Two years after being named the MVP of the game, Levi Williams is headed back to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl.
This time, however, he’ll be sporting some different threads.
In 2021, Williams led Wyoming to a 52-38 Potato Bowl victory over Kent State where he rushed for 200 yards and four TDs while passing for 127 yards and another score. Less than 24 hours later, Williams entered the infamous transfer portal.
He landed at Utah State, and, like he had to do at Wyoming, waited for the opportunity to see the field. He was third on the Utah State depth chart entering the season, but will be the starter on Saturday against Georgia State because of injuries to Cooper Legas and McCae Hillstead.
Williams started in the regular-season finale against New Mexico and helped the Aggies secure bowl eligibility in a 44-42 double-OT win. He passed for 198 yards and one TD while rushing for 153 and adding three more TDs on the ground.
I’m sure we can expect him to continue having that dual-threat impact in the 2023 edition of the Potato Bowl. College football betting odds have Utah State as a 2.5-point favorite.
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The high-powered Aggies attack will be going against a below-average Georgia State defense. The Panthers average 30.8 points and 431 yards per game. Utah State ranks first in the Mountain West, averaging 446 yards and is tied for first with 34 PPG.
Not only will Georgia State be tasked with containing Williams’ legs, but the Aggies also have a pair of receivers in Terrell Vaughn and Jalen Royals who rank in the top five in the MW in receiving average.
Good thing for the Panthers is that the Aggies defense isn’t much better. Bad news for the Panthers, though, is that their top rusher and top receiver have entered the transfer portal. RB Marcus Carroll rushed for 1,350 yards and 13 TDs on the year and Robert Lewis finished with 887 yards and seven scores on 70 receptions.
It’ll be tough for Georgia State to keep pace with the Aggies, but QB Darren Grainger is sticking around and will do what he can to try and make that happen. Another dual-threat QB in this game, Grainger passed for 2,368 yards and 17 TDs while rushing for 625 yards and eight scores.
Different Paths
The seasons for these teams went much differently.
Georgia State was riding high following a 6-1 start and looked like it might be a real contender in the Sun Belt. Things quickly changed, however, and the Panthers dropped their final six games of the season, being outscored 209-93.
On the other hand, the Aggies didn’t win or lose more than two games in a row at any point during the year. They were very consistent on both sides of the ball, scoring more than 30 in each game except for the season-opener against Iowa.
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Familiar Foe
Utah State coach Blake Anderson was the head coach at Arkansas State from 2014-20.
During his tenure, he faced Sun Belt foe Georgia State six times, going 5-1. His teams averaged 46.5 points in those games and scored over 50 three times. There were at least 80 combined points scored in four of those.
Utah State-Georgia State Prediction
Entering this game on a brutal losing skid, I can’t imagine there’s much motivation for Georgia State here.
With the way the Panthers defense has played in the second half of the season, and the fact their offense took a step back from early in the year, I don’t think their defense can stop the Aggies and I’m not confident they can score with them.
Anderson has also been successful against Panthers head coach Shawn Elliott, albeit in a different scenario.
I’m going to go with Williams to have another successful Potato Bowl outing and the Aggies to cover the spread.
