Optimism is high at Georgia State, where the Panthers return 22 starters from last season’s team that went 6-4, finished the year on a three-game win streak and won the LendingTree Bowl. There’s even talk about competing for the Sun Belt Conference championship for the first time.
As Shawn Elliott starts his fifth season as head coach, here are five things to watch regarding the 2021 Panthers.
The offensive line is going to be a force.
All five starters return on the offensive line, which brightens the heart of Elliott, who is an old offensive line coach at heart.
The only real change there is the offensive line coach. Eman Naghavi was brought in to replace Thomas Austin, who returned to Clemson, his alma mater. Naghavi spent the previous four seasons at Louisiana-Monroe and had been hired as an offensive analyst at Texas before opting to come to Georgia State.
“We’re going to continue doing the things we do year-in and year-out,” Elliott said. “We’re very consistent on the offensive line. We don’t do a lot of changes up front. My message to coach Naghavi was, ‘Let’s coach these guys up. I want great fundamentals. I want them to give great effort.’ But ultimately we’re going to do what we’ve done in the past.”
The offensive line is built around left guard Shamarious “Quion” Gilmore, the first four-time All-Sun Belt selection in school history. Gilmore (6-foot-3, 295 pounds) has started 47 consecutive games and has NFL draft potential. The other starters are center Malik Sumter, guard Pat Bartlett and tackles Travis Glover and Jonathan Bass. That group has combined for 136 starts and helped the offense average 433 yards total offense and 32 points over the past two seasons.
There is more security at quarterback.
Quad Brown won the job last season and produced great results. He threw for 2,278 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran for 301 yards and seven touchdowns. He finished second in the Sun Belt in passing and total offense and was the MVP of the LendingTree Bowl. He flourished behind the veteran offensive line and showed the knack to instantly move on from a poor pass or bad decision.
“A young quarterback was going to make rookie mistakes,” Gilmore said. “Mentally, Quad has gotten 10 times better, in my opinion. He stays in the film room, he’s staying out there working receivers, coming to us to learn about protection. He’s had a phenomenal offseason.”
This year the Panthers have some backups at the position. Redshirt freshman Mikele Colasurdo shook off a health scare last year and got his feet wet in four games. Darren Grainger, a junior transfer from Furman, started 11 games and threw for 1,222 yards in 2019 – including 311 yards and four touchdowns against Georgia State.
Another year with offensive coordinator Brad Glenn is bound to help all three. Glenn continues to grow a deserved reputation as someone who knows how to develop quarterbacks.
This team could score a lot of points.
In addition to the experience on the offensive line and at quarterback, the roster is loaded with playmakers at receiver and running back. They even could exceed the school-record 33.3 points they averaged in 2020.
The all-conference duo of Sam Pinckney and Cornelius McCoy combined for 78 catches, 1,262 yards and 11 touchdowns in 2020. Dependable slot receiver Terrance Dixon, Jamari Thrash and Ja’Cyais Credle, a transfer from Central Florida, add to the depth there. At tight end, Roger Carter is a two-time all-conference selection, and Aubry Payne is healthy again.
The top returning back is Destin Coates, who was third in the Sun Belt with 769 yards and seven touchdowns in 2020. Tucker Gregg is a hard-nosed, straight-ahead runner who is tough to stop near the goal line, and Jamyest Williams, who moved over from cornerback, brings a breakaway threat.
The defensive aggression will continue.
The Panthers will continue to be a maximum-effort, high-pressure defense. Last season they ranked seventh in FBS with a school-record 35 sacks, although sack leader Jordan Strachan transferred to South Carolina.
Defensive end Hardrick Willis and nose guard Dontae Wilson, both two-time all-conference selections, return up front. Willis has a school-record 12 career sacks, six of them a year ago, and Wilson ranks fourth with 8.5 sacks and 19.5 tackles for loss.
Inside linebacker Blake Carroll had a breakout season with 74 tackles and outside linebacker Joffrey Hunter was defensive player of the LendingTree Bowl after he produced an interception, a fumble recovery and six tackles.
“Blake stepped in a year ago and really pushed the envelope at that linebacker position,” Elliott said. “He’s physical, he’s fast, he’s relentless in pursuit. I see him becoming a strong leader.”
The non-conference schedule is very ambitious.
Georgia State may have the most difficult opening month in the program’s history: Army, at North Carolina, Charlotte and at Auburn. Army (Liberty), North Carolina (Orange) and Auburn (Citrus) played in bowl games last season.
“You know, it’s a difficult task. It’s an exciting task,” Elliott said. “It’s one that our coaches and our team is really looking forward to going out and competing against. We’re going to know a lot about our football team coming out of those four games. We have to be playing at our best early on.”
The Panthers knocked off Tennessee to open the 2019 season for its first win over a Power 5 opponent.
The Army game opens the season Sept. 4 and is expected to play to a sellout crowd. The Panthers beat Army 28-21 in 2019 on a rainy night.
Georgia State has split two games with Charlotte, which plays in Conference USA. Last year’s game was canceled because of COVID-19. Georgia State has never played Auburn or North Carolina.
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