came to the tournament with confidence despite playing against very talented competition around the country this weekend. One of the newest members of the Georgia State men’s team Zack Kennedy, a transfer sophomore from Clemson University, took the court alongside senior Sofiane Chevallier to defeat very talented teams from Tennessee and Duke. Duke has one of the best top 50 double teams in the country (Jason Tahir and Chris Mengel), however, the Panthers duo were too much for Duke this weekend. Georgia State head coach Brett Ross seemed to be very pleased with his team’s performance, “We showed today that we have the talent and the ability to compete with the top teams in the country.” The second day of play was solid for the panthers, not as strong as the first day, but very efficient. There were rain delays that brought play to a halt, however, the panthers finished 7-5 in singles competition. Georgia is 12-8 overall throughout the second day in singles competition. Zack Kennedy had another great second day, except he scorched the competition in singles on Saturday. Kennedy went undefeated (2-0). Kennedy went on to face Wake Forest’s Nicky Kunz in the B1 singles Finals. Sophomore Felipe Jaworski followed trend as well, going undefeated in single play. Kennedy won 6-2 and 6-0 against VCU’s Toni Batlle. Following his first win, Kennedy closed out UNCW’s Javier Restrepo, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a very close match. Jaworski defeated Tennessee’s Techs Eduardo Mena 6-4, 6-1. Jaworski found a way to defeat Elon Universities, Joshua Luck 6-2, 6-3. This advanced Jaworski to the consolation Finals of the A2. The final day of the Wake Forest tourney was Zack Kennedy’s day. The sophomore went the entire weekend without dropping a set. Kennedy has been a great addition to the team without question. “It shows his focus,” head coach Brett Ross said. “He’s playing some great tennis right now and maintaining that focus throughout each match.” The Panthers come back to Atlanta with wins over ranked opponents and confidence. The Panthers will begin to prepare for the ITA Regionals, which is set to be scheduled for October16-19. By Jared Oliver |
AuthorSDarien Amos CategoriesArchives
June 2016
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