The Panthers are preparing to embark on the road for what will be one of their last two road games to take on the Texas State Bobcats (4 p.m. ESPN3).
If you have watched enough of the Panthers this season, the eye test might tell you that this team is better on the road than they are on their own home faux turf. While to the eyes that may be true, do the numbers back that up?
Scoring
The Panthers have 4 home and 4 road games so far this season. They have yet to win at home, but are 2-2 on the road. Those 2 wins were vs NM State and Ball State where they won by a combined 14 points. All games (won or lost) on the road had an average point margin of about 8 points. The biggest margin of a loss on the road was to Oregon (by 33) followed by Arkansas State (by 14).
In the Georgia Dome the largest margin of a loss was to Appalachian State by 34 points. The remaining three home games were losses by 8 (Liberty), 3 (Charlotte), and 2 (Louisiana-Lafayette). The average point margin for all four losses at home averaged to about 12 points).
Overall: Advantage Road Game.
Offense
The attack through the air is the life blood of this program, and fortunately for this team they have a guy with an arm and the accuracy like QB Nick Arbuckle to pull it off. At home, the Panthers have 1171 total yards averaging 292.8 yards per game and 8 touch downs. Away from the Dome, however, Arbuckle and Co. have 1492 total yards averaging 373 yards per game.
While not a strength of this team, the running game has shown some signs of life this season. In the Georgia Dome the Panthers are averaging 60 yards per game with a total of 241 yards. Those figures nearly double when the Panthers are on the road with 457 total yards and 114.3 yards per game.
The Panthers also account for nearly 7 more first downs per game on the road than they manage at home. From an offensive perspective, the Panthers do fair better, albeit not by much, in penalties (about 1) and turnovers (1).
Overall: Advantage Road Game.
Defense
The Panther defense has really stepped up in 2015 and statistically seems to have performed better at home allowing an average of about 429 yards per game compared to 490 on the road.
Allowing an average of 240 total yards in the air at home, the Panther defense is allowing an average of 279 yards on the road – a difference of 39 fewer passing yards. On the ground, GSU is allowing an average of 189 yards per game at home and 211 on the road.
GSU is also allowing an average of 4 fewer first downs in the Georgia Dome (about 23) than they are allowing on an opponent’s field (about 27).
There is not much separation in the turnover margin defensively speaking with 8 total turnovers at home and 7 on the road.
Overall: Advantage Home Game.
By the eye and by the number, this team has shown a split personality whose performance peaks based on the location they play in. The offense needs to perform better at home, while the defense needs to step up their game on the road. Imagine the possibilities should this team ever find a way for two halves to make a whole.