Battle of the Big Cats: Memphis Outlasts Georgia State

By: Mac Brown, @SSN_GSU

Georgia State falls to 0-2 on the young season and to 1-10 in their last eleven games. The Tigers of Memphis rolled into Atlanta and won 38-16 in a game that was 17-16 at the half. The Tigers dominated the ground game on both sides, which was essentially the determining factor in the game. Memphis out rushed GSU 205 to 49 yards with all four of their offensive touchdowns coming on the ground. Brendon Lewis, the Memphis QB, was the second leading rusher for the Tigers with 68 yards and averaged 7.6 yards per carry. Lewis’ rushing took over in the second half and Memphis sailed to a somewhat easy victory. A night that was shaping up to be one to remember for the Panthers quickly turned into one you have to throw into the short memory bank. Now it’s on to Murray State.

Stick To Your Guns

After receiving NCAA clearance this week, new QB TJ Finley got the start in Week 2 for the Panthers. This came as a surprise, but not necessarily a big one. Finley’s experience and skillsets ultimately garnered him the starting job and coaches felt good about that. After electing to receive the kickoff, Finley led a 10-play, 49-yard drive that ultimately ended in a missed field goal attempt. However, Finley did look sharp though, rushing for 15 yards and the first down on one play and then hitting Javon Robinson on a 16-yard dart to get the Panthers right outside of the redzone. GSU didn’t come away with points, but there was plenty to like out of Finley on his first look at a Panther.  

On the third possession for the Panthers, Finley ran for the first down but was injured on the sideline and it at first appeared to be serious. Finley was clearly frustrated and had to exit the game. Cameran Brown entered the game and instantly made an impact. In three plays, Brown continued to lead the Panthers down the field and even marked it off with a 22-yard rumble into the endzone to give GSU their first points on the night. Brown would finish out the half and end with 8 of 12 passing for 139 yards and a touchdown. He finished as the team’s leading rusher as well with 25 yards. Brown led both scoring drives for the Panthers and had GSU down only 1 going into the half. Brown ended up being the lone bright spot offensively for the Panthers.

Finley’s injury turned out to not be as serious as originally thought and was a “shoulder jam” according to HC Dell McGee. Due to this, Finley was able to start the second half for the Panthers but in hindsight probably shouldn’t have. Brown had played an excellent game coming in taking over for Finley and now with the final result in hand, was the only reason the Panthers were even competitive. Coach McGee admitted that he should have left Brown in during the post-game press conference. It’s hard to say the Panthers would’ve won if Brown stayed in but what’s not hard to say is that the result would’ve been closer. Finley may be the guy the rest of the season, but Brown was clearly the guy on this September night.

Special Teams Not So Special

Georgia State and special teams woes. Tell me where you’ve heard this one before. Special Teams are a hard thing to figure out at this level and Georgia State certainly isn’t alone on that front. A football game can’t be won or lost on a singular play, but singular plays can have a monumental effect on the game and more often than not those singular plays seem to happen on Special Teams for the Panthers. A missed field goal here, a blown assignment on punt coverage there, and the Panthers find themselves in self-created holes all the time due to these blunders. The game against Memphis was no different.

GSU went 0 for 2 on their field goal attempts with both kickers missing one. Braeden McAlister, who has been named the starter for the rest of the season by CDM, missed a 52-yarder on the Panthers first drive and Liam Rickman missed a 42-yarder a few drives later. Both misses were in the first half and if both were made, the Panthers would’ve taken a 22-17 lead into the half. With the way the second half went and how the momentum had clearly shifted, it’s hard to say those two misses didn’t have much of an impact. You have to take advantage of any points you can score, and the Panthers continue to fall short in that area.

Reed Chandley, the Panthers punter, had a decent night with an average of almost 45 yards per punt. That wasn’t necessarily the issue though. The issue is the punt coverage and how poor it was. On the two punts that were actually returned by Memphis, they averaged 27 yards per attempt. When you give your opponent short fields, they’re going to take advantage of it. If the Panthers are going to have more success in conference play, they’ll need to clean up these Special Team flaws and they’ll need to do it quick.

Real Season Begins in October

Out of conference schedules at the G5 level are a little tricky. Sure, you would like to rack up some wins before you get into the grind of the conference schedule. But you also likely need a check or two from one of the bigger players in your geographical region. So, your OOC schedule in most years will probably be a little more daunting than your conference foes. Georgia State is no stranger to this. This isn’t saying the Sun Belt isn’t incredibly difficult either, because it most certainly is. But when your OOC schedule includes two SEC schools and arguably a top 5 G5 school, the argument can be made.

GSU has two OOC games left with a game this next weekend versus Murray State and then taking a trip up to Nashville in a couple of weeks to face off against Vanderbilt. In all likelihood, Murray State will potentially be the only win the Panthers get outside of the Sun Belt. And that’s more than okay. Dell McGee’s mission from day one has been to win a Sun Belt Championship and as crazy as it may be to say, this team can still accomplish just that. OOC schedule at this level is a preseason of sorts. A time to learn what you’re good at and learn even more what you’re not good at. If done correctly, the Panthers can use these four games to prime themselves for a deep conference run.

If you’ve paid attention the last two weeks you know that despite the outcome, there was a real improvement made this week. This team started with a ton of potential and quite frankly still has it. They need to use this week as a “get right” game against the Racers and get themselves back in the win column. If there’s continued improvement made just like last week, there’s no reason to think they won’t. Even with the Panthers getting one win in their last eleven games, there’s still belief that McGee is the guy to get it done. It’s still a work in progress, but once things start to click for that man, they’re going to click. 0-2 is never where you want to be after a couple of weeks, but the future remains bright for the Panthers.