Banged up Georgia State loses seventh consecutive game

“Very disappointed in the loss,” Georgia State coach Dell McGee said. “The same things kind of repeat themselves. Couldn’t find a way to run the football. We had to throw it almost 50 times. We got dominated up front, third-down offense was not to the standard, didn’t convert enough of those to score points and keep drives going,”

Gibson, who had started the past four games, went down with a knee injury on the next-to-last play of the first half. He stood on the sideline without his shoulder pads for the second half. He will have an MRI to assess his injury.

Gibson was 9-for-14 passing for 101 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Replacement Christian Veilleux, who began the season as the starter, entered in relief and completed 17 of 35 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

The lack of running game helped enable Ted Hurst to catch nine passes — he was targeted 18 times — for 173 yards and one touchdown, which set the school’s single-season for touchdown receptions. Petey Tucker caught five passes for 64 yards. Freshman Austin McGee — the son of coach Dell McGee — got his first career reception, a nice grab on the sideline that saw him tap a toe to remain in bounds.

“That’s a good feeling,” Hurst said. “But at the same time, I want to win and I’m just trying to do the most for my team.”

With different offensive linemen being shuttled into the lineup, the Panthers again struggled to run the ball, netting only 65 yards on 23 carries.

Likewise, the makeshift defensive line had issues stopping the run. Arkansas State rushed for 261 yards, and quarterback Jaylen Raynor led the team with 114. Raynor also threw for 97 yards, but was sacked four times.

“Just way too many rushing yards being allowed during the game,” McGee said. “We’ve got to make sure we’re playing clean football, and we didn’t on defense.”

The teams traded touchdowns in the third quarter, with Georgia State knotting things 14-14 on a 12-yard pass from Veilleux to Michael Dukes. But Arkansas State bolted ahead 24-10 on a 44-yard field goal by Clune Van Andel and a 15-yard touchdown run by Ja’Quez Cross.

Georgia State hung close when Braeden McAlister kicked a 48-yard field goal, only to have the Red Wolves counter with a 52-yarder from Van Andel.

The Panthers made it a one-score game when Liam Rickman kicked a 40-yard field goal with 5:52 left and the defense forced Arkansas State to put and got the ball back with 2:15 left. Veilleux drove the Panthers to the 40 when Arkansas State’s Trevian Thomas, a senior from Americus, intercepted a pass to kill any comeback hopes.

“We had an opportunity to go down and score and go for two and try to win the game,” McGee said. “It fell a little short. I’m proud of our guys for their effort and how they played, but it still goes back to the same thing, just too many details are being missed.”

The first half was loaded with costly mistakes by both sides and ended in a 7-7 tie.

Georgia State scored first after Jyron Gilmore’s tackle forced Arkansas State to turn the ball over on downs. The Panthers scored on a 66-yard drive that was capped by a 24 yard pass from Gibson to Hurst, who scored his school record ninth touchdown of the season.

Arkansas State’s next play went for a 75-yard touchdown, but was wiped out because of holding penalty. Georgia State then appeared to have a takeaway, but Jeremiah Johnson’s interception in the end zone was negated because of a defensive holding call. Two plays later Zak Wallace scored on a 13-yard run to even the score at 7-7.

Georgia State had a touchdown pass to Tucker nullified because of a hold and turned the ball over three plays later when Hurst slipped while running his route and Justin Parks had the easy interception.

On GSU’s last possession of the half, Arkansas State’s Zach Whitehead chased down Gibson from behind for a sack. He was slow to get up and favored his left leg while walking off the field.