GEORGIA ST. (6-5) VS. WESTERN KY. (6-6)
Site: Camping World Stadium, Orlando.
Kickoff: 2:30 p.m. TV: CBS Sports Network.
Line: Western Kentucky by 6.
All-time series: Western Kentucky leads 1-0.
Last meeting: Western Kentucky 44, Georgia State 28 (2013).
GEORGIA STATE
Coach: Shawn Elliott (1st season, 6-5; overall 2nd season, 7-10).
All-time postseason: 0-1.
Last postseason appearance: Lost to San Jose State 27-16 in 2015 Cure Bowl.
Draft spotlight: CB Chandon Sullivan. Four-year starter holds the career INT record (7) in GSU’s brief history. Also ranks No.7 on school’s all-time list with 178 tackles and owns two defensive TDs. Sullivan was one of 13 finalists for the esteemed Campbell Trophy, given to college football’s top scholar-athlete.
Other Panthers to watch: *WR Penny Hart, S Bryan Williams.
Panther Tracks: Hart is the Sun Belt’s leading receiver, with a school-record 73 catches for 1,073 yards and 8 TDs. … RB Glenn Smith is one of just three active FBS players with at least 1,000 career yards each in rushing, receiving and returns. … Five of the Panthers’ six wins this year came away from home.
WESTERN KENTUCKY
Coach: Mike Sanford Jr. (1st season, 6-6).
All-time postseason: 3-1.
Last postseason appearance: Beat Memphis 51-31 in 2016 Boca Raton Bowl.
Draft spotlight: QB Mike White. Onetime South Florida transfer needs just 89 yards to surpass 11,000 for his college career. That’s despite working in three different systems with three head coaches and five position coaches. White ranks 1st or 2nd in six different entries of WKU’s record book. He enters the postseason with seven consecutive 300-yard outings.
Other Hilltoppers to watch: CB Joe Brown, TE Deon Yelder, *RB D'Andre Ferby, *LB Joel Iyiegbuniwe.
Hilltopper Sounds: WKU is one of just eight teams with bowl victories in each of the previous three years – 2014 Bahamas, 2015 Miami Beach and 2016 Boca Raton. … Once 5-2 in mid-October, the Hilltoppers limp into the postseason with four losses in their last five. Their lone win came in triple OT.
* underclass draft prospect
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