Georgia State can’t overcome mistakes in losing home opener

It was a series of singular mistakes occurring at inopportune moments that proved fatal to Georgia State in its home opener on Saturday.

The Panthers trailed Memphis 17-16 at halftime but mustered nothing in the second half and dropped a 38-16 decision to the Tigers before a nice crowd of 13,625 at Centre Park Stadium.

“We’re going to look at the tape, but just like I told our guys, there’s going to be eight plays in this game, if you could reverse the situation, this game is different,” said GSU coach Dell McGee. “A lot of little things that we’ve got to make sure we’re executing as players and coaches, and I take full responsibility for the loss.”

The Panthers (0-2) were shutout in the second half for the second straight week; Ole Miss scored 38 unanswered in the opener. One of the biggest problems was the lack of a running game. Georgia State ran 27 times for 49 yards, a 1.8-yard average, which kept its defense on the field too long and empowered Memphis to control the clock in the second half.

“It all goes back to practice and how we prepare, how we approach practice, and just all the little details that goes into being a winning football program,” McGee said.

The Panthers may have found their quarterback in newcomer T.J. Finley, who officially joined the team on Monday. Finley got the start and completed his first 10 pass attempts for 103 yards and was effectively moving the team until he was hurt at the end of a 12-yard run, falling awkwardly on the Memphis sideline and injuring his shoulder.

Finley missed the rest of the half and re-entered to start the third quarter and played the remainder of the game. He completed 21 of 29 passes for 201 yards and one interception, that being a 31-yard pick-six by Duluth native DeMarco Ward with 11 seconds left.

Texas Tech transfer Cameran Brown took over when Finley was out and sparked the offense to a pair of first-half touchdowns. Brown completed 8 of 12 passes for 139 yards and one touchdown and ran for 25 yards.

McGee liked what he saw from Brown, but the staff decided to ride with Finley.

“We decided to let T.J. finish it out,” McGee said. “The injury kind of set him back. I think from a mental standpoint it set him back, too. That’s when we should have readjusted and thought about putting Cam back in the game. I thought Cam did some really good things.”

The momentum began to shift for Georgia State when Marlin Dean, an outside linebacker transfer from Utah State, came on a blitz from the left side to sack Memphis quarterback Brendon Lewis for a safety. That cut the Memphis lead to 7-2 and invigorated the offense, which took the ensuing free kick and scored on Brown’s 22-yard run.

The teams exchanged a pair of touchdowns. Memphis scored on a 7-yard from Walton High product Makari Bodiford run and GSU answered with a 44-yard touchdown pass from Brown to Javon Robinson, a Grambling transfer, who beat single coverage for his second touchdown of the season.