Georgia State followed its best effort of the season with easily its worst.
A week after an impressive road win at Troy, the Panthers were drubbed 51-0 by No. 20 Coastal Carolina at Center Parc Stadium on Saturday.
The Panthers struggled in every conceivable area. They turned the ball over two times. They were unable to move the ball. The defense was on the field too long and had no answers. The special teams had three botched kickoff returns and donked a field-goal attempt off an upright. The score was 34-0 at halftime.
It was most appropriate that the Georgia State band played “Thriller” and the “Ghostbusters” theme at halftime. The sheet music for “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” was unavailable.
“When you have a day like today, it’s a hard pill to swallow,” Georgia State coach Shawn Elliott said. “We were not ready to compete. I can’t tell you the answer. It’s going to take some soul searching.”
It was the first time Georgia State has been shut out since a 56-0 loss to No. 3-ranked Penn State on Sept. 16, 2017.
“It was a disappointing day for our coaching staff, our players and everyone involved, and it’s unacceptable,” Elliott said.
Georgia State initially appeared to have its offense in gear again when it took the opening kickoff and drove to the 30, where Noel Ruiz tried a 47-yard field-goal attempt that clanked off the right upright.
That was as good as the Georgia State offense got in the first half. In their next five possessions, the Panthers had three three-and-outs, lost a fumble and threw an interception. Meanwhile, Coastal Carolina scored touchdowns on five of its first six first-half possessions.
“I don’t think we can take anything away from it,” Elliott said. “We were consistently bad in all three phases of the game, and it showed.”
Coastal Carolina redshirt freshman quarterback Grayson McCall, who missed last week with an injury, returned to face the Panthers and completed 18 of 24 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns. Senior A-back C.J. Marable, who played for Towers High, caught 10 passes for 71 yards and one touchdown and ran for 29 yards and a touchdown. Javon Heiligh rushed for 81 yards and two touchdowns and the Chanticleers rushed for 250 yards -- against a Georgia State defense that had allowed only 40 rushing yards a week ago -- and had 530 total yards
The Georgia State offense entered the game averaging 42 points, tops in the Sun Belt. But they had little success against an athletic and well-positioned Coastal Carolina defense. Georgia State finished with a season-low 106 total yards, the fewest since being limited to 62 yards against Appalachian State in 2014.
Quarterback Quad Brown completed only 6 of 10 passes for 30 yards and one interception, a loose throw that slipped away as he was being hit from behind. Prized freshman Mikele Colasurdo played the fourth quarter and fared no better, missing both his throws. Destin Coates carried 11 times for 56 yards.
Georgia State (2-3, 1-3 Sun Belt) has little time to dwell on the loss. The Panthers host Louisiana-Monroe on Saturday and won’t be able to practice Tuesday because of the new NCAA rule that shuts down all activities on Election Day.
“We’ve got to be over it by Monday,” Elliott said. “We’ve got a day off on Tuesday. We’ve got to get over it and get it out of our system.”
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