Georgia State Football: Panthers' Drew Pearson embraces two-way role

Injuries have racked up for the Georgia State Panthers this season, forcing coach Bill Curry to take the drastic measure of using tight end Drew Pearson in a two-way role.

In the Panthers' 28-21 loss at James Madison last Saturday, Pearson played at both tight end and defensive end. He played 64 total plays, with 48 coming on offense and 18 coming on defense.

While some players might shy away from taking on that kind of role, Pearson brushes it off as not a big deal because he did the same thing in high school (via The Atlanta Journal-Constitution):

"It's nothing really difficult," Pearson said. "I played offense and defense in high school so I had a pretty good idea what to do."

Pearson played defensive end at Pepperell High in Lindale, and he used those experiences to help him on Saturday. He has been focusing on offense the past few seasons, but for the time being, he's enjoying the two-way responsibilities:

"It's definitely a great feeling to be able to play both ways because not many people get to do that, especially nowadays with so much emphasis on one position and being great at that," he said.

There's a chance that Pearson plays both ways this upcoming weekend against Old Dominion if Georgia State's normal defensive ends are not able to return from injury. It's looking like they will be able to go, but Pearson will be ready just in case.