Georgia State wins first-ever game

By Ken Sugiura

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

They came. They saw. And, to borrow from their new fight song, the Georgia State Panthers gave them hell.

Just 118 years after Georgia and Georgia Tech hit the gridiron, Georgia State joined the game Thursday night at the Georgia Dome. The Panthers swept aside an overmatched team from Shorter and took their inaugural game by a 41-7 score.

Gov. Sonny Perdue, former Mayor Andrew Young, Sen. Johnny Isakson and a host of other dignitaries filled the Dome along with throngs of football-starved GSU students and alumni.

Coach Bill Curry, the 67-year-old native son who returned to the sideline after a 14-year hiatus, showed off an outfit that played with spirit and a considerable level of execution, considering it was the team's debut. The Panthers reached the end zone on their opening drive, took a 20-0 halftime lead and largely pinned down the Shorter running game.

This night of firsts began with something less than cold-blooded execution. After Parris Lee returned the opening kickoff to the GSU 37-yard line, wide receiver Danny Williams was called for holding on the first play from scrimmage, an 8-yard run by Albert Wilson.

It did little to deny the Panthers, who finished the possession when Lee took a handoff from quarterback Drew Little and pushed his way 4 yards behind center Ben Jacoby for the school's first touchdown. Seated behind the end zone, the student section raised a jumping, screaming roar. The marching band struck up the fight song.

"They're electric down there," athletic director Cheryl Levick said later from the press box. "They finally have a team, and they're proud of them."

The crowd of 30,237 -- about 5,000 more than the pennant-seeking Braves drew to Turner Field -- left only a few small patches of empty seats in the lower bowl. The students filled their 7,500-seat section in the lower bowl and spilled into the mezzanine deck. School officials had hoped to draw 20,000.

Among the thousands were about 60 guests of Curry and his wife, Carolyn, not including groups from their condominium and Sunday school class.

Students streamed in as soon as the doors opened 90 minutes before kickoff. Nearly all of them wore blue. One student had "GSU" shaved into the side of his head. Even with kickoff an hour away, the stands crackled with energy.

"I've been waiting for this for, like, ever," said Nicole Gaddy, who is a ... freshman.

They did not let down once the game began. Their cheering filled the cavernous building. They screamed when Demarius Matthews gained 31 yards on a perfectly executed punt return. They chanted "Let's go, Panthers!" as the team drove the field. They erupted as running back Lee turned a broken play into an 11-yard gain. They loosed full-throated boos and a familiar expletive when a touchdown was called back on a penalty, leading to a field goal.

They even cheered for a fair catch.

"I'm just thrilled that Georgia State students are getting to experience this," said Peggy Gallagher, a professor and chair of the department of educational psychology and special education. "Everyone's walking around with a smile on their face."

Why not? Not every school has an undefeated team.