Week 3 college football and the Air Force Falcons will travel to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta Georgia to take on the Georgia State Panthers. The game has a start time of 2:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on ESPN 3. Current Vegas odds have the Falcons listed as 11.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 63.
Analysis: The Air Force Falcons come in off a tough 17-13 loss to the Wyoming Cowboys. The loss dropped them to 1-1 on the year. In the game vs the Cowboys, the Falcons had their chances and actually outgained Wyoming by 44 yards in the game. Shocking in the game was the fact that the Falcons had more yards passing (226) than rushing (151). This is always a very good rushing team yet were able to muster just 2.9 ypc in the game. The Air Force pass defense was rather weak vs the Cowboys, allowing them 282 yards through the air, but the run defense was very good, allowing the Cowboys just 51 yards on 26 carries (2.0 ypc). The Falcons come in ranked 49th in total offense (467.5 ypg), 7th in rushing (345 ypg) and 76th in scoring (28.5 ppg), while on defense they are 34th in total defense (298 ypg), 7th in rushing defense (57 ypg) and 33rd in points allowed (16.5 ppg).
The Georgia State Panthers held the lead for much of their game last week vs the New Mexico State Aggies, but the Aggies outscored them by 10 points in the 4th quarter and walked away with the 3 point win. The panthers had a very nice offensive game, putting up 456 yards overall, including 294 yards through the air. Nick Arbuckle had a decent game throwing for a 294 yards and 1 TD, but he did have 2 picks in the game. Nick has now thrown for 707 yards, 5 TDs and 4 INTs on the year. Offense has not been a problem for the Panthers this year, as they rank 51st in total offense (511 ypg) and 58th in scoring (38.5 ppg). The defense has not been so great for them, as they rank 104th in total defense (467 ypg) and 108th in points allowed (35.5 ppg).
Pick: I will go with the Falcons in this one. The Georgia State Panthers have gone 1-1 to start the year, but they really struggled to beat a lower level FCS squad (Ab. Christian) and then least week they lost at home to a lower level FBS squad (New Mexico State). The loss to New Mexico State was really telling as the Panther just wore down in the 4th quarter. The Panthers went 0-2 last year and have just 35 lettermen, including 9 starters back from that squad, so this team is paper thin as far as depth is concerned and will continuously wear down late in games. Now they take on an Air Force squad that will just pound the ball at them all day and then when the opportunity strikes they will hit the Panthers over the top for some big passing plays. The Panthers have been solid on offense, but this is a very good Air Force defense that they will be facing here. Speaking of defense, Georgia State has none, as they have allowed 36 ppg through the first two games and to much worse competition that then will face today. Making matters worse for them is the fact that this will be the first time in school history that they will have faced a team that runs the option. This Air Force Option is tough for teams that have faced them to stop. This game will not be pretty for Georgia State as they will lose by 17+ points here.
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