.
32
//
2013 Georgia State Football
THE YEAR AHEAD
G
eorgia State’s fourth season of football is also a year of
firsts for the Panthers, who will play their inaugural
season at the FBS level and in the Sun Belt Conference
under first-year head coach Trent Miles.
Miles, who executed a remarkable turnaround in five
seasons at Indiana State, looks to build a winning foundation
for GSU’s fledgling program, which only began play in 2010.
The Panthers return 44 letterwinners, including nine starters
on offense, eight on defense and their punter and place-kicker.
The 2013 schedule is daunting, to say the least, as Georgia State
makes trips to defending national champion Alabama and West
Virginia in addition to the Sun Belt slate.
QUARTERBACKS
The Panthers enter the preseason with a three-way battle for
the starting job between sophomores Ben McLane and Ronnie
Bell and newcomer Clay Chastain, a transfer from Georgia
Military College. McLane and Bell manned the position last
year, but both struggled with consistency and turnovers.
McLane, a 6-1, 210-pounder from Snellville, Ga., and
Brookwood High School, started nine of 11 games last fall
and passed for 1,592 yards and 10 touchdowns but threw 11
interceptions.
Another local product who was a two-time state champion
at Sandy Creek High School, Bell passed for 522 yards and three
touchdowns in seven games but tossed 10 picks.
Chastain enrolled at GSU in January after one season at
GMC. At 6-4 and 218 pounds, he has the size and arm strength
to quarterback the Panthers’ pro-style attack as he continues to
develop and learn the system.
RUNNING BACKS
Georgia State has big shoes to fill in the backfield with the
graduation of Donald Russell, who rushed for 1,412 yards and
12 touchdowns over the last two seasons. The leading rusher
in GSU history signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta
Falcons.
Gerald Howse, a transfer from Northeastern Oklahoma
A&M who enrolled at GSU last January, looks to earn the
starting berth at running back. A big back at 6-2 and 215 pounds,
he rushed for 652 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore at
NEO.
Georgia State returns fifth-year senior Travis Evans, who
rushed for 323 yards and two touchdowns as Russell’s backup
last season. He is the second-leading rusher in school history
with 1,095 career yards.
Several other backup candidates return for the Panthers,
including junior Rendell Wilder, and walk-ons Dontavis
Crocker and Duvall Smith.
True freshman Kyler Neal from Dallas, Ga., and East
Paulding High School could make an impact at running back.
Another freshman, Jonathan Jean-Bart, enrolled in January but
is recovering from a knee injury.
POSITION-BY-POSITION
LOOK AT THE PANTHERS
