In what has been dubbed by the Georgia Southern athletic department as “Invading Paulson North,” Georgia Southern and Georgia State will meet on the gridiron for the first time in the two programs’ history.

If you are going to the mid afternoon game this Saturday in Atlanta here’s what you can expect.

Highest attendance in Ga State history

Georgia State draws an average of almost 12,000 fans to their games at the Georgia Dome while Georgia Southern has double that figure. The highest attendance in Georgia State history was 30,237 in the Panthers first game.

Look for that number be exceeded due to a large portion of Georgia Southern alumni in Atlanta, along with this being the first game played between two in-state teams.

Hail the Blue, Hail the White

This weekend at the Dome, Georgia Southern fans are encouraged to participate in a “Whiteout”. Expect to see Georgia Southern fans decked in white to outnumber the home Panther fans.

Offensively

Georgia Southern will continue the trend of eating up yards on the ground. The Eagles lead the nation in rushing yards coming in at 372 yards a game.

Sophomore running back Matt Breida has a chance to eclipse the 1000-yard mark on the season if he rushes for 169 yards.

Defensively

The Eagles will face another pass-heavy offense this week as Panther quarterback Nick Arbuckle has already surpassed the 2000-yard passing mark on the season.

The good news is that Arbuckle is prone to throwing interceptions (8), which bodes well for an Eagle secondary that leads the Sun Belt in interceptions (10).

Result

Currently the Eagles are listed as a 16-point favorite going into this game after an off week. Look for Georgia Southern to use this as a statement game as many players on both teams were rivals in high school.

Georgia Southern is averaging 41 points a game while Georgia State gives up around 40 points. It’s safe to say points will not be scarce for the Eagles on Saturday. It is a safe bet to assume the 16-point line holds and Georgia Southern continues a historic first FBS season.