By: Kenneth Harrison

TheSouthernSportsEdition.com news services

The Georgia State Panthers started playing football in 2010, so they are a relatively new program. They have made it to five bowl games, which is impressive.

They started last season 1 – 4 and looked like they were dead in the water. They finished the year by winning seven of their last eight games. They ended the season with a dominant win in the Camellia Bowl over Ball State, 51-20.

GSU returns 15 starters and they are serious contenders to win the Sun Belt title. They were 6 – 2 in conference play in 2021 and they look to improve on that in 2022.

Shawn Elliott is entering his sixth season as the head ball coach in Atlanta. He only has one losing season and an overall record of 30 – 30.

The Panthers return four starters on the offensive line and have the best backfield tandem in the league. Senior running backs Tucker Gregg (953 yards, 9 TDs) and Jamyest Williams (859 yards, 9 TDs) will be the focal point of the offense.

“It’s a great one-two punch,” Shawn Elliott says of his RBs. “And I think we have two or three young backs that may be as good as our all-conference guys.”

Furman transfer quarterback Darren Grainger played well when he became the starter in October. He passed for 1,715 yards, 19 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.

He also rushed for 646 yards, 3 scores and averaged 4.8 yards per carry. He’s a good dual threat QB that can take care of the football. He needs to improve on making big plays in the passing game.

Sophomore wide receivers Ja’Cyais Credle and Jamari Thrash combined for 53 catches. Tight end Aubrey Payne scored 7 touchdowns and he was granted a seventh season of eligibility.

The Panthers bring back seven starters from a defense that made some big, disruptive plays with a school-record 36 sacks, 92 tackles for a loss and 21 turnovers forced. They run a 3-4 scheme and the strength of the defense is the linebacking corps. They are led by two all-conference players in Blake Carroll (11.5 TFLs) and Jordan Veneziale (97 tackles, 8 TFLs) along with junior Jamil Muhammad, who had six sacks and a fumble return touchdown. Safety Antavious Lane had 5 interceptions in 2021.

The first two games of the season are well compensated beatings, at South Carolina and home against North Carolina. Surprisingly the game against UNC is the second game in a home-and-home series. They cannot afford any major injuries in these games.

Week 3 is home against Charlotte and this is the first win of the season.

They have a short week with a Thursday night game against division rival Coastal Carolina. GSU will win a close game.

The following week is at Army. The Black Knights won last year’s meeting 43-10 and I expect a similar outcome.

Georgia Southern comes to town to claim the title as the true GSU. This is a rivalry game that I expect GA State to win.

The Panthers travel to Boone, North Carolina the following week for a Wednesday night game at Appalachian State. They will lose by double digits.

The final five games are Old Dominion, at Southern Miss, ULM, at James Madison and at Marshall.

ULM is the only team that was in the Sun Belt last season. Three of those teams are from Conference USA and James Madison has moved up from FCS.

GSU should win all of those games but they might struggle in the cold weather at Marshall. The best-case scenario is eight regular season wins.