The Georgia State football team gave coach Dell McGee the best possible birthday present on Saturday night. They gave him a win, his first since taking the job in the spring.
There was no birthday cake – yet – but the game ball presented to him by athletic director Charlie Cobb in the locker room afterwards seemed to be sufficient for the moment. And although the 24-21 win over Chattanooga wasn’t a complete artistic success, it brought a smile to the normally stoic coach.
“I really appreciate our guys fighting through, never giving in,” McGee said. “I know that was an ugly win, but I really appreciate our guys. I think in the long run we’re going to learn from this and when we’re in a tighter ball game it’s really going to count.”
It certainly wasn’t easy. Chattanooga, ranked No. 10 in FCS, took a 21-17 lead with 11:32 remaining on an 84-yard pass from Chase Artopoeus to Sam Phillips, a product of Cartersville High School.
But Georgia State answered the challenge with a nine-play scoring drive that was capped by Freddie Brock’s 12-yard touchdown run to retake the lead with 7:01 remaining.
UTC had two more possessions, but Georgia State made a couple of important plays to turn aside the thoughts of an upset. Justin Abraham, who had to leave the field with an injury on the previous series, fought his way into the backfield to earn a sack on third down to force a punt with 5:11 remaining. Then, after UTC got the ball back with 1:30 left and needing only a field goal to force overtime, GSU’s Jyron Gilmore intercepted a pass to put the game away.
“The offense answered every single time we were down, and our defense did the same thing,” McGee said. “We stopped it when we had to, and we ran the ball when we had to to close the game out. A lot of positives from the game that we can grow from.”
GSU quarterback Christian Veilleux enhanced his status as the starter with another solid effort. He completed 26 of 38 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns. He did not throw an interception and was sacked only one time.
“We’re happy to get a win but I don’t think we’re happy with how we played,” Veilleux said. “Definitely made a lot of mistakes, missed a lot of opportunities. I know I’ve got a lot of things to clean up.”
The Panthers ran the ball for 153 yards, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Brock ran 14 times for 73 yards and one touchdown. The top receiver was Ted “Dancin’” Hurst, who caught six passes for 83 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown.
The defense limited Chattanooga to only 76 yards rushing and Artopoeus completed 13 of 23 for 232 yards – 84 of them on one play – with two interceptions and three sacks. Phillips caught eight passes for 195 yards. Georgia State had three takeaways.
“That was outstanding by our defense,” McGee said. “We were preaching that all week, and it came to fruition tonight. We thought they were loose with the ball and thought they were going to give us some opportunities and our defense took full advantage.”
The Georgia State defense came up with a pair of turnovers in the first half, but the Panthers only turned one into points.
All-Sun Belt cornerback Gavin Pringle made a nice interception in front of the Chattanooga bench, two plays after breaking up a pass with a jarring hit. GSU settled for a 34-yard field goal from Liam Rickman.
Chattanooga answered with a touchdown, scoring on fourth-and-goal from the 1 from a little flip pass from Artopoeus to tight end Dalton Restelli to complete an 11-play drive.
GSU responded with a nine-play drive that was completed when Veilleux threw to Jordan Ford in the left flat. Ford turned up the field and ran 19 yards for the touchdown and a 10-7 lead.
The Panthers missed a 40-yard field goal but got the ball back when D-Icey Hopkins stripped receiver Sam Phillips after a 12-yard gain and K.D. Daniel recovered for GSU at the UTC 36. But the Panthers couldn’t get any points out of the turnover, turning it over on downs when Michel Dukes was short on a fourth-and-1 run, leave GSU with a 10-7 halftime lead.
UTC took a 14-10 lead after Veilleux was sacked and fumbled, with Leroy Harris recovering at the GSU 10. Chattanooga scored four plays later on a 2-yard run by Reggie Davis.
GSU answered with a 75-yard drive that finished with Hurst scoring on a 22-yard reception from Veilleux to put the Panthers back ahead 17-14.
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