Five losses to end the season followed by about a dozen players jumping ship to the portal makes for a dismal bowl scenario. That's Georgia State, which is further disadvantaged by a high-altitude setting for which Utah State is better acclimated. Gone from the Panthers are top rusher Marcus Carroll and premier receiver Roger Lewis. The Georgia State secondary, already soft against pass prevention, said sayonara to six players who regularly hit the field. All six Aggies defeats were to quality bowl invitees. While coach Blake Anderson's bowl record (3-5) is not stellar, he has experience in prepping teams for the postseason.

Georgia State got absolutely decimated by the Transfer Portal, and the Panthers lost five straight to close out the season. To me, this is a program and roster that's reeling, and I'm putting my action on Utah State.

Maybe this line is trying to fool me, or maybe it's simply too easy. Georgia State lost its last five regular season games and has a slew of important players in the transfer portal. Utah State should be mostly intact and considering the location of this game in Boise, should have a notable crowd advantage. Utah State 38, Georgia State 27.

Utah State ruled out a few guys today but nothing like Georgia State, which lost its final five regular season games and will be without its leading rusher (Marcus Carroll, 1,350 yards, 13 TD), receiver (Robert Lewis, 70 receptions, 877 yards, 7 TD) and top tackler (Jontrey Hunter, 96 tackles, 7 TFL, 3 FF) as well as starting offensive linemen Travis Glover, Montavious Cunningham and Avery Reece and at least one starter in the secondary.

Defense will be optional – or non-existent – in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl on Saturday afternoon. The Panthers defense fell off of a cliff during the second half of the season, while the Aggies’ defense was sliding down the mountain virtually the entire season. Don’t worry about the uncertainty that the Aggies have at the quarterback position, as Levi Williams, Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead all have enough experience to get into a track meet with Darren Grainger and the Panthers.