Georgia State football has just completed only its 3nd season at the FBS level. It was a season where the team as a whole set out to prove to the world that 2015 was not going to be the 0-11 of 2013, nor the 1-11 of 2014.
The first half of the season started to look bleak after a 2-4 start with inconceivable losses to FCS opponents Charlotte and Liberty. The Panthers could easily have been 4-2 on the season. Then something happened to this team. Something clicked or something ignited inside them that flipped the entire season on its head.
The Panthers started winning. The Panthers started to become a team that you didn’t want to face. The Panthers became a team that if you underestimated them you were going to be totally obliterated.
Georgia State lost by an average of 20 points in the first four losses of the season, but turned it around to win their last four games by an average of 18 points.
You never like to look back, but when you look at how this team performed you ask yourself “what could have been.” This team could easily be 9-3 on the season with wins over Charlotte, Liberty and Louisiana-Lafayette.
That doesn’t matter now. All those game clocks have wound to zero and none of that can change. What matters is this team broke several barriers. They more than quadrupled their wins, and they defeated a bitter inSTATE rival.
The Panthers have feasted on Aggies, Cardinals, Bobcats, Jaguars, Trojans and just barbecued some Eagle. Now, for the first time in program history – they reached six wins and accepted an invite to get a taste of some Spartan and will play San Jose State in the AutoNation Cure Bowl in Orlando, Florida on Dec. 19.
So obviously we have to get the #PantherFamily primed and ready with a few tidbits about each team and the Cure Bowl.
The Panthers and Spartans will be the first teams to ever play in the AutoNation Cure Bowl. Proceeds from the game will benefit the Breast Cancer Research Foundation.
Who : Georgia State Panthers versus San Jose State Spartans
What : AutoNation Cure Bowl
When : Saturday December 19 at 7:00 pm
Where : Orlando Citrus Bowl, Orlando, Florida
Georgia State | San Jose State | |
6-6 | 2015 Record | 5-7 |
Trent Miles | Head Coach | Ron Caragher |
Panthers | Mascot | Spartans |
2010 | Established | 1892 |
SunBelt | Conference | Mountain West |
402 | Distance | 2409 Miles |
0-0 | Bowl Record | 6-3 |
In Part 2, we take a look at the match up of the Panther Offense versus the Spartan Defense.