Behind Enemy Lines: Georgia State

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Stan Awtrey has covered Georgia State for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2019.

Georgia State is an experienced team that’s coming off the best season in school history. The Panthers in 2021 went 8-5, tied for a program-best second in the Eastern Division of the Sun Belt Conference, and won a bowl game for the second straight year.

The Panthers also scored their first win over a ranked opponent and return 18 starters from that squad. Georgia State was picked by the coaches to finish third this year in a beefed-up conference.

The roster includes 10 all-conference picks from last season and a conference-high eight players who were named to the preseason All-Sun Belt team. Six players are listed on the watch list for national awards.

The team has inherited the personality of head coach Shawn Elliott, who believes in an aggressive, hard-hitting style of football. Elliott is an emotional guy who has found a way to create an allegiance with his players. Ten “super seniors” are on the roster and tight end Aubry Payne is returning for an unusual seventh year of eligibility.

This roster believes it can win the conference championship and complete a circle that began when Elliott was hired six years ago and the Panthers were mired in the basement.

Georgia State has four of its offensive linemen back and three of them are three-year starters. The best may be center Malik Sumter, a three-year starter who is on the watch list for the Rimington Award. Sumter (41 starts), guard Pat Bartlett (42), left tackle Travis Glover (36) and right tackle Johnathan Bass (22) have a combined 141 career starts.

That helps explain why they are a run-oriented team, featuring two guys with completely different styles – Tucker “The Trucker” Gregg (953 yards rushing in 2021) and former Gamecock Jamyest Williams, (859 yards rushing in 2021) who transferred to play closer to home and was moved from defensive back to tailback. The position is loaded and also includes K.Z. Adams, an electrifying freshman who was the star of spring camp. The Panthers will need to run the ball effectively against a South Carolina defense that was susceptible to the run last season.

The quarterback is Darren Grainger, who unseated the returning starter last season and is a good game manager. Grainger ran for 660 yards and threw for 1,715 yards and has dependable targets in Jamari Thrash, Ja’Cyais Credle and Robert Lewis, as well as reliable tight end Payne. The Panthers have tried to become more adept at throwing the ball deeper down the field rather than relying on shorter stuff.

The Panthers are an aggressive unit that likes to put pressure on the quarterback and try to force turnovers. The biggest playmaker is junior Antavious Lane, a first-team all-conference safety who holds the school’s interception record (nine) and was third on the team in tackles in 2021. Only two active FBS players have more picks than Lane, who is on the watch list for the Jim Thorpe Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy.

The inside linebackers include Blake Carroll, a hard-hitting preseason all-conference player who had 11 ½ tackles for loss and 5 ½ sacks last year. Carroll, who had 89 tackles, and team leader Jordan Veneziale always seem to be around the ball.

Outside linebacker Jamil Muhammad (six sacks) is the best at getting after the quarterback. Georgia State set a school record for sacks for the second straight season, getting 38 in 2021 and 73 over the last two seasons.

The secondary, led by three-year cornerback starter Qua White, will have its hands full against South Carolina’s excellent group of receivers and new quarterback, Spencer Rattler. The Panthers can’t allow the big play if they want to compete.

Georgia State cannot afford to turn the ball over and expect to have a chance to win. The Panthers did a good job of this a year ago – only 12 turnovers – and that was instrumental in their school-record eight-win season.

The Panthers must be able to run the ball, eat the clock and keep the ball away from South Carolina.

They must also be able to finish. They should have beaten Auburn on the road last season, but were unable to close it out. This means not settling for field goals and being able to succeed on third down.

This is an emotional game for a lot of the Georgia State players; there are 20 South Carolinians on the roster and they’re all eager to show off their skills. Coach Shawn Elliott was interim coach for the Gamecocks after Steve Spurrier’s unexpected resignation in 2015. Elliott has said repeatedly that he has no ill feelings toward the school and that there isn’t a smidgen of malice in his heart. OK, maybe.

Georgia State knocked off Tennessee on the road in 2019 for the program’s signature win, so there is precedence. But the guess here is that South Carolina wins 28-21 in a close game.

Stan Awtrey has covered Georgia State for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution since 2019. If you'd like to see more of Stan's work, you can follow him on Twitter.