Ball State and Georgia State; scouting report, score prediction, players to watch for in Camellia Bowl
Ball State (6-6) and Georgia State (7-5) will play in the 2021 Tax Act Camellia Bowl on Dec. 25 in Montgomery at 1:30 CT on ESPN.
Ball State finished the regular season fifth in the MAC Western Division (4-4 in conference play). Georgia State finished the regular season third in the Sun Belt Conference Eastern Division (6-2 in conference play).
Here's a look at the team's before the matchup.
Both teams are battle-tested
Georgia State's schedule included games against Army, North Carolina, Auburn, Appalachian State, Louisiana and Coastal Carolina. Georgia State went 1-5 in those games, but those experiences could help the Panthers in this bowl matchup.
Ball State played Army, Penn State, Northern Illinois and Central Michigan. Ball State beat MAC champion Northern Illinois and Army (a team Georgia State lost to) but lost to Penn State and Central Michigan.
BOWL ANNOUNCEMENT: Ball State and Georgia State will play in Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day
Players to watch:
Ball State QB Drew Plitt
Plitt, a redshirt senior from Loveland, Ohio, passed for a 2,248 yards and 17 touchdowns in the regular season. Plitt has taken care of the football this season with only five interceptions while completing 60.5% of his passes and averaging 6.2 yards per pass completion.
Georgia State S Antavious Lane
Lane, a sophomore from West Palm Beach, Fla., has 71 tackles, four interceptions, one forced fumble and six pass deflections. In 2020, Lane made the AP All-Bowl team, won Sun Belt defensive player of the week once and was selected to the All Sun Belt second team.
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Different styles of offense
The Cardinals rely on a balanced attack, whereas the Panthers lean on running the ball. The Cardinals gain an average of 200.4 yards per game through the air; the Panthers average 158 passing yards. The Cardinals have attempted 394 passes while the Panthers have only attempted 290.
The Panthers average 222.7 rushing yards per game; the Cardinals 134.3. Georgia State has rushed 545 times to Ball State's 409. The Cardinals run 51% of the time and the Panthers run 65%.
Score Prediction: Ball State 21, Georgia State 27
The defenses are similar and offenses typically score a similar number of points. The edge belongs to Georgia State due to its big-game experience this year. The Panthers have been in close situations at the end of games and have lost, but this time they will pull out a win.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Camellia Bowl scouting report, score prediction, players to watch for
