Senior Day festivities may be especially emotional for Georgia State this week. With no bowl game awaiting, the season finale against Coastal Carolina may be the last time the 26 seniors could be putting on pads.
“It’s about how we can try to send these guys out the right way with a win,” Georgia State coach Dell McGee said. “For some guys it will be the last opportunity to play on that field and some guys will maybe not play football no more.”
Georgia State (3-8, 1-6 Sun Belt) will host Coastal Carolina (5-6, 2-5) at Center Parc Stadium at 2 p.m. Saturday. The game can be seen on ESPN-Plus and heard locally on WRAS-FM (88.5) and WGTJ-FM (97.5).
Among those who will be playing their final games are all-conference cornerback Gavin Pringle, inside linebacker Justin Abraham, outside linebacker Kevin Swint and receiver Ja’Cyais Credle.
“It’s always an emotional day from their perspective, and that was the challenge to our guys this week, to make sure we honor our seniors in the right way in how we prepare, and make sure we send them out the right way by doing your job on Saturday,” McGee said.
McGee still remembers his Senior Day experience when he was finishing his career at Auburn. It was against Alabama in the Iron Bowl.
“I definitely remember it,” he said. “We actually won, and I remember my parents came on the field, and we got a football, and it was the last time you were in that environment. There are a lot of different emotions to go through, and after that you have to kind of dial back in as a player and put on your hard hat. It’s the last time to go to work in that stadium, in that uniform.”
Coastal Carolina has become a nice rivalry game for Georgia State. And, in an unusual twist, the home team has never won. Last year the Panthers prevailed 30-17 in Conway, South Carolina, and leads the series 4-3.
Georgia State will try to finish the regular season by winning its final two games, something it hasn’t done since 2021. It ended a seven-game losing streak last week by beating Texas State 52-44, and another win would get the Panthers out of the basement in the Sun Belt’s East Division.
“You’ve got to take it personally how the season has went thus far with the losses and take away the learning aspects from losing games,” McGee said. “And really dive into the why those things occurred. A lot goes back to preparation, and the preparation has to show up on game day. On Saturday we didn’t play our best game. We played well in spurts and played bad in spurts, but we were able to hold on and win the football game.”
The Panthers will again start Christian Veilleux at quarterback. He started last week against Texas State and threw for 285 yards and three touchdowns. Zach Gibson, who started the previous four games, injured his knee against Arkansas State on Nov. 16 and is unable to play. Kyle Lowe will be the backup.
“He made some good throws, good reads, bad throws, but he also did a good job of getting us into right plays in the run game,” McGee said of Veilleux. “He played winning football, and we were able to run the ball, which takes a lot of pressure off the offensive line.”
The Panthers rushed for a season-high 219 yards against Texas State, with Freddie Brock carrying 18 times for 133 yards and three touchdowns.
Coastal Carolina is coming off a 26-6 loss to Georgia Southern. The Chanticleers are led by running back Braydon Bennett, who ranks sixth in the conference with 684 yards and has scored 11 touchdowns. Bennett ran for 138 yards against Southern, but two field goals was all the offense produced.
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