PREVIEW: Arkansas St. vs Georgia, Keys to the Game & Players to Watch

Georgia will host the Red Wolves of Arkansas State Saturday, the second of three consecutive home games. Here are the keys to the game & players to watch.

Georgia's second consecutive non-power five conference opponent, Arkansas State, comes to town (1-1) coming off a 43-17 victory over UNLV last weekend in the desert after losing their opening game of the season 37-30 at home against SMU. 

Georgia is favored 33.5 points according to Vegas this weekend, so the experts clearly expect a contest similar to last weekend's 63-17 victory over Murray St. However, in my opinion, this Arkansas St. team is a slightly higher quality of an opponent, especially on the offensive side of the football. 

Omar Bayless leads the nation in receiving TD's

Arkansas State Offense: 

WR Trio of Monsters: 

Omar Bayless (6'3/207), Jonathan Adams (6'3/209), Dahu Green (6'5/197) can all go up and get the football. Bayless the leader of the bunch has 16 catches for 281 yards and five scores on the year. 

Adams is the youngest of them all to as a Junior. Add the 5'9" slot receiver Brandon Bowling into the mix and you've got a strong receiving core for the Red Wolves. 

QB Logan Bonner is solid: 

Bonner shows the ability to make plays for the Arkansas State offense and has fairly decently mobility to escape pressure and has shown he can make plays outside the pocket with both his arm and legs. He's thrown 601 yards this season on 62% completion with 6 TD's to just 1 INT. 

Scheme: 

Arkansas State will look to attack through the air, with just over 43 attempts per game. They will play 3 WR's at all times with a Tight End occupying the 4th spot. The run game will feature HB counter and power. 

Arkansas State Defense:

4-3: 

The Red Wolves like to play a lot of linebackers on defense, with most of college football moving more towards a 4-2-5 look to combat the takeover of the spread offense, Arkansas State plays the majority of their snaps with 3 linebackers. 

Zone: 

State is most comfortable in their base Cover 4, or Quarters, defense. 

An example of Cover 4 

Though they will vary the zone coverage looks and tries to buckle down in Man to Man coverage when they are backed up in their own redzone or trying to bring pressure. 

Keys to the game for Georgia: 

On offense it's simple, Georgia will look to establish the run early, as they often do, and they will certainly have the size advantage to do so. 

But as the game progresses look for Georgia's athletic advantages on the edge to take their toll. Primarily in the slot, if Arkansas State is going to hold true to their 4-3 scheme, they will have linebackers matched in space against the likes of Tyler Simmons, Demetris Robertson, and James Cook. 

Cook is the player I'd keep my eye out for. He's found a role in this James Coley system by providing a horizontal element to the attack. Jet sweeps and swing routes out of the backfield have made up all 16 of his touches this season, and he's averaged 9 yards per. 

The DB's from UGA will be tested this weekend

Defensively this game will be a test for our defensive backs group, our corners primarily. There's really no need to worry about Richard LeCounte III and J.R. Reed, however, our corners will certainly be put to the test this weekend. 

With such big receivers, you can be in perfect position as a corner and still get beat physically. Certainly, Eric Stokes, Tyson Campbell, Tyrique Stephenson, DJ Daniel, and company will all be prepped and ready for the task.