ATLANTA– After falling 35-12 to Georgia Tech in the season opener, the Panthers look to secure the first win of the season against Chattanooga in the home opener on Sept. 7 at 7:00 p.m. at Center Parc Credit Union Stadium.
Georgia State and Chattanooga will face each other for the second time in program history, after exactly nine years between the two matches. The Panthers are 0-1 on the series after falling 42-14 at home on Sept. 7, 2013.
GSU IN HOME OPENERS: Georgia State is 6-8 in home openers since the start of the football program in 2010, and 4-7 since joining the Sun Belt in 2013.
> After a three-year stretch of falling in home openers, the Panthers defeated Rhode Island 42-35 in the 2023 home opener on Aug. 31, 2023.
KEY RETURNERS: Despite the large influx of newcomers to the 2024 squad, head coach McGee retained multiple key returners, including veterans Tailique Williams, Freddie Brock, Dorian Fleming Kevin Swint, Gavin Pringle and Justin Abraham.
> Veterans Gavin Pringle and Kevin Swint were named to the 2024 Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team after leading the Panthers on defense through the 2023 season.
> Running back Freddie Brock leads the Panthers in rushing yards with 61, which ranks ninth in the Sun Belt. His 6.1 yards-per-carry also ranks third in the conference and top 50 in the nation. Brock recorded a season-long 23 yard gain against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
> After starting in only four games in 2023, Sophomore Tight End Dorian Fleming had a breakout game against Georgia Tech after scoring the only touchdown for the Panthers this season. The Henrico, Va., native leads the Panthers with 68 yards.
> Senior linebacker Justin Abraham leads the Panthers’ defense with 11 tackles (nine solo) on the season. His nine solo tackles lead the conference and nation.
NEWCOMERS LEADING THE PACK:
> Tulsa transfer Jordan Ford is the Panthers’ starting kick returner, averaging 24 yards-per-carry on kickoffs. Ford opened the season with a 30-yard kick return to start the game against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
> Senior transfer Sy’veon Wilkerson is second on the team in rushing yards with 43. The Colorado transfer tallied a team-long 41-yard rush in the first drive of the season against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31).
THE DELL McGEE ERA: Dell McGee, a Columbus, Ga., native with 22 years of coaching experience, including back-to-back national titles as the run game coordinator and running backs coach for the Georgia Bulldogs, was named the fourth head football coach in Georgia State history on Feb. 23, 2024.
> Although this is Dell McGee’s first full-time head coaching position, he was already 1-0 coming in to his head coaching position at Georgia State. He led Georgia Southern to a 58-27 win over Bowling Green in the 2015 GoDaddy Bowl while serving as interim head coach.
> Playing just its 15th season of football and 11th at the FBS level, Georgia State has already played in six bowl games (4-2 record) and five in the last seven years, including last year’s 45-22 win over Utah State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. The Panthers have won three straight bowls over the last four years.
THE PANTHERS SQUAD: With the leadership change for the Panthers during the off season, Georgia State retained 65 returners and added 54 newcomers to the 2024 roster.
> Georgia State saw its largest influx of transfers in the offseason, with 48 transfer additions to the roster.
> The Panthers also added an entirely new coaching staff to the 2024 squad, totaling 15 newcomers to the staff.
> Cornerbacks coach Antreal Allen, who was named to the 2024 30-Under-30 list, is the only member of the coaching staff who was retained from previous leadership.
NEW STARTING QB: After a GSU-record 36 consecutive games with Darren Grainger as the starting quarterback, the Panthers will have a different starter under center for the first time since he took over in Game 3 of the 2021 season.
> Christian Veilleux, the starting quarterback for the Panthers in game one against Georgia Tech, continues to fight for the starting quarterback position.
> Veilleux went 19-for-34 for 210 yards and one touchdown against Georgia Tech (Aug. 31). The Ontario, Canada native threw a season-long 23 yard pass to Tailique Williams.
> The junior transfer from Pitt joins the GSU program for the 2024 season after spending one season at Pittsburgh and two at Penn State. Last season, Veilleux appeared in seven games (five starts) for Pitt, and completed 94-of-184 passes for 1,179 yards and seven touchdowns.
> Senior Zach Gibson joined the Panthers in January 2024 as a transfer from Georgia Tech with 3,060 career passing yards. Gibson completed three seasons with Akron before transferring to Tech.
