Texas State Bobcats vs. Georgia State Panthers: Preview, TV, Streaming, Starting Time, Betting Line, Prediction

Start Time: 3:00 PM CST

Location: Bobcat Stadium, San Marcos, Texas

TV: Time Warner Cable SportsChannel (Austin-San Antonio corridor)

Streaming: ESPN3

Radio: TXST: Here and Here GSU: Here

Records: TXST 2-6 (1-3), Georgia State 2-6 (1-3)

Live Stats: Here

Line: TXST -2.5, O/U 66.

The Sword of Omens might be up for grabs again, if you care about that sort of thing.

Texas State Bobcats Outlook

You can look at every single preview I've written since the Houston game if you need a primer on this team. Nothing's changed, except that the defense has gotten slightly better and the passing offense has gone completely off the rails. Punter Lumi Kaba still is arguably the best player on the team and makes the ladies swoon with gorgeous flowing locks of hair and 14 punts inside the 20. The fanbase at large is completely depressed and bordering on hopeless, and there will probably be less than 10,000 people at the stadium on Saturday.

Everyone's waiting until the end of the season to see if any changes at head coach (maybe) and athletic director (probably not) play out. At this point, if you're still going to the games y'all might as well just have fun with your friends, cheer on the student athletes who, despite the lack of success, work their butts off every week for this school, and have fun at the Alumni tailgate. Seriously, the Alumni Association has done some outstanding work on those, and it's a shame that they didn't start them last season when bowl committees would've had reason to pay attention to the turnout.

In the meantime, here's some good 2005 juju to honor the team being recognized this Saturday. Try and use it as a pick-me-up if possible.

Great reading material here.

Here are some youtubes too.

P.S. Guess who A&M's coach was for this game?

Georgia State Panthers Outlook

Nick Arbuckle is a solid quarterback (194 of 306, 2664 yards, 16 TD, 8 INT) who has finally started Georgia State's slow climb to semi-respectability, and he has some solid weapons at receiver this year to put together an exciting passing offense. Freshman Penny Hart has exploded out of nowhere to become a huge receiving threat for the Panthers and has been getting some notice nationally as a result. He should be both fun and (mostly) scary to watch from a Bobcat perspective.

Good thing Arbuckle has receivers like Hart at his disposal, because GSU's running game is one of the worst in all of college football. The Panthers average a pitiful 87.2 rushing yards per game, and the running back by committee approach can be charitably described as the "weapon" that's used to try and keep defenses honest and secondaries from not locking onto GSU's receivers the whole game.

Oh and the Panther defense still isn't great, but they've improved immensely from seasons past (and it's not like New Mexico State's little defense that could were exactly world beaters either). Since Texas State's passing game appears to have exited the building, the key matchup in this game will likely be whether linebackers Joseph Peterson (78 tac, 5 TFL, 1.5 sacks) and UAB transfer Alonzo McGee (47 tac., 10 TFL, 2 sacks) can contain Robert Lowe and Tyler Jones from busting too many big plays in the running game.

Song that's been stuck in my head all week and can also serve as this week's theme music

I remember when, I remember I remember when I lost my mind (it was at the UL Lafayette game). There was something so pleasant about that place. Maybe it was that they let us drink beer while watching our dear alma mater get kicked around in the third quarter.

Thanks Coach Fran for getting me to the point where I care more about whether the traffic reporter from KEYE sitting behind me likes my jokes rather than the outcome of the game. You really did put my priorities back to where they should be.

Prediction

AD Larry Teis preempts the Pride of the Hill Country's performance to strut around Bobcat Stadium at midfield with a giant $1 million dollar check for 20 minutes, flipping double birds to the fans that have still bothered to show up and grumble. I continue to go to my happy place by staring at my phone's screen that has a dog with a rubber ducky on its head in order to keep from yelling less than complimentary advice down at Coach Fran.

In all honesty though, the celebration of the 2005 team should be pretty cool. Respect to the athletic department for setting that up.

Oh, and Nick Arbuckle throws for 4 touchdowns. So bottoms up, stop by my tailgate and have a crisp, metallic-tasting Lone Star on me. Lord knows if you're still going to Bobcat Stadium at this point in the season, you deserve it.

Georgia State 28, Texas State 20

P.S. Thanks to my boss for not piling on or anything.