ATLANTA--With a much-needed victory in hand and an infusion of confidence, Georgia State now travels to San Antonio, Texas to take on first-year program UTSA Saturday at 1:30 p.m. ET at the Alamodome.
The game will be televised on the Longhorn Network, and local radio coverage is available on Newstalk 1160 AM, GSU's Atlanta flagship.
Both teams enter the contest with identical records of 2-5, and the game features a matchup of veteran coaches with GSU's Bill Curry facing UTSA's Larry Coker, who won a national title at Miami.
"I know Larry Coker is a terrific coach, a good guy and a friend of mine," said Curry at his weekly press conference. "I thought he did an incredible job at Miami. He's moved on and done a great job of having a very young, very well-schooled and disciplined team at Texas-San Antonio."
Georgia State's defense turned in it's best performance of the season in last Saturday's 27-20 double-overtime victory over South Alabama, highlighted by a dramatic goal-line stand on the game's opening possession and a school-record five takeaways, including Mark Hogan's game-ending interception. This week the Panthers' defense faces another tough challenge in UTSA.
"Their quarterback Eric Soza operates a very sophisticated and polished looking offense over long stretches," said Curry. "For them to be this far along executing that offense is impressive to me. Soza is the guy that pulls the trigger. He runs really well and throws perhaps better than he runs. He's a threat. They run a lot of different things from a lot of different sets.
"They have a game breaker in wide receiver Kam Jones," Curry continued. "He averages 16.5 yards every time he touches the ball. He makes me think a little bit of our Albert Wilson, but that's not a pleasant thought unless he's on your side. He's a really good player. They have a powerful back, Evans Okotcha, who plays fullback and running back and averages seven yards a carry. That's tremendous running behind a young offensive line."
Curry looks to combat the Roadrunners offense with the same kind of effort and enthusiasm that the GSU defense showed against South Alabama.
"We kept putting them in bad situations the other night but they took the field like they were excited to run out there," said Curry. "That's the key to everything when you play defense. The defense kept getting put into tough spots because of field position and poor kick coverage. They took the field with enthusiasm and played with enthusiasm every time we put them out there."
On offense, Curry said that Kelton Hill will make his second straight start at quarterback, and Drew Little is also available to play after missing the last two games due to injury.
Hill went 12-for-15 for 209 yards with two touchdowns against the Jaguars. He also rushed for 45 yards, while junior running back Donald Russell set a school-record with 136 yards rushing. As a team, the Panthers have averaged 232 yards rushing over the last two games.
The success of the running game can be attributed in part to the play of the offensive line, but senior left tackle Clyde Yandell noted that Russell makes the job easy for the o-line.
"Having a guy like Donald Russell is huge," said Yandell. "Everybody loves blocking for him because he is a very powerful runner and good at making things happen when there doesn't look like there is a whole lot to get on the play."
Moving forward, perhaps the most important outcome of the South Alabama win is intangible.
"We want to capture the essence of what it was that we had against South Alabama that gave us the will to find a way to win the game no matter what at the end," said Curry.
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