The Most Wonderful Week: Christmas and Bowl Game

Georgia State Bowl Coverage Presented by Georgia Power

ATLANTA -- Bowl week is here, and the Georgia State Panthers are preparing to face Mid-American Conference foe Ball State in the TaxAct Camellia Bowl on Christmas Day. Kickoff Saturday is at 2:30 p.m. ET at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN.

"It's the most wonderful week there is - Christmas week and bowl week - and we're fortunate to be practicing and getting ready for a trip to Montgomery for the TaxAct Camellia Bowl," head coach Shawn Elliott said Monday. "We get to play one last time and try to finish this thing the right way on what I call the Happiest Day of the Year.

"We're taking on a good Ball State team, and they're going to present problems of all sorts," Elliott continued. "We have to prepare well and we have to go in there wanting to play and wanting to win, and I think we will do that. We've had a good mindset thus far, and I think we're ready to play."

The Panthers won six of their last seven games to enter the bowl game at 7-5 overall and 6-2 in the Sun Belt, good for second place in the East Division, while Ball State won its final game, 20-3 over Buffalo, to become bowl eligible at 6-6, 4-4 MAC (4th-West Division).

Georgia State defeated Arkansas State in its regular-season finale to earn its program-record sixth Sun Belt victory, and now the Panthers have a chance to earn their eighth overall win, which would be another first for the program as the team plays before a national television audience as the only bowl game on Christmas Day.

"I think people across the country are going to see a team that plays extremely hard and enjoys being around each other and playing together," Elliott said.

To earn that record eighth-victory, the Panthers will have to defeat a Ball State team that features wide receiver Justin Hall as a multi-talented threat. The Douglasville, Ga., native (Alexander High School) has caught 61 passes for 613 yards and five touchdowns, and he also has six rushing touchdowns as well as a kickoff return for a score.

Ball Sate quarterback Drew Plitt has passed for 2,248 yards and 17 touchdowns with just five interceptions. Their wide receiver trio of Hall, Jayshon Jackson and Yo'Heinz Tyler have combined for 15 of the Cardinals' 17 passing touchdowns. Top rusher Carson Steele has 829 yards and six touchdowns.

"Drew Plitt is a good quarterback who makes very, very good decisions," Elliott said. "They have the ability to run the football well, and they have some really good receivers. They do a good job offensively, and we've got to be prepared for them to come and be very physical."

The Ball State defense is No. 10 in FBS in interceptions with 15.

"Defensively, they have the ability to do some things that present problems to us," Elliott said. "They play multiple fronts.Their two inside linebackers make plays. They're well coached and sound, and they create a lot of turnovers."

To purchase tickets for the TaxAct Camellia Bowl, visit GeorgiaStateSports.com/bowls.

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