ATLANTA — Georgia State’s first road trip of 2014 will be a trek across the country as the Panthers play at Washington Saturday at 6 p.m. at Husky Stadium.
Georgia State is 1-2 overall, 0-1 in the Sun Belt Conference after a 48-38 loss to Air Force in which the Panthers trailed 31-10 at the half but scored 28 second-half points as part of the highest combined scoring game in GSU history.
Washington is off to a 3-0 start under first-year head coach Chris Petersen, and the Huskies are coming off a 44-19 victory over Illinois.
Georgia State quarterback Nick Arbuckle leads the Sun Belt in passing yards (373.7 pg) and total offense (382.3 pg), ranking in the NCAA top five in both categories. As a team, the Panthers lead the league in passing offense (eighth in NCAA) and are second in scoring (35.7) and total offense (523.7). Georgia State also averages 150.0 yards rushing per game.
Arbuckle’s top targets include wide receivers Robert Davis (16 receptions, 202 yards) and LynQuez Blair (15 receptions, 212 yards, 3 TD) and tight end Joel Ruiz (15 receptions, 223, yards, 2 TD). Ruiz is tied for second nationally among tight ends in receptions per game (5.0) and is second in yards per game (74.3).
Linebacker Joseph Peterson leads the Georgia State defense, averaging 13.0 tackles per game to rank second in the Sun Belt and third nationally. He is GSU’s career tackling leader with 207.
Senior punter Matt Hubbard has a career average of 42.0 yards per kick, while place-kicker Wil Lutz is Georgia State’s career leader in points by kicking with 102.
