Two months of frustration finally came to an end for Georgia State on Saturday night.
The Panthers produced their best effort since upsetting Vanderbilt in September to end a seven-game losing streak with a 52-44 win over Texas State in San Marcos, Texas.
Their 52 points was tied for the third-most in program history. GSU (3-8, 1-6 Sun Belt) came up with 504 yards in total offense, 219 yards rushing – both season highs – and 285 yards passing. The defense had four takeaways – two fumble recoveries and two interceptions – and came up with a decisive goal-line stand that kept the momentum from shifting away.
“The guys showed a lot of resiliency,” said Georgia State coach Dell McGee, who earned his first Sun Belt Conference victory. “Really proud of our guys for all the hard work they put in and for them to get the reward. This victory is very important to our seniors and our program.”
Quarterback Christian Veilleux, starting for the injured Zach Gibson, completed 15 of 26 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns. He spread the ball around, with tight end Dorian Fleming catching five passes for 88 yards and three touchdowns and Rykem Laney grabbing four passes for 70 yards. The offensive line did not surrender a sack to the team that leads the Sun Belt in that category.
“It was communication,” right tackle Trevor Timmons said. “We were all on the same page and when we’re all on the same page we can get rolling.”
The running game, abandoned in the second half of last week’s loss to Arkansas State, was back in form. Freddie Brock rushed 18 times for a season-high 133 yards and three touchdowns. Michel Dukes ran 14 times for 62 yards and one touchdown and caught four passes for 47 yards.
“The offense did a good job,” McGee said. “The O-line was blocking them. The quarterback made a lot of good checks at the line and was putting us in the right place, so hats off to our guys.”
Texas State quarterback Jordan McCloud completed 28 of 44 for three touchdowns and two interceptions. The Bobcats (6-5, 4-3) stayed in the game thanks to punt returner Beau Sparks, who ran back three kicks for 200 yards and one touchdown.
The Panthers scored more points in the first half than they had in a complete game. They led 38-21 at halftime, scoring the second-most points in a half in program history.
At first the teams were exchanging scores. Georgia State getting a 23-yard touchdown run from Dukes, a 7-yard run by Brock and a 30-yard touchdown throw to Fleming left the score tied 21-21.
That’s when Georgia State broke serve. The Panthers forced Texas State to punt and took the lead on a 21-yard touchdown pass to Fleming.
Then GSU came up with two big takeaways that led to points. Safety Kenyatta Watson grabbed his team-leading third interception and returned the ball to the 8. On third down Veilleux threw into the end zone, where Fleming juggled the ball three times before securing it. The pass was ruled incomplete, but it was overturned after a video review showed Fleming was in bounds. That gave the Panthers a 35-21 lead with 1:14 left.
Texas State was driving when K.D. McDaniel stripped quarterback McCloud, with Christian Lorenzo recovering at the 41 with 19 seconds left. Georgia State got close enough for Braeden McAlister to kick a 52-yard field goal, tied for second-longest in program history, and a 38-21 lead.
“That field goal gave us a lot of juice going into halftime,” McGee said.
In the second half, Brock ran for two touchdowns, a 57-yarder and a 16-yarder, and the Panthers led 52-29 with 10:06 left to play. But Texas State struck for two touchdowns and two two-point conversion passes to make it a one-score game with 2:48 left.
The Panthers were stopped on third down and would have been forced to punt, but a Texas State face-mask penalty gave them a first down and they were able to run out the clock.
“I commend our defense for getting turnovers when we needed them and for playing salty defense when they needed to be stopped,” McGee said. “Players played hard. A lot of guys are injured. A lot of guys had to step up. Just so proud of this team, proud of their resiliency, and just going to enjoy the ride back to San Antonio and back to Atlanta.”
Georgia State closes the season on Saturday at home against Coastal Carolina.
