GSU vs Ga Tech Week 1 Preview!

[Music] hello everyone welcome back to the Jay's fth down podcast I'm your host Jaden I'm here today with Ben Mor he uh works for 247 Sports also covers the Georgia State Panthers and we're going to be previewing their match up against Georgia Tech um that is taking place tomorrow night so um thank you Ben for coming on to uh talk that with me today yeah absolutely Jade appreciate you having me man yes sir so uh this is the first meeting between Tech and state um surprisingly considering they're like within what five miles of each other in Atlanta um so um you know just when you first saw this match up from the schedule what what did you think like what was going through your mind um honestly just credited Jordan Tech candidly because I mean they don't have to play games like this right you know they don't have to uh you know I I grew up uh you know at athlete and athlete culture and there's old you know hip-hop phrase right you never beef down right so Tech's been playing football for over 125 years uh John Heisman is the was a coach at Georgia Tech uh that's who they named the Heisman Trophy after so um you know basically a legendary you know program that's won multiple national championships um you know playing Georgia State kind of extended this home and home that's the other side a lot of folks haven't mentioned this year um or so far that I've heard in the last few weeks with coverage is this isn't a one-off this isn't a hey by the way we're going to throw them you know a game here georia te coming back to Georgia State in 2026 so that'll be a tremendous matchup as well considering the trajectory of these two programs and uh you know first year coach here at Del mcge Georgia State and then of course Brank key you know uh here now he's been on the staff over there Tech a couple years but now being the headman a couple years in now so um I'm excited for the matchup I think it's great for the City of Atlanta I'm a Metro Atlanta kid you know to high school here obviously went to Georgia State uh for college but uh just even covering you know High School recruiting in the Metro Atlanta area for shoot almost 20 years now um kids are excited about it you know you have you want to see what's going on down there and and I think the way it's slotted too in the schedule is you know especially coming where you know University of Georgia and Clemson are at noon and now every eye shifts basically to the 8 o'clock Primetime match up downtown so um it it's going to be a great day in the city of Atlanta there's a lot going on uh there still some tickets available so if any any listener any folks that can uh want to go on the secondary Market I was telling a few folks uh parking may be more expensive with drag Eon in down then the actual uh down there than the game tickets uh from what I'm seeing on the secondary Market but no should be it should be a great matchup and a huge opportunity for Georgia State too I this is you know a program that's only been playing football for 15 years the NCAA sanction uh you only been FBS since 2013 so um you know huge opportunity uh to to try to you know stick a name out there but uh huge underdogs you know on Saturday night but you know that's why they play the games I I've told people all week um I was in the building when the University of South Florida went into Florida State and shocked them uh and led by a a Tallahassee native uh at quarterback who was not recruited by Florida State at all and um that you know that was a huge moment for the University of South Florida program and um any any folks that have followed George State football at all at all have kind of known that you know South Florida is about 12 years ahead of where Georgia state is so um it's kind of one of those deals where there's certain programs UCF South Florida Houston that George State tried to model themselves after when they were trying to build it um in 2008 2009 and even 2010 with coach Bill Curry so um it's going to be interesting it's going to be a blast um the weather's going to be hot and you lights are going to be on downtown Atlanta man I really if you're you're a college football fan or just a fan of of football at all in the Metro Atlanta area man there's all eyes uh you know on on the two programs like you said are walking distance you know on on a decent Day Downtown Atlanta so it should be a lot of fun yeah absolutely you know I'm um student here at Georgia State so um this is something that is interesting I think it'll be fun experience for us as well of you know going over to Tech they have really nice campus everything Bobby do stadium is just amazing had the chance to go a couple of times this just one of the best ball stadi I've ever been to um and to I think just to go over there and just kind of have that that student experience and you know just kind of be in the atmosphere of tech um you know at at that Stadium because historically it's it means a lot and um for the players I know it's a lot too so should be pretty fun um so matchup wise um getting into the gritty nitty of it um you know how like as far as matching up against Tech like you know uh we got some couple transfers in and stuff so looking at our team who are some guys you're looking forward to watching in this game yeah wild uh you know you go back and look and see certainly what happened in the spring where you have you know coach Sean Elliott uh who led the program you know previous six seasons um exit to uh really go home you he's from the state of South Carolina went back to go take the Titans uh job there with the University of South Carolina um his family you know lived over there as well so D McGees thrust in um they had pause spring spring practice so all the guys that they kind of the roster there um you know go through spring practice with a brand new head coach brand new staff there's only one you know assistant coach that stayed on the staff that was on the previous staff and quarterback and Trel Allen who's the George State former player and graduate um but you know then Dell kind of went into the the portal reassessing the needs and kind of what the Styles he wanted to do there and you know from from the start of last season I believe the number is either 50 or 51 new players that have been added to this roster since the team won their bowl game uh there in Boise aaho so um a lot of new faces a lot of unknown um I you know we kind of have an idea you know the depth chart kind of popped out shout out to Brady wer for for grabbing that um but even the the depth chart kind of had some names that may have not been completely accurate um I'm not in the meeting rooms with George State football coaches but there are guys that were listed on there that I'm not 100% sure they're actually going to start but I mean this is part of the gamesmanship too of college football it's week one right absolutely some of the coaches want to put you know the Donald Duck and Minnie M and Mickey Mouse on there just to try to throw throw curve balls at their opponents in the gamesmanship but you know we we'll see it pretty quickly um you know Everyone likes to talk about the quarterback um I think there's a lot of storylines um that are really interesting to me at least as you have two former uh georan Tech yell jacket players that that have an opportunity to play probably have an impact on this game you know defensively Kenyatta Watson the second um was was there last year his dad was on the staff was was a great player at Grayson and went to Texas and then boun Tech and now to Atlanta uh looking to kind of find his opportunity and and uh I know he he'll be playing with an edge against some guys that he played with in practice every day and Zach Gibson you know Zach Gibson's I believe the numbers the 26th or 27th career start if he is the guy um you know a quarterback who who played with jtech uh in the 2022 season and came uh from akan where he played three seasons so um you know I think and even you know the matchups off the field right where you the coaching staff you have multiple coach Coes on either side that were at the other sideline last year I think that again from a from a writing and a storyline point of view is just a lot of fun and a lot lot of interest that way U Kevin Shear was the linebacker coach and then then elevated to defensive coach last defensive coordinator last year um he knows more about this offense than anybody right you know they return 80% of their production over there at Tech um they look certainly you know very solid and knocking off a top 10 opponent in Florida State in Dublin Ireland but as I kept saying throughout the week and even kind of leading up to Saturday and then you know after Saturday was saying you know that that international travels a lot for 18 to 22 year olds man it's a 7-h hour flight playing a very physical game uh against Florida State coming over but hey get get a get a night game under the lights there Bobby do should be boosted and you know Tech is favored for a reason they have talent on offense and defense their defensive Line's very impressive offensive line certainly was very impressive uh last Saturday knocking off arguably you know the acc's best defensive uh defensive line Panthers have an opportunity um you we saw that certainly in 2019 with Tennessee going to Auburn a couple years ago and kind of knocking them around before succumbing late so this is what a group of five in a Sun Belt program like Georgia State wants to do they want to have that opportunity in a week one um not really knowing what's going to happen and and Del McGee's even Al alluded to up to four quarterbacks or guys that could play quarterback maybe taking Snaps so he's you know he's gonna throw everything at at this Tech you know defensive staff and and uh I mean he's he's beaten Tech a lot too as a a position coach at the University of Georgia so um he's familiar with a lot of the personnel and the schemes and things are going to be over there and he'll be facing some of his former co-workers as well Buster fogner cosplays uh as offensive coordinator for the University of Georgia they were on staff together and the offensive staff up there for Kirby Smart so there's a lot of familiarity in a lot of different ways and and I think there's a lot of inry in this as well and again George state if they play well will be in in the game for for all four quarters yeah I agree um yeah another thing I know it's with Georgia Tech too watching that game against FSU man they I mean ran the ball extremely well um like they killed counter to death um and FSU couldn't stop it um like I mean I was just watching like because you know they I mean um being I used to play myself and you know counter was a play we ran a lot um in high school and it worked and like we and even if it's like you know when they couldn't stop it we kept running and they kept running it really well they kept getting movement on the offensive line so but and that's the biggest thing too I mean that was my takeaway as well watching the game and on the rewatches is you know the defensive line itself wasn't I wasn't so bad they were getting whipped on social media and other places but W with the counter you have lineman moving different places and and you get to that second level and taking on the linebackers I thought the Florida state linebackers played very poorly they missed a lot of tackles you saw a lot of of guys slipping and sliding on that on that Turf as well and not making excuses necessarily for the linebackers because they're you know again neither team was was on their home home you know surface but um I think that was that was fascinating to see as you just saw guys and honestly that Fort that didn't force Hanes King to pass a lot I he was efficient you know only 16 passes um I do expect the game plan certainly the wide receivers man everybody wants to eat right so they they want to try to throw the ball a little bit deeper um get the crowd involved and and I think that's that's very interesting in the first quarter you know who takes the ball you know who who wants to go out there and set the tone you know is that something that Del McGee wants to do or he wants to say Hey you know I want to know where I'm going to be at in the second half um you know sea Elliott was a guy that was a take the ball guy he wanted to dictate the tone um as we saw in the last few years he he was a 65% run the football guy and had an athletic quarterback that can both run and pass efficiently so um you we're we're all starting to kind of we also want to learn about what D McGee wants to do as the head coach this is only going to be his second ever game you know as the head man he was an interim coach for Georgia Southern in their bowl game um you know it's get shoot almost 10 years ago now it's amazing to think of that but um you know I'm I'm interested to learn not only kind of his you know what he's looking for uh in his team but again his coordinator style you know what what personnel um he's been not evasive I think I think some folks have said you know he's kind of hiding stuff or doing this that the other and part of it is just you know not going to give the other team any comments or any kind of conversations or or reasons to go back and and do the Deep dive and study study film but um you know he does have returning talent and that's that's important and he also loaded up in a lot of different areas on both sides of the ball and you know those guys are ready to play as well I was really interested to see um how many transfers he added that really only have like one year of Eligibility two years of Eligibility left um that's something that he's been very public about is using you know the transfer to kind of find those guys that may be trying to find that next or or last stop you know kind of put their mark on college football before trying to you know make make a career elsewhere or professionally um and also he's not you know he understands the portal at the group five level as well where guys ball out and they go to bigger programs as we saw last night I mean former georia State running back Marcus Carrol scored two touchdowns for Missouri and uh will be very much in the mix for a program that will likely be in conversation for college football playoff birth yeah yeah definitely yeah I do miss marus Carol marus Carol was he was amazing um had the opportunity to watch him you know a lot last year in person like man this dude is like but anyway I wish him the best at Missouri um but yeah uh you know just it's going to be very interesting yeah very interesting um you know very interesting to see so uh what so overall what would you say it's just like um you know your like final just keys to the game for State just like you know like going in like hey it's first game of the year you know what what would you be telling if you if you were the coach what would you tell this team yeah yeah big biggest thing is just focus U you know you're not you're you're going to come out uh honestly it's game one right you're going to be nervous you're going to have be anxious you're going to want to do a lot you want to do a whole bunch um you know unfortunately as cliche as it sounds you can only do what you can do one play at a time um I think ultimately the one thing that we have seen um so far especially the games last night you know turnovers dictate the score a lot you know teams that turned the ball over several times you know got blown out teams that were able to leverage you know the other teams turned turn overs were were in the game uh also staying on the field on third down that's that's a humongous thing uh the Panthers have been able to do uh when they've been able to keep games close against Tennessee and Auburn um and dictate that um and even the first half last year against the number one offense in the in the country and LSU you know they they were be able to trade some body blows back and forth with LSU just before Jaden Daniels did but Jaden Daniels did to pretty much everyone else last year in his Heisman Trophy winning season so um you know I I think you know certainly Tech is a ented program and a talented team um I think you know what what the Panthers are going to have to do they're going to have to really again hold on the ball not turn the ball over not make the mental mistakes that just get wobbled or you know what you get beat on a play ultimately you got to shake that one off and yeah I mean there's going to be a you know rocket crowd very excited crowd coming off uh a victory there in week zero in Dublin but um you know this team for the most part and have have guys that play to much bigger atmospheres and that's not a knock to Jordan Tech at all um it's just I mean you're you're 50 50 51,000 I mean this team went to Death Valley last year at LSU um they've been you know guys on this team again as I mentioned been to Auburn um you know had a lead basically late in the fourth quarter in that game you know been to South Carolina uh had had a lead the third quarter there before some special teams plunders kind of you know push that that margin out so you know again just to make it a fourth four quarter game uh you want to be in there you want to make them feel you you know that's the one thing Dell is you know coming from the University of Georgia where they really focused on physicality you really want to get up in somebody make them feel you for four quarters and and that's why I just think I mean c Circle the first quarter of this game you're going to know by 8:15 8:30 if the Panthers are here and going to be in this game and be fed and and I'm pretty confident certainly talking to Dell and his staff that they've got a plan in place and you know you never know you could have a gadget Play or two you could have something that you know folks haven't really seen on tape and and even some names on tape not even may not even been listed on the dep charts we've seen Jordan Ford was listed as a captain the other day and he wasn't even on the dep chart I know he's healthy I mean we talked to him in the preseason so like all right well because I had somebody one of my tech guys reshot like who's this Jordan Ford guy yeah he's pretty explosive guy from Tulsa keep in mind Del McGee coach running backs the running back room in Georgia state is going to be loaded and stocked with dudes that can absolutely play so um you know it's it's going to be interesting to see the you know who who sets the tone and and ultimately this team that sets the tone early uh should be in it for for all four quarters and I'm I'm I'm hoping for a really good game uh hoping for you know folks that come out um you know from what I understand Georgia state has sold out their allotment of tickets and there's a lot of folks that are uh you know buying in whether it's secondary Market or from Jordan Tech I think there's a few tickets uh available there as well so should be a good crowd folks are you know coming out and excited about you know city of Atlanta two two of the programs on display which is just awesome yes yes it should be very exciting I will be there tomorrow night so I'm looking forward to it um I think it's going to be really fun uh they're calling it a lot of people right yeah right the um the um Maro or uh you know the Battle of Atlanta you know whatever so it's like this downtown Midtown I see we saw that one early and yeah it's it's a lot of fun I mean the thing about it you know and had big big not to to Dave Cohen you know he and I were were on on a podcast a couple nights ago and he talked about I mean this this series the two two institutions is not new they played in sports for literally decades basketball and baseball and softball and um you know the Olympic sports and things like that and I think um football means more right you want you only get 12 opportunities um you know there's you certainly a level of you're going to get more Folks at a football game than you may get at at all of your baseball or softball games combined so uh you know I think it certainly means a lot and I think you know both teams you know need a good showing tech fans are walking in there and probably thinking absolutely Ely they can start the season 2 and0 uh getting the bad taste out of their mouth from the last few years and kind of moving on and uh State's looking at hey great opportunity and uh you know going going you know basically against a a HomeTown team you can just probably sleep in your own bed I don't I really know Del McGee's plans don't if the guys are sleeping their own bed if they got a hotel or not but they certainly don't have to travel very far you know you don't have to leave that early before the game to get there so um should be uh should be good and and again show showcasing downtown Atlanta so look forward to to seeing all the panther faithful out there yes sir absolutely well um thank you Ben for joining us on the show today just talking um football here in Georgia State football versus Tech it's going to be like I said very exciting you know it'll be really fun hope everybody can come out you know so um you know it'll be a really electric atmosphere at Bobby die like I said historical Stadium very fun very nice place if you haven't been like I highly encourage you come it's it's awesome um so I'm looking forward to it and um you know like I said thank you for coming on the show today man yeah thanks thanks for having me Jaden appreciate it look forward to forward to do it in the future if you will have me yes sir of course thank you man and um we will be talking very soon all right man thank you