Georgia State Falls to Coastal Carolina in SBC Opener

Georgia State hosted Coastal Carolina on Thursday night for their Sun Belt Conference opener. Coastal Carolina got off to a hot start, leading to a 24-41 loss for Georgia State.

Grayson McCall played a great game for the Chanticleers, Throwing for 268 yards and 2 touchdowns, while completing 70% of his passes. McCall set the tone early, with a 50 yard touchdown pass to redshirt freshman, Jared Brown, on the first play from scrimmage. On their next possession, McCall connected with Brown again, on a 53 yard touchdown pass. McCall capped off the 1st quarter with a 2 yard touchdown run, giving Coastal Carolina a 21-7 lead.

The Chanticleers sophomore running back, CJ Beasley, had a good game on the ground, running for 142 yards on 25 carries. Junior quarterback, Jarrett Guest, and junior running back, Nate Hope II, both punched in touchdowns throughout the game, while contributing the Chanticleers’ 272 total rushing yards.

Jared Brown had a career night, hauling in 129 yards on 5 catches, including the 2 touchdowns from McCall. Senior wide receiver, Sam Pinckney, had a solid game with 77 yards on 7 catches.

Coastal Carolina’s defense performed well throughout the game. They shut down Georgia State’s offense in the second half, with their only score coming from a pick-six. The Panthers came into the game averaging 231 rushing yards per game, but the Chanticleers held them to 78 yards on 33 carries. They did a great job forcing turnovers, grabbing 2 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries.

Georgia State struggled early in this game and never seemed to be able to get their footing. After falling to a 7-21 deficit in the 1st quarter, the Panthers had a productive 2nd quarter and got the game within 10 points. Being able to hold the Chanticleers to field goals helped close this gap. Georgia State went into halftime trailing 17-27, but they were unable to get anything going on offense in the 2nd half and couldn’t keep Coastal Carolina out of the end zone.

Darren Grainger had a solid game with all things considered. The Panthers struggled getting anything going in the run game, averaging 2.4 yards per carry, which made it more difficult for Grainger to have open passing lanes. Grainger threw for 231 yards, a touchdown, and 2 interceptions, while completing 56% of his passes.

On the defensive side of the ball, junior safety, Antavious Lane led the team with 8 solo tackles, tying his season-high. Senior linebacker, Jontrey Hunter, returned a 77 yard pick-six in the 4th quarter, while recording 6 solo tackles throughout the game.

This was clearly not the Panthers’ best game and starting the season 0-4 isn’t great, but their has been signs for optimism throughout their season thus far. UNC and Charlotte were both very close and winnable games for Georgia State. They’re a couple miscues away from a 2-2 record, rather than 0-4.

Everyone knows that almost winning games still doesn’t put W’s in the win column, but if Shawn Elliot and his staff are able to clean up some of the miscues, this is still a team that could rattle off some wins this season.