Appalachian State Mountaineers vs Georgia State Panthers Game Preview and Prediction - 10/02/2021

Game Time: 2:00 pm ET, Saturday, October 2, 2021

Venue:  Turner Field, Atlanta, GA

Where to Watch:  ESPN+

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  App State -10, GA State +10; Over/Under:  55 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  App State -10, GA State +10; Over/Under:  54.5 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  App State -10, GA State +10; Over/Under:  55.5 points

 

Appalachian State Mountaineers:  3-1 (2nd place, Sun Belt Group A)

Georgia State Panthers:  1-3 (3rd place, Sun Belt Group A)

 

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Appalachian State Mountaineers:  won at home on Sep. 23 against the Marshall Thundering Herd 31-30.

Georgia State Panthers:  lost on the road on Sep. 25 against the Auburn Tigers 34-24.

 

 

 

App State is coming into this game with a 3-1 record overall and they are 0-1 in their road games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their first conference matchup of the year as their conference schedule is starting. Their 1 loss this season came in a very close game against the Miami-FL Hurricanes while their 3 wins came against the East Carolina Pirates, the Elon Phoenix and against Marshall in their last game. Quarterback Chase Brice was alright in their last game but he did struggle at times as he completed 24/39 passes for 283 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Their run game had a massive day as Nate Noel led the team with 187 rushing yards on 20 carries while Camerun Peoples also had a great day with 78 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 25 carries. The receiving corps also had a very nice day as Corey Sutton led the team with 127 yards receiving and 1 touchdown on 10 receptions while Thomas Hennigan was right behind him with 123 yards receiving on 9 receptions. D'Marco Jackson led the defense with 7 solo tackles and 7 assisted ones while Steven Jones Jr. also had a good day with 5 solo tackles and 1 assisted one. Jalen McLeod led the team in sacks with 1 while Brendan Harrington and Demetrius Taylor both combined for 1 sack. No one on the defense came away with an interception in that game. They have scored 131 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 84 points against them. The Appalachian State offense is averaging 476.3 YPG while their defense is allowing 361 YPG.

 

 

Georgia State is coming into this game with a 1-3 record overall and they are 1-1 in their home games this season where they will be in this game. This will be their first conference matchup of the season as well as their conference schedule is starting now. Their 1 win on the season came against the Charlotte 49ers while their 3 losses came against the Army Black Knights, the North Carolina Tar Heels, and against Auburn in their last game. Darren Grainger really struggled in that game as he completed 12/24 passes for 117 yards, 2 touchdown passes, and 1 interception. Their ground game had a very nice day though as Tucker Gregg led the team with 150 rushing yards and 1 TD on 12 carries. Grainger also racked up 61 yards on the ground himself. Roger Carter led the receivers with 51 yards and 1 touchdown on 4 receptions in what was a very quiet day for the receiving corps. Antavious Lane led the defense with 8 solo tackles and 1 assisted one. Bryquice Brown also had a nice game with 6 solo tackles while Chris Moore was right behind him with 5 solo tackles, 1 assisted one, and he also had 1 sack in that game. Jordan Veneziale had the only other sack for the defense in that one and no one came away with an interception. They have scored 71 points in their first 4 games and they have allowed their opponents to score 145 points against them. Their offense is averaging 316.8 YPG while the Georgia State defense is allowing 414.5 YPG.

 

Georgia State was blown out completely in their first 2 games of the season but, since then they have played some closer games in their last 2, losing by 10 to a ranked Auburn team and also getting a win before that. App State may be a much better team but they have not been playing like it lately as they barely scraped by in their last game. They beat Marshall by 1 point in a game that they were trailing in by a lot the entire time and they had to make a late comeback to win on a last second field goal. They are favored by 10 points here and although GA State is bad, they have been playing much better recently and this is their first conference game this year so they will definitely come with some intensity here. The best bet to make here is on Georgia State to cover the spread as they will keep this a pretty close game. 

 

Appalachian State Georgia State Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, October 2, 2021 (2:00 pm ET start time) is App State 31 GA State 24.

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Appalachian State Mountaineers: 17-26 O/U in road games. 8-24 O/U after gaining 275 or more rushing yards last game. 11-29 O/U after outrushing opponent by 125 or more yards last game.

Georgia State Panthers: 51-47 ATS in all games. 21-10 ATS in October games. 29-19 ATS after 1 or more consecutive wins against the spread. 

 

 

Appalachian State Mountaineers:  D. Harrington (RB) Ques Sat - Undisclosed injury.

Georgia State Panthers:  None.

 

 

Appalachian State Mountaineers: Cameroon Peoples is one player to watch here. He leads his team in touchdowns scored this season with a team-high 8, and he can be a beast when he gets the ball in his hands. He is coming off a good game with over 80 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Look for him to get a lot of touches in this game, especially around the end zone.

 

Georgia State Panthers: Darren Grainger is one player to watch here. He has taken over as the starting quarterback for this team and they have been playing much better in their games with him at the helm. If they are going to upset in this game he will have to lead his offense here with big plays and smart throws to give his team a chance. Look for him to play a good game here now that he has gotten his chance to be the starter.

 

“Our players took them down to the wire. It’s a gut-wrenching loss." - Shawn Clark after his team lost to Miami a few weeks ago.

 

 

“It’s great to see them flying around out there (on defense) and making play after play after play. Then to have the ability go to and rush the way we did. I think those are the two big areas of improvement that we’ve hit on, and we certainly got a lot more improvement to do.” - Shawn Elliott on how his team’s defense has been improving after each game.

 

 

 

WR Hennigan, Thomas 

WR Sutton, Corey 

WR Williams, Malik 

TE Pearson, Henry 

QB Brice, Chase 

RB Peoples, Camerun 

 

WR McCoy, Cornelius 

WR Pinckney, Sam 

WR Dixon, Terrance 

TE Carter, Roger 

QB Grainger, Darren 

RB Gregg, Tucker 

 

Passing: C. Brice (1034)

Rushing: N. Noel (437)

Receiving: C. Sutton (367)

Touchdowns: C. Peoples (8)

Sacks: D. Jackson (3)

Tackles: D. Jackson (24)

 

Passing: D. Grainger (278)

Rushing: T. Gregg (257)

Receiving: J. Thrash (194)

Touchdowns: J. Thrash (2)

Sacks: B. Carroll (2.5)

Tackles: J. Veneziale (19)

 

Coaches:

Appalachian State Mountaineers: Shawn Clark (3rd season)

Georgia State Panthers: Shawn Elliott (5th season)

 

81 degrees F partly cloudy, 72% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 6 mph wind speeds N.